What is the difference between hibernate and sleep?
Hibernate and Sleep are two power-saving modes for computers, and here are the differences between them:
- The Hibernate mode shuts down the computer completely, saving all data to the hard drive and restoring it to the previous state when the computer is turned back on. On the other hand, Sleep mode saves the computer’s state in the memory, shuts down most devices to minimize power usage, but still keeps some level of activity to quickly resume to the previous working state.
- Power consumption: Hibernate mode completely shuts down the computer, resulting in very low power consumption, almost zero. On the other hand, Sleep mode still maintains some activity, so power consumption will be slightly higher than Hibernate mode.
- Startup speed: In Hibernate mode, the computer needs to recover data from the hard drive, resulting in a longer startup time, usually taking several tens of seconds to a few minutes. In Sleep mode, the computer can quickly recover from memory, with startup times typically only requiring a few seconds.
- Data protection: Hibernate mode saves data to the hard drive, so even if the computer loses power, the data will not be lost. On the other hand, in Sleep mode, data is saved in the memory, so a power loss could result in data loss.
In conclusion, Hibernate mode is suitable for times when you won’t be using the computer for a long period and want to completely shut off the power, while Sleep mode is ideal for short periods of inactivity when you want to quickly resume working.