Day 53: Don't Standbye...

...your computer overnight!

I'm a culprit of this one since I got my new laptop this summer. It is really easy to just close the lid at the end of the day, which causes my laptop to either sleep(standby) or hibernate depending on if it is plugged in or not. If you don't know what yours does, you can see and change power settings in your computer's control panel.

When you are done with your computer for the day, you generally have three options (Macs only have 2):

1) Standby

2) Hibernate

3) Shutdown

Standby is equivalent to zoning out in class. You computer is still running applications and power is feeding into your computer's memory, although hard drive power is minimized and the screen is off. While the computer is able to "wake-up" quickly (just like me in Linear Algebra), standby mode uses a lot of power and should be avoided or used only when you are away from the computer for short periods of time. Another thing that one of my friends told me is that even though it appears that your computer is off, it is still drawing battery power. So, if you don't have your laptop plugged in and you leave it on standbye, when the battery runs out you will lose all your work! yikes!

Hibernating seems to be like taking a quick power nap when you get home from work or school. All the documents and programs will still be there, but power is essentially shut off to the computer. Like me after a nap, it will take the computer a little longer to shake-off the drowsiness after hibernating. This isn't a bad option, but in some cases, hibernating can cause improper start-up or problems when starting back up.

Shutdown is more like a proper night's rest. It powers off the computer completely and is the best option for overnight or if you are away from your computer for a while.

So, at the end of the day I will shutdown my computer and I will continue to remember my post from Day 5: to unplug it or switch off the power bar it is plugged into!

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/tabletpc/getstarted/standby.mspx
http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-computing/articles/39322.aspx