Stand By Mode...

[BCB]

My computer gives me the option to Shut Down or to Stand By—maybe all computers have this option—don’t know. Well, I just tried the Stand By option and the computer goes mostly silent. Then when I move the mouse, it comes back on. What exactly is this function? And, could a person just hit the Stand By mode and never shut the computer down? Thanks…BCB

[sundog]

And, could a person just hit the Stand By mode and never shut the computer down? Thanks…BCB

No. PCs and even larger Unix boxes need a hard down ocassionally to restore and reset registers and ports. No matter how how good Operating Systems and software are, it all needs to be reset once in awhile. The main guts or our system at work is a very robust multiprocessor IBM box with several other windows based servers. My work station is a pretty robust windows machine and as a programmer I hammer it all pretty hard sometimes. And sometimes things don't want to work real good after awhile, mostly in terms of speed or software that 'locks up', or loss of network connects. Regardless of what anyone will say, windows machines (like your home PC) that run for extended periods of time are capable of memory creep, and register and port coruption, even though the newer ones are MUCH better that just a few years ago.

So, the short of it is if you are going to leave it on for extended periods, put it on a good UPS, and do a hard down about once a month. If you have an internet connect, which you obviously do, spend the bucks for a subscription to a GOOD antivirus with regular updates, which you should do anyway. Just my two cents worth. sundog

btw, I don't ever use stand by. If it's on it's on and the operating system can put it to sleep if not in use.

[StarMetal]

Hibernation vs Standby Mode are very similar and people tend to confuse the differences. Standby basically turns off power consuming components like the hard disks and monitor. It switches the computer to a low power state. Its much like a warm boot. Any contents of memory and unsaved desktop settings are lost. Hibernation saves state information by writing a hibernation file which contains the contents of memory and is thus the same size as total RAM. This is a snapshot of active memory. When you turn your PC back on, the state, including which applications are running (desktop) and the memory contents are restored to RAM and voila! - you are back to where you were when Hibernation mode started. The restoration of state can take place in 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, 5 weeks, .... Hibernation is only available if your system is ACPI-compatible. If it is not, the Hibernation tab will be missing and you will have an APM tab instead.


I was just telling Jumptrap that if you leave your pc on all the time that you should hard reboot it once in awhile because it needs to refresh resources, especially with older versions of windows.


Joe

[BCB]

Upon closer examination of the Stand By button on the screen, I find that if I put the curser on it for a few seconds a little pop-up explanation arrives. It indicates that if I want to go to the Hibernation mode, I hold the Shift key down when I click on the Stand By key.

From what I understand from the two posts, Hibernation ain’t where I want to go!!! Right???

Regardless, I want to use Stand By just for a day or two and then turn the computer off until the next time I use it. That shouldn’t cause problems, right? Thanks again…BCB

[waksupi]

Sundog - What are you running for an anti-virus? This computer is only a month old, but the Norton expires in a few weeks. Any better programs out there? Free would be a plus!

[sundog]

Ric, the other guys in the shop do the anti-virus. I'm pretty sure it's Symantic. We have a corporate license that covers all computers on our network, including the ones at home used to work remote (nice plus). Have no idea what the cost is. Our one machine that email comes in on is segregated from other network resources exactly because of viruses, something most of us wouldn't or couldn't do at home. Yea, free would be nice, but you get what you pay for. The thing about a paid subscription is that whenever something new comes along you can usually get a fix 'right now'. There are a bunch of free spyware programs out there, and it always good to run them onceit awhile, too. Kinda like you kain't even go surfin' without a raincoat, because sure as shootin', you'll catch sumthang. Most people at home can't clean up an infected machine. Better a few bucks up front.

And that's another thing. Machines left on and connected to the ISP run the risk of being a target for personal information. Not only is big brother watching, but every other slimeball out there who thinks he can get something from you -- and you won't even know it until it's too late. sundog

Oh, one more thing. The scumbags who design and deliver all the virus and spy stuff should be hung! It's no little deal. Hung, like in a gallows. It has literally cost millions and millions of dollars that could have been put back into an operation or maybe, the horror of it all, been profit. No good, low life, thrill seeking, criminal ********. Do you get the idea I don't like them?

[Scrounger]

Sundog - What are you running for an anti-virus? This computer is only a month old, but the Norton expires in a few weeks. Any better programs out there? Free would be a plus!

AVG is free and has worked well for me. ( http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1 )

[RayinNH]

waksupi, I also use AVG. I've been using it about a year now with nary a problem. Lately it has been updating daily...Ray

[45nut]

The scumbags who design and deliver all the virus and spy stuff should be hung! It's no little deal. Hung, like in a gallows. It has literally cost millions and millions of dollars that could have been put back into an operation or maybe, the horror of it all, been profit. No good, low life, thrill seeking, criminal ********. Do you get the idea I don't like them?

I TOTALLY AGREE! KEELHAUL THE B*&#^$DS.