Shutdown, standby, sleep

Shutdown

When you choose to shut down the computer, Windows will first shut down all running programs, then shut down the system background services, and then send a special signal to the motherboard and power supply, so that the power supply to all devices is cut off, the computer is completely shut down. After the next boot, the computer completes self-check, loads the Windows system into the memory, continues loading other background services, and displays the logon interface. After logging on, you can run your own program and start using your computer. The entire process takes the longest time to start the system and program because it needs to be completely closed and re-started.

Standby

For standby mode, if you want to put the computer in standby mode, Windows will automatically send another special signal to the power supply, and then the power supply will cut off the power supply of other devices except the memory, the memory still stores all the data in the system running, and the process can be completed in one or two seconds. When the standby status changes to normal, as long as the power is on, Windows will continue to run from the last "status data" stored in the memory, this process takes only a few seconds.

For the standby status, you do not need to close your own program. If needed, you can wait for it at any time. To recover, you only need to press the power button to recover in a few seconds. However, this mode is convenient, but there is a fatal defect: the power supply to memory cannot be stopped. Because memory is a kind of volatile storage device, data must be maintained only when the power supply is ensured. Therefore, if the computer is powered off in the standby mode, data in the memory will be lost in less than one second. During the next boot, Windows will restart as it starts from the shutdown status.

Sleep

The sleep mode is similar to the standby mode, but in the sleep state, windows saves the data in memory to a file in the root directory of the system disk on the hard disk (this file can be understood as an "image" in the memory status "). After the next boot, data is read from the Sleep file on the memory and loaded into the physical memory. The sleep mode can be similar to the standby mode, but the recovery speed is a little slow, and the hard disk needs to occupy the same space as the physical memory to save the Sleep file. The more physical memory, the more space occupied, and the longer it takes to enter the state and restore from the State (after all, you need to read files from the hard disk into the memory, the hard disk speed is always the slowest ). However, this mode has many advantages and is not afraid of power outages! After all, data on the hard disk will not be lost after power failure.

Sleep

The new sleep mode in Windows Vista and Win7 combines all the advantages of the standby and sleep modes. After Entering sleep mode, Windows will first save the data in the memory to the hard disk (similar to sleep), and cut off the power supply of other devices except the memory (similar to standby ). If the power is not disconnected during recovery, the system will directly recover from the memory, which only takes a few seconds. Even if the power is down, because the hard disk still stores a memory status image, therefore, it can be recovered from the hard disk. Although the speed is a little slow, at least you don't have to worry about data loss.

	Entry speed	Recovery speed	Power Consumption?	Result After power failure
Sleep	Seconds	Several seconds in the case of power-on	A small amount of memory power is required	After power failure, the unsaved data is not damaged, but the recovery speed needs to be slightly extended.
Sleep	About two minutes	About two minutes	No Power Consumption	Unsaved data will not be lost
Standby	Seconds	Seconds	A small amount of memory power is required	All unsaved data will be lost after power failure

To sum up, these models have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, as long as Windows and the hardware are supported, we strongly recommend that you use the sleep function instead of the previously used shutdown operation. After all, the advantage of the sleep function is obvious. It can not only avoid a long start process, but also treat the computer as a general electrical appliance like a TV, and turn it on and off without worrying about data loss.