by Sotiris Karahalios

Created on: May 04, 2009

Most of us tend to hibernate our computers instead of shutting them down. Especially those who have a laptop it's quite easier and faster to do so, because whenever they want to return to their computer, they simply press the power button and their operating system appears almost immediately . On the other side there are a lot of reasons why we should shut down our computers instead of hibernating them. I will tell you why below.

First of all, by shutting down our computer, we consume less energy. You might think, "Oh come on now, how much energy does a hibernated PC consume?". The answer is a bit, but if you take into consideration the annual consumption then it's too much. Recent researches show that an average computer in hibernation can cost you 30-60$ more per year. Isn't that much? You don't care about the money loss? Then think about the environment. By shutting down our computers, we contribute to lower pollution of our planet because we spend less energy! If the world's population did that, we could save a small forest per year!

Another "hot" reason to shut your computer down is the disk capacity that is being held in order to hibernate operating system. Do you know why hibernated operating systems start so quickly? It's because the session is saved on our hard disk in order to load faster. Our operating system can hold up to 1GB of space in order to use that ability. Isn't that much? Shut down your computer normally and save some disk space for your needs!

Did you know that hibernating your computer makes it vulnerable? I don't mean the software part but the hardware part. The computer is technically "on" and computer parts aren't locked. That means that if your computer fells into the ground or get hit, it can take serious damage. A year ago, my friend's computer fell from his desk while it was in hibernation mode. The outcome was a broken hard-disk and serious damage in the ram. The technician told him that the computer would have been OK if the computer was properly shut down. When the computer shuts down, every part of it locks. Hard disks, memory, video cards are protected in that way. If you read your computer's manual, especially if it is a laptop, you will see that manufacturers suggest that you shut down your computer before moving it.

One last reason is that your computer is faster after a shut down. If you hibernate your operation system then after you return to it, your session is not "fresh". Try not to shut down your computer for a long time and see how slow it becomes. So shut your computer down in order to give it a "fresh" new start and make it fast again!

Now that you know the good side of shutting down your computer, what will you choose? Shut down or hibernation?

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