Re: Windows 10 and 11 power state habits: shutdown, sleep or hibernate

On 25/01/2026 20:40, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Frank Slootweg wrote:
>>> My decisions are dictated, in part, by my hardware, where my desktop is
>>> from around 2009 and therefore it cannot support Windows 11, S0 low 
>>> power
>>> idle, or any of the newer sleep/hibernate mechanisms. The firmware in my
>>> desktop only exposes S1 and S3, and hibernation is not available at all.
>>>
>>> Modern systems use S0 Low Power Idle (Modern Standby), which the 
>>> firmware
>>> on my desktop (and that of many on this newsgroup) does not support.
>>
>>   I'm not talking about any 'modern' power states, like Modern Standby,
>> but like old-fashioned  Sleep (S3), which you do have, and old-fashioned
>> Hibernate (S4).
>>
>>   You say that you don't have Hibernate, but I think it's more likely
>> you have not enabled Hibernate or/and do not have a hiberfil.sys file.
>>
>>   Hibernate exists since decades, so it's unlikely that a 2009 machine
>> doesn't have it.
>>
>>   Anyway, with just Sleep most things - except RAM - should power down
>> or go to a low-power state, ready to resume all your active programs in
>> seconds (if that) instead of the time you now need to get a coffee.
>>
>>   But how you use your system is your choice and your choice only.
>>
>>   My little sting about being sensible was just in jest (hence the
>> smiley). Many people shutdown their systems for no reason. They just
>> think that's the way to do it and do not realize what their options are.
>>
>>   When I'm going to use my computer, I don't have to turn it on, I don't
>> have to boot it, I don't have to wait for Windows to fully start, I don't
>> have to wait for a sign-on to finish to the Desktop and I don't have to
>> wait to restart all my programs/windows. I just tap the keyboard or the
>> 'mouse' and am back where I left off, in a few seconds (if that much).
>>
>>   It's notable that people Char and I, who are used to (also) work with
>> laptops, use the sleep/hibernate mechanisms, while people who only
>> use(d) 'desktops' have a strong tendency to shutdown/turn-off at the end
>> of the day and turn-on/boot_etc. in the morning.
> 
> Hi Frank,
> 
> Thanks for requesting me to clarify my situation with this particular
> machine with respect to whether hibernation is possible if desired.
> 
> Here is my "powercfg -a" output:
> Runbox > cmd {ctrl+shft+rtn} > UAC > Yes
> C:\> powercfg -a      The following sleep states are available on this 
> system:
>        Standby (S1 S3)
> 
>       The following sleep states are not available on this system:
>        Standby (S2)
>       The system firmware does not support this standby state.
> 
>       Hibernate
>        Hibernation has not been enabled.
> 
>       Standby (S0 Low Power Idle)
>        The system firmware does not support this standby state.
> 
>       Hybrid Sleep
>        Hibernation is not available.
> 
>       Fast Startup
>        Hibernation is not available.
> 
> At first, I interpreted that to mean Hibernation is not possible, but in
> reality, after deeper inspection, that hibernation line is ambiguous unless
> I test further, because Windows uses that same wording at different times.
> A. Hibernate exists but is disabled because hiberfil.sys is missing
> B. Hibernate does not exist because the firmware does not expose S4
> 
> To know for sure, at an admin prompt, I tried to turn it on:
> C:\> powercfg /hibernate on
>       Hibernation failed with the following error:      There is not 
> enough space on the disk.
>       The following items are preventing hibernation on this system.
>       The system could not create the hibernation file.      The 
> specific error code is 0xc000007f.
> 
> So, as you kindly had suggested, hibernate does exist on my machine. 
> Windows attempted to enable it, and the firmware did not block it.
> 
> If the firmware did not support S4, I would have seen:
> "The system firmware does not support hibernation."
> Instead, Windows tried to create hiberfil.sys and failed due to disk space.
> The error code 0xc000007f is STATUS_DISK_FULL.
> 
> Since I have 16GB of RAM, about 16 GB of free space is required for a full
> hibernation file, whereas a fast-startup reduced hibernation file might
> only require about 40% of my RAM (or 6.4GB free space on the C: drive).
> 
I routine use hibernation, fast startup turned off. With 16GB RAM 
hiberfil.sys is currently 6.07GB.