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Originally Posted by AirForceElite  Sorry if this is a really basic question, but I never actually paid attention since I never had a laptop until now and whenever I used my desktop, it was always Shutdown whenever I wanted to turn it off. I never bothered finding out what those other functions are (like logoff/hibernate/sleep).
1) What is the difference between Hybernate/Sleep/Logoff/Shutdown?
2) How much is battery being used when the laptop is in sleep mode?
3) What is the point of having different users? I realize that they get their own My Documents folder...but besides that, what is the point of different users? For example, if i install a program for one user, does it mean i need to install the same program on different user if i want them both to use it?
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1. The different states are:
Shutdown will totally close all user programs, shut down the OS, etc. When you boot from a shutdown, you need to wait for the OS to go through a full startup. Your computer draws 0% power in this state
Logoff will simply close all of the user's programs, but the kernel (the core) will still be running. That means while a user program like Firefox will be shut down, a program used by the OS (like a module that controls your network connectivity) will still be running. Your computer is still using 100% power... it's just that you will need to log on as a user before you can do anything useful.
Now, Hibernate and Sleep will require that you understand that what a computer does depends a lot on what is stored in your main system memory (RAM). The programs that you have open, the files that you are working on, the web pages that are open in Firefox right now, etc are all dependent on what is being stored in RAM at this exact moment. Your RAM is volatile... unless it receives a constant supply of power, it will be unable to retain the data that it is storing. Hibernate and Sleep treat that memory in a different way.
Sleep will shutdown everything else in the system, except the main system RAM. It's a quick way to dramatically cut down on the power your system draws when you are not actively using it. The benefit to this is that when you resume from Sleep, you will jump into exactly the desktop with which you were working (all of your programs, documents, etc will still be open and running, etc). Your computer uses about 2% power in Sleep.
Hibernate is similar to Sleep by shutting down everything, except it goes an extra step by saving everything in memory to your hard disk. The benefit to this is that you are running at 0% power, plus all of the benefits of Sleep (ie, your programs and documents remain open). It takes a few more seconds to enter and exit a Hibernate mode, and takes a little hard drive space to be reserved for Hibernate. But it is still MUCH faster than a full system shutdown/startup.
2) Sleep uses about 2%. If your battery lasts 3 hours when running, then you can sleep for 150 hours. That means if you put your computer into Sleep mode on Friday, then by Monday, you'll have about 50% battery remaining.
I strongly prefer Hibernate to Sleep for many reasons (eg, you can swap batteries in a Hibernating system... if you try this with a computer in Sleep, you'll lose all of your data, and will have to do a full startup), and recommend that you use Hibernate if you are going to be moving your laptop around a lot for work/school.
3) Multiple users are a way to control security, and to store multiple profiles/preferences.
Windows controls security by user. That means that only certain users can perform certain actions, and access certain files. For example, you may live in a house with many people, and you don't want your little brother upgrading drivers or finding your porn stash. User accounts give you a way to control who-can-do-what.
Multiple user accounts are also a way to store multiple profiles / preferences... for example, you may like your desktop to have a plain black desktop background, and your browser homepage to point to
www.espn.com. Well, your little brother may like a picture of a car as his desktop wallpaper, and his browser homepage to point to
www.google.com.
If you install a program for one user, then technically, you COULD lock out another user from being able to run it. But what usually happens is that a program that is installed for one user will isntall desktop and Start Menu shortcuts for all users. If shortcuts aren't made for all users, then you can just find the install directory, make your own shortcut, and it will still run.
These features are nice if you have multiple people using your computer. But if you are the only person using your computer, then you won't have much use for them.
To add to why multiple users is a good idea, if you run multiple users from an administrative point of view each user gets their own desktop and their own set of icons. Programs can be installed on a per user basis. One user can iinstall it but if you switch to the other user it is unavailable. Really handy if more than one person uses the computer. Especially if your gonna have one of the kids using your machine. you can block access to certain sites and assign permissions to a specific user.
