Quote:
Originally Posted by CSMR /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Well I guess I could explain it to you, although don't want to get sidetracked.
Sleep and hibernate modes preserve memory. Therefore you don't have to close applications and reopen when the system turns to normal. Applications retain their state. This is the key benefit.
They are not inefficient because they perform functions and save time and power... that's efficiency.
They don't cause problems if software is written correctly. The only thing that has caused problems in my experience is USB soundcard drivers, a combination of lazy programmers, and Microsoft not being strict about certification.
They will cause the hard drive to spin down... like turning off. That's the main piece of hardware that "wears down".
They save more than 3 seconds. Resume from sleep may take 2-3 seconds and I don't know anyone whose system boots up completely in 5 seconds. Even with an SSD and modern hardware you are at >20s boot-up and that's without loading apps (or remembering what you were doing with those apps and bringing them back to that state for that matter).
|
I can get from power button push to Firefox open in 12s on my dated P-7805u.
Most applications have SAVE functions to save the state.
Going to sleep causes large amounts of data to be written and read to/from the harddrive and ram, deteriorating the hardware faster than a responsible on/off cycle would. You're misunderstanding how sleep works. It doesn't just remember it. It takes a picture, then recreates it exactly. It's inefficient because while in sleep mode, the computer will still draw vampire power, where as powered off (and, ideally, removed from power source) it draws less/none. It doesn't save power, it uses more, unless you only take short breaks from your computer, instead of 4-10 hour sleep cycle breaks.
I used to be a computer technician, and sleep functions are the first things I disable when I get a new computer / repair a computer, then I teach the client responsible power management.
REGARDLESS, to pull your topic back on track, you'd need to find a USB sound card that completely releases the sound drivers, instead of maintaining them constantly. That's a start, I apologize for not being able to find something specific for you.