Techies ...putting the PC to sleep

When I got a new keyboard a few months ago I settled for an M$ at the puter
show cos it was dirt cheap!

pmj...

Yep, many Keyboards these days really are cheap!

You can get one (with plenty of extra Buttons on it) for less than
a Fiver!

& even a Wireless one can be got for under a Tenner, these days.

The one extra button I use on it is the sleep button. Basically, if Windows
puts the PC to sleep it doesn't disable the Internet connection - I'm cable
BB which is always on unless I disable it. When I come back to the puter I
re-press the sleep button and the Internet is re-enabled and the log on
screen appears. I press my account and the puter goes back to where it was
when I first put it to sleep with whatever prog I was using ready loaded.
Have just done all this now and it has returned to this post ready to carry
on writing. First time I've ever used the sleep button with something
loaded, I normally close everything first.

pmj...

Yep, that makes sense, but (depending on how you have all the various
windoze (& BIOS) Power Management Options Set up), you *can* use it
in the way you mention.

The puter says it's going into standby.

pmj...

Yep, but remember that "StandBy" is completely different from
"Hibernation"...

When it's on StandBy, the PC is still Running & the RAM Memory
is being used to Store stuff.
& it's all still using a fair bit of Power.

But when it Hibernates, the RAM memory is saved out to Disk & then
the PC is Powered Down.

I use the KB sleep button when I nip off to wash the dishes or make the
lunch or something not when we're going out.

Is there a better way of doing things? I don't want to switch totally off

pmj...

Yep!

when I leave it for half an hour but then I don't want Windows to cope with
it because of it not switching my Internet connection off. In this case is
the KB button best for me?

pmj...

Have a look at the Power Options Section in the Desktop/Display
Properties Control Panel Applet thingy - it's on the "ScreenSaver"
Tab, look for the [Power...] Button - or you can Open the Power
Options up directly from the Control Panel

Look on the "Advanced" Tab of the Power Options...

Now, (depending on the Motherboard & BIOS capabilities of your PC etc,
& what you have Set elsewhere, such as on the "Hibernate" Tab) there
should be 2 DropDown Lists Boxes, (in the Section labelled "Power
Buttons")...

When I Press the Power Button on my Computer:
&
When I Press the Sleep Button my computer:

The list of Options in those DropDown Boxes (that's if you have the
Boxes in the first place - all Systems are different in that respect)
will vary, but you should see Options such as...

Ask me what to do
StandBy
Hibernate
ShutDown
Do nothing.

You can Set either of the Buttons to *any* of those choices!!!
:-)

So, for example, you could (if you were perverse!) Set the "Sleep"
Button to "ShutDown"...

& Set the Power Button to "StandBy"! (or Hibernate, or Do nothing
or whatever...)

I have *both* of mine Set to "Ask me", so I can then decide what to
choose, depending on what I want it to do.

datasmog...

When you put the computer to sleep, hibernate, everything goes to sleep,
so the internet connection is doing nothing. No harm can come to your
computer from any internet born nasties if that's what you're worried
about. Power consumption is next to zero during sleep.

pmj...

But it's important to realise that (at least with a (windoze) PC)
"Sleep" (StandBy" Mode) is a whole lot different to "Hibernate"

Standby does stil lactually consume a fair amount of Power.
& the RAM is still Powered up & being ReFreshed & the Operating
System is watching out for the Signal to come out of StandBy

I've had this Powerbook over 2 years, it's never been switched off for
more than a few seconds in that time, it just goes to sleep.

Pam the goose...

Thanks, Ray:)
It confused me when I noticed it said Windows going into standby. I wondered
if that was the same as hibernation.

pmj...

Nope.
Hibernation Mode (on windoze) is completely different from StandBy
Mode.

& the way things like that are done on (& handledby) an Apple Mac are
different again from the way things are done on a windoze Machine

& now it's all going to change again, cos Apple are now using Intel
Processors.

Previously they used a completely differen ttype of Processor
(& thus Motherboard)

& the capabilities (& features0 of the Processor & Motherboard have
a lot to do with the various different ways that all the "Power
Management" type of stuff is done.

pmj...

I'd be interested to know more about the differences between
the Apple Mac version of "Sleep" Mode & the PC StandBy/Hibernate
Functions...

& also, how those differences are now changed, with the switch by
Apple to Intel Processors, from the previous Processors that they
used to use.

Old Grizzly...

I leave my poota full on Pam, but as i have Zone alarm i just right
click the Icon at the bottom and click on stop all internet activity and
thats shut down all internet traffic in and out.

Pam the goose...

I have the two monitors logo in the right bottom corner by the clock. At any
time I can right click that and choose disable but that takes longer than
pushing the sleep button on the KB!! And I have to do it all again to
re-enable whereas the KB button goes through all that palaver without
needing me:))