What's best for my computer: Hibernate, sleep, or shut down?

Q: Does putting my computer to sleep help extend thebattery life? What else can I do to save energy and make my newcomputer last?

A: We’ve all heard stories about what'sbest for a computer’s battery. That’s why I was excited to makefriends with Fred Peters, president of Huntington Beach ITServices.
In addition to teaching computing courses in Orange County,Calif., Peters happily makes house calls to revive frazzledcomputers and the people who rely on them.

Here are his expert tips on how to keep your new laptop runningsmoothly.

Sleep mode vs. shutting down

Peters notes that your work process will determine whether it’smore efficient to use “Sleep” mode or simply shut down thecomputer. “It is never fun to have to consistently wait any amountof time if the shut downs are too frequent,” he says. "‘Sleep’requires more power, but it boots up faster, while ‘Hibernate’ usesless power, but takes longer to come online.” That same logicapplies to shutting off your computer completely.
“Your computer will become obsolete before you wear out yourcomputer by turning it on and off a lot,” he adds. “It alsodoesn't take more energy to start a computer than to keep itrunning.”
Sleep mode requires a constant, though reduced use of power (0-6watts). Peters also notes that colorful screensavers do nothing toconserve energy. Accessing your computer remotely with the Wake on LAN feature also can drain thepower.

To get the most for your money, Peters advises adjusting powersettings so that it automatically goes into Sleep/Standby modeafter about 15 minutes of inactivity, and then shut it down at theend of your day.

Bionic battery life

To get the most out of your computer battery, Peters says to youhave to give it a workout. Don’t keep your machine plugged in to anoutlet. Instead, discharge the battery daily.

Size does matter

By purchasing a laptop, Peters says that you are ahead in theenergy-saving game. Laptops use about 15-60 watts, while desktopsuse 65-250 watts — plus another 15-80 watts for a monitor.
He also adds that you can further conserve energy by using anLCD monitor and ditching the high-end video card unless it’sabsolutely necessary. Also, turn off printers and other peripheralswhen they are not in use.
To kill “vampire power,” TreeHugger.com suggests purchasing a powerstrip. With all peripherals connected to one source, it’s easy tosimply flip the switch on power hogs any time.

Establish a backup process

In addition to Peters’ great advice about conserving energy, Idiscovered the hard way that it also pays to save backup versionsof your work. Invest in an external hard drive to hold your digitalmusic library, special photos, and other key documents. Frequentbackups ensure that your data doesn’t die with your laptop.
While you are in the process of backing things up, create anemergency file (on good old-fashioned paper) that contains yourcomputer’s serial number along with other key data such as yourcredit card numbers and phone numbers to reach each company, alongwith contact info to your insurance company. Access to thatinformation is vital, particularly in the event of an accident,fire, computer theft, or other catastrophe.
Peters warns that those key pieces of information are not safeon your computer. If you are like me and absolutely need a digitalholding space for those nuggets of information, he suggests siteslike LastPass as your online vault.

Happy computing!

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