Hibernation: what is it and how does it work?

Often, users of a personal computer are asked the question: "Hibernation - what is it and how does it work?". With this, we now try to understand, because this mode is very useful in many cases and significantly saves time.

Principle of operation

To answer the question: "Hibernation - what is this?", It must be said that we are talking about
Sleep mode of the computer, which should not be confused with sleep. This feature is implemented in the current versions of the Windows operating system.

If you understand what the computer's hibernation mode is in its practical application and how it works, we note that when the function is activated, the computer turns off completely. However, before shutting down the computer saves all the applications, windows and programs in which you were working, if you did not close them while activating this feature.

Software support

If you understand the question: "Hibernation - what is it at the program level?", It must be said that the mode is implemented by means of the file "hiberfil.sys". It is in this application that all data is recorded when the specified mode is launched.

This file is located in the root of the main disk, and it (like the swap file) is a system resource, that is, by default it does not appear in the directory. Note that the file size is equal to the amount of RAM on your computer.

On practice

Now let's talk about how to establish the hibernation, and consider an example of this mode. Imagine the following situation: you are working simultaneously with A large number of programs on your computer - edit the image in Photoshop, use a browser, through which you study the Internet, listen to music and type in the text editor "Word". Thus, a kind of creative disorder is born, from which one does not feel like refusing. Suddenly you suddenly need to urgently leave for business for a few hours. However, you do not want to leave the computer permanently on, and at the same time to close all listed programs, keeping each of them, there is no desire. Then you can activate the hibernation mode described above. Thanks to this solution, the entire state of the current operating system will be written on the space of the hibernation file at the time the mode is activated. After saving all data, the computer will automatically turn off. During the next power-up, the Windows operating system will take the necessary data from the file specified above and restore the system to the state it was in during the last shutdown. Simply put, turning on your computer, you will again see the programs and windows that were active when the mode was activated. Thus, we have dealt with the definition and functions. Obviously, the mode is incredibly convenient, but it is worth remembering that for its implementation it constantly needs free space on the main disk, which is equal to the amount of RAM. So we figured out the question: "Hibernation - what is this?", And also described the principle of the regime.