I use my laptop every day and usually want to preserve all my open programs and windows. Is it safe to hibernate it at the end of each day and resume the next day, or is a full shutdown better for the laptop? Are there situations where I should restart or shut down instead?
4 Answers
Hibernate is basically a shutdown that saves the contents of RAM to your drive first. The laptop uses almost no power while hibernating, but your previous session can be restored when you turn it back on. Using it every day is generally fine.
You do not need to shut down every day for the laptop's sake. Some people go for months using hibernation or suspend and only restart for updates or troubleshooting. If the system starts acting strangely, a full restart usually clears stuck drivers and connections.
Be careful not to confuse hibernation with sleep or suspend. Sleep keeps at least some memory powered and may drain the battery, while hibernation saves the session to storage and powers the machine off. Closing the lid only does whatever behavior your power settings specify, so check those settings if battery drain is a concern.
Exactly—on some newer laptops, sleep can use much more battery than expected, so hibernation is safer when the machine will be closed for a long time.
A normal shutdown is the simplest option if you do not need to keep your session open. Hibernate is more convenient, but it can sometimes fail to restore properly depending on the hardware, drivers, and operating system configuration.
You should still restart or shut down occasionally, especially when the system asks for it or after installing important updates.