Win 7 shut down/sleep/hibernate--which is best

[ReadyMan]

How does everyone shut down win7? I really liked the XP \"Standby\" mode, which kept things in memory, but shut everything down in a way that startup was quick.

I'm having some issues with shutting down win7.
When I go into hibernate or sleep mode, it disengages my USB Throttle and Pedals, so that windows sees them, but doesnt recognize any input. I can unplug and replug them in and things work just fine.

Shutting down the pc and restarting normally keeps things working fine.

All my USB Root Hubs were set to \"turn off this device to save power\"
I unticked all of them.
But this has no effect.... because as soon as I restarted, all of the USB Root Hubs had the \"turn off this device to save power\" option ticked again...wierd!

ideas?

[Krom]

I just leave my PC running 24/7.

[Heretic]

If you want to stop that from happening you need to change the advance power settings. Go to the control panel under hardware and sound, open power options, change plan settings, change advance power settings, USB settings, USB selective suspend setting, drop down menu select disable. Then go back and undo the check mark where you did before. This should fix that problem.

[Duper]

I just leave my PC running 24/7.

That's crazy talk!

7 has been stable being left on for extended amounts of time. My only problem has been my mouse drivers crash after a day or so and I loose some of the logitech software perks.

But my system is having hardware issues, so I'd say it's unfair or accurate to pin that on Win7.

Of course, you might want to use the sleep mode if you're on a laptop to save battery. 7's power settings are reasonable and easy to use. If you DO choose to sleep/hibernate, make sure that the settings aren't conflicting with possible BIOS options for power.

[flip]

I just leave my PC running 24/7.

I do the same thing. I've heard that it actually causes more wear and tear on your components to always be shutting down and restarting. Something to do with power spikes and hot and cold cycling. Leaving them on all the time keeps the temps constant which is a good thing.

[Krom]

I do the same thing. I've heard that it actually causes more wear and tear on your components to always be shutting down and restarting. Something to do with power spikes and hot and cold cycling. Leaving them on all the time keeps the temps constant which is a good thing.

Debatable. Its probably true that heat cycles will stress contacts and connections, but otherwise it probably doesn't make much of a noticeable difference. Granted that is for stock clocked/stock voltage systems; overclocking your system close to its limits is going to impact its operational lifespan so shutting down when you aren't using it is probably a good idea.

[snoopy]

Cycling the power on chips also cycles them thermally, and they will eventually de-laminate. I remember Nvidia having a design problem with a particular laptop chip; but then again it was considered a design/manufacturing defect. I read about this at one point, and it takes millions of cycles for a properly designed chip, which translates to failure long after it's obsolete, assuming that you turn it on and back off once a day.

I never heard about the power spikes part... I think chips have a fairly well-defined threshold at which voltage-induced damage happens... if your supply is getting that close to the threshold, I'd say there's a problem with the supply design.

[Krom]

Yeah, my laptop actually had its Geforce go 7600 GPU fail because of that issue. Fortunately Asus fixed it for free even though it was out of warranty.

[Heretic]

I'm wondering if Flip is talking an old problem called Chip Creep mainly a problem for older computers.

[Krom]

I'm wondering if Flip is talking an old problem called Chip Creep mainly a problem for older computers.

Why do you think your memory DIMMs and PCI express video cards all have locks?

[flip]

Yeah this is probably a non issue now seeing as how most everything is wave soldered nowadays making cold joints less likely. I still imagine keeping everything at a normal temp is probably a good practice though since were still dealing with silicon. Once they perfect the process of making synthetic diamonds even high temps will be a non issue, but prices are likely to skyrocket =/.

Heh never heard of chip creep before, but it makes sense. I imagine I would have fixed that with some rubber bands

[Duper]

naw heretic. He was talking about physical stress on the integrity of the chip and circuitry from just turning it off and on, like what happens to light bulbs.... only smaller. .

With today's hardware, thought, most chips (most)are far more robust than prior generations.

[ReadyMan]

If you want to stop that from happening you need to change the advance power settings. Go to the control panel under hardware and sound, open power options, change plan settings, change advance power settings, USB settings, USB selective suspend setting, drop down menu select disable. Then go back and undo the check mark where you did before. This should fix that problem.

Thanks Heretic!
That did the job.

Now gotta decide whether to turn off the system, or use hibernate...

(leaving it on is not an option. Hate to leave the pc connected to the net all day, and we live in an old neighborhood with old wiring and occasional power outages [yes I have a UPS]...)