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This is a weird one.

On my Windows 8.1 system, I usually Sleep the computer overnight rather than Shutting it Down. If I wait for the computer to finish "going to sleep" (so the fans stop running, and the power LED blinks), then turn the mains power off; then the computer will wake up correctly next morning. All good.

However, if I forget to turn the mains power off - so the computer has finished "going to sleep", but I leave it in the blinking-power-LED state overnight - then the next morning the computer will act as a cold-boot. Windows will not remember what was running before it was slept.

What could be causing this; and can I fix it?

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Read this first, especially about the hybrid mode:

Windows 7 Start Menu: Difference between Sleep (and Hybrid Sleep) and Hibernate

Look at both answers as they are similar to what you are asking.

When you put your computer to sleep by pressing the sleep button, it is using a hybrid sleep/hybernate option which means it is going to sleep initially but switch to hybernation if power is lost. When a computer goes to sleep, there is a small amount of power being applied to keep your session in memory. Once you cut off the power then it switches to hibernation mode instead which would indeed take longer to boot (seem more like a cold start) than just a regular sleep. Basically by cutting the power you are switching which mode it uses.

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  • That makes sense, but is the wrong way around. If I cut power (prompting full hibernation), the next boot is to the restored Windows session. If I don't cut power, the next boot has forgotten the previous session.
    – Chowlett
    Feb 16, 2015 at 16:41
  • Oops sorry I read it backwards. It sounds like your hibernation and sleep modes are swapped for some reason.
    – Eric F
    Feb 16, 2015 at 16:45
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In the Windows Control Panel, select Power Options, Change plan settings, and in the Edit Plan Settings dialog, choose Changed advanced power settings. There are many settings available, and they are in two sets: On Battery and Plugged In. See MS advice at http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-desktop/hibernate-not-working-windows-8-pro-64-bit/f0d005d4-7508-4009-a193-ab171b812266 and http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/sleep-and-hibernation-frequently-asked-questions.

MS apparently has deprecated Hibernate because some maintenance work is done during Sleep, such as disk optimization. One option, though is to Sleep for 30 minutes, both when connected to the mains and not, and then to Hibernate.

Here are my Sleep settings for Balanced plan. See Windows 8.1: Sleep and Hibernation Settings for a guide.

                       On Battery Plugged In   
Sleep after:           12 min     Never
Allow hybrid sleep:    On         On
Hibernate after:       90 min     2880 min
Allow wake timers:     Disable    Enable
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  • Ok, that's worth a go. Would that be the Advanced settings->Sleep->Hibernate after: setting? Or is that meaning "Hibernate after x minutes of idle when awake"?
    – Chowlett
    Feb 17, 2015 at 8:12

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