How do I enable Hibernate on my machine?

A. Like Windows 9x, Windows 2000 has full support for APM (AdvancedPower Management) which basically allows the operating system to instruct thecomputer to go into a suspend state or actually switch off. It does this througha special ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) HAL (HardwareAbstraction Layer) which is uses if it detects the BIOS supports ACPI.

ACPI is the foundation for the OnNow industry initiative that allows system manufacturers to deliver computers that will start at the touch of a key on a keyboard.

ACPI design is essential to take full advantage of power management and Plug and Play in Windows 2000.

Hibernate allows the machine to save its current state to disk and then poweroff. When you power the machine back on it will reload its old state meaning anyapplications/files that were open will still be running and you will losenothing.

What hibernate basically does is dump out the contents of memory to a file,c:hiberfil.sys (which is slightly bigger than the amount of memory in themachine).

To enable hibernate support perform the following:

The dialog shows the exact amount of memory that will be used for thehibernate file (hiberfil.sys).

Once enabled when you select Shutdown there will be an addition option of"Hibernate" which will write out the memory to disk and power off themachine. When you turn it back on you will see a "Resuming Windows"message and (by default) it will ask for the password for the user who locked it(or an Administrator account and password).

You should make sure that your laptop has been updated to the most recentmanufacturers BIOS before attempting to set hibernate options on Win2K. If thisisn't done, then hibernate may work correctly or it may not depending on how upto date your BIOS is. Each manufacturer's BIOS details should be available onthat manufacturers web site.