Overwhelmed - New Computer or upgrade.

Sleep and hibernate are just two of about a half-dozen power states that are defined in Windows. More than you wanted to know can be found at https://www.tenforums.​com …e-your-windows-10-pc.html. A key pitfall of hibernate is it writes to disk, the entire image of what may in RAM. That is why file space of 75% of RAM is reserved. Its a file named hiberfil.sys and is typically hidden. The continual writing to disk, when that disk is an SSD, is not recommended. “Sleep” retains the last working state in RAM (as opposed to disk) so only a small amount of power is used. Some people feel that with an SSD shutdown should be used as opposed to sleep to save energy. The reality is if your desktop uses 10 watts in sleep, it costs you less than a dime if left in standby for 24 hours. Since SSD’s are so fast on a cold start, I get my login screen in about 10 seconds, it is a good idea to power off for extended periods. With old spinning platter HDD’s it was felt that the startup of the drive was undesirable, hence te need for sleep and hibernate.

John from PA wrote in post #19007293
Sleep and hibernate are just two of about a half-dozen power states that are defined in Windows. More than you wanted to know can be found at https://www.tenforums.​com …e-your-windows-10-pc.html. A key pitfall of hibernate is it writes to disk, the entire image of what may in RAM. That is why file space of 75% of RAM is reserved. Its a file named hiberfil.sys and is typically hidden. The continual writing to disk, when that disk is an SSD, is not recommended. “Sleep” retains the last working state in RAM (as opposed to disk) so only a small amount of power is used. Some people feel that with an SSD shutdown should be used as opposed to sleep to save energy. The reality is if your desktop uses 10 watts in sleep, it costs you less than a dime if left in standby for 24 hours. Since SSD’s are so fast on a cold start, I get my login screen in about 10 seconds, it is a good idea to power off for extended periods. With old spinning platter HDD’s it was felt that the startup of the drive was undesirable, hence te need for sleep and hibernate.

Do you know is this is true for Macs, too? I put my iMac to sleep several times each day, rather than shut it down completely. I always shut it down before going to bed though.

Spencerphoto wrote in post #19007297
Do you know is this is true for Macs, too? I put my iMac to sleep several times each day, rather than shut it down completely. I always shut it down before going to bed though.

In spite of owning an iPad, I don’t know a lot about “Macs” but I would suspect that an iMac sleep mode is similar to sleep in Windows, which by the way has little if any drawback except for the energy used. “Yes” (in Windows) some deviceS are shut off and it requires some tinkering to get a setting that lets them stay awake.

You might peruse https://eclecticlight.​co …nt-in-detail-using-pmset/ then open a new thread with your question. I do see a lot of individuals on this forum with a great deal of “mac’ knowledge.

Glad to know of your update status, Sandi.

Many of these tribulations can be fraught with vague or elusive causes,
but you'll find quite a few of us here to have been through much of it,
and quite eager to help if we are able to do so.

One of the first things I check when Wi-Fi drops off is to power-cycle
both router and modem, which often clears up the trouble.
You now understand that from first-hand experience, so I expect
you won't be so 'stranded' in the future.

It may be worth using different cable(s) if your USB connections
have been flaky. In particular, if a cable or device has been on an
undisturbed connection for a lengthy time, there may be some dust
or corrosion interfering. I just confirmed this with my wireless keyboard
by removing and re-inserting the wireless receiver.
Removing and re-inserting such connectors, sometimes a few times,
can often "yozzle" a connection back to steady.
The process of yozzling will actually scrape the connectors clean
of dust and corrosion in most cases.
While I had lags and dropouts of input prior to this, it's all good now.

I wish you the best of luck moving forward, and do not hesitate
to return here to ask for advice if you come across more conundrums.

My understanding of SSD (in lieu of HD) is that SSDs have a finite number of write-read cycles. The NAND in SSDs have a limited life span by default. While normal HDDs can – in theory – last forever (in reality about 1o years max.), an SSD lifespan has a built-in “time of death.” To keep it simple: An electric effect results in the fact that data can only be written on a storage cell inside the chips between approximately 3,000 and 100,000 times during its lifetime. After that, the cells “forget” new data. Controllers are made so that they distribute the data evenly to level the wear.

Since SSD are so fast, the boot up times are not much different from the wake from Hibernate times of PCs using HD. So writing the Hibernate file and wearing down the life of the SSD is not go great an advantage vs. simply rebooting.

SkedAddled wrote in post #19007304
One of the first things I check when Wi-Fi drops off is to power-cycle both router and modem, which often clears up the trouble. You now understand that from first-hand experience, so I expect you won't be so 'stranded' in the future.

I have a neighbor that writes code and operates a huge system of servers that calls individuals and reminds them of doctor appointments. He actually has a timer on his routers that shuts them down for about 10 minutes and then initiates a restart. All this happens at about 2 AM, shortly after a full system backup to the cloud.

John from PA wrote in post #19007309
I have a neighbor that writes code and operates a huge system of servers that calls individuals and reminds them of doctor appointments. He actually has a timer on his routers that shuts them down for about 10 minutes and then initiates a restart. All this happens at about 2 AM, shortly after a full system backup to the cloud.

My internet provider also recommends powering down the cable modem, and restarting it, on a frequecy of at least once per month. And I tell my wife to routinely shut down and restart her Android OS phone periodically. In so many cases of "my phone is not..." complaints from her, the reboot has almost always restored it to normal. One absolute phone failure is the exception to the 'reboot' restoring function!

Wilt wrote in post #19007335
My internet provider also recommends powering down the cable modem, and restarting it, on a frequecy of at least once per month.

My provider recommends the same as power cycling my router forces it to do a firmware update, assuming one exists.

Related, with a desktop, as the OP has, it is still good practice to use an UPS. Put any router on the UPS if convenient and don’t put any laserjet printer on the UPS.

All of you are amazing. There is so much knowledge here. I'm so thankful for being on the receiving end!

Thanks for the lesson on hibernation and sleep. It helps me understand and feeds my curiosity too.

StarlingGirl

Spencerphoto wrote in post #19007297
Do you know is this is true for Macs, too? I put my iMac to sleep several times each day, rather than shut it down completely. I always shut it down before going to bed though.

With the current Mac OS, there can be different states of "sleep" (and some of it is configurable with the preferences window: the list of preferences being different with desktops vs laptops). A laptop gets treated differently where to save battery life, devices do shut down more quickly. "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" doesn't activate if your computer only has ssd(s) for example. The OS also saving a cache file if during shut down, you select "Reopen windows when logging back in".

Hi Craig,

Yozzle (is that a Yiddish word? Just kidding). That makes sense. Thanks for the tip. I would never have thought that and would have likely purchased a new mouse, keyboard or such.


As ever, thank you for all your help.

StarlingGirl

StarlingGirl wrote in post #19007374
Hi Craig,

Yozzle (is that a Yiddish word? Just kidding). That makes sense. Thanks for the tip.

Hehe. It's a created word.
We used it in place of 'disconnect and reconnect several times.'
It seemed an excellent choice to our odd minds.

As with all electrical connections, this process can help with a number of maladies.
I've seen it take care of computer RAM and video issues, as well as with audio gear
and many other sorts of electrical connections.
It's the simplest first step to try, as it costs nothing but small effort.

SkedAddled wrote in post #19007803
Hehe. It's a created word.
We used it in place of 'disconnect and reconnect several times.'
It seemed an excellent choice to our odd minds.

It's a good word. Eventually it'll be placed into Oxford English Dictionary, I bet.

shocolite wrote in post #19000211
Hiya,

If money is tight, you should be able to upgrade your current PC.


2) Don't believe the Microsoft hype of having to pay for Windows 10. They don't advertise it but you still can upgrade from Win7 to 10 for free. It is not illegal - Microsoft just don't advertise this fact. Google it and you should find some links, unfortunately my internet speed is really slow and would take me a while to find a couple of links for you. Thus you can save $120 on your Win 10 upgrade. Windows 7 to 10 upgrades *may* have some limitations (I can't fully remember) in that you may have to upgrade your HDD to Win10 first, then clone to the SSD but if you have the original Win7 licence key I think the process is more straightforward.

Hi Shocolite!!!!

You were right! I was able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, which did save me $120. What a deal. thank you so very much. I really do appreciate your help. You're the best.

StarlingGirl

Success! Windows 10 is up and running! And I got a free copy thanks to Shocolite! [From this link: https://www.zdnet.com …free-windows-10-upgrade/]

Things seem close to perfect.

My file structure is a little strange but I found my data (documents, pictures, videos, etc.). I lost my passwords, but I'll figure that out as time goes on.
Front USB 3.0 port still not working properly. It recognizes my garmin watch, but not my card reader. Strange. I do have one other USB 3.0 port that does work with the card reader however.

Of course, I have to learn to navigate in Windows 10. ugh. slight learning curve, but I'll manage.

Next steps: delete partitions on HDD and then format HDD to use as storage.


I can't tell all of you how excited I am. I got a great upgraded computer for around $160, saving me lots of money. I'm sure I would have had to spend over $800 for a new computer. I can't thank you all enough for hanging in there with me to make this work.

I'm just over the moon on this.

StarlingGirl.