Trying to better understand Instant On

[qwertymodo]

Ok, so there are a couple things I don't really get about Instant On. First of all, when you enable Instant On, how are you supposed to put the computer into IO's special sleep mode? Does it replace Windows' Sleep Mode in the Start menu, or do you just shut the lid? Secondly, I have read that if the battery drops below a certain point, IO backs up the current state of the machine to the hard drive so you don't lose your data. Does this utilize Windows' built-in hibernation? I have disabled hibernation on my machine because space is a premium on my SSD (especially since I have a sizable Steam collection), so if I use Instant On with Windows hibernation disabled, will I lose everything if the battery dies? I've searched online, but all I've managed to find about IO sounds like marketing releases, and I've been unable to find technical explanations. Thanks.

[Korky]

I always have my battery disconnected and I run on AC power. I've had InstantON uninstalled since day one since I never really stand by nor do I have the need of it

One question though, will InstantON without having a battery inserted?

[colpolite]

Instant On is just makin everything complicated and confusing. We survived w/o it before so i'd rather just use the regular normal way of hibernating or sleeping and problem solved.

[c_man]

Like I told you, Instant on is just a fancy name for Sleep (well, almost). But I guess I assumed too much since it looks like some people know very little about it (maybe they passed Vista completly, who knows) and most never got the Hybrid sleep active (that I call just Sleep since it's on the market for so long now, like 3rd OS long).



There is a small difference. When your system enters Hybrid sleep, it will also save data on the HDD. So it takes some time to "shut down" based on how much data needs to be written and HDD speed. Wake is very fast, Instant on fast.

I never had a problem with it, but I use Instant on now.

If I plan not to use the laptop for a long time, I shut it down or use hibernation if needed. While hybrid sleep is active in a profile, hibernation is not available (that is why I use Instant on, no more one click profile change to get hibernation).

I have never seen the safe feature of Instant on working, so I can't tell you much about that.

[SgtPepper]

Great thread, I,ve often wondered what easy on does too. I turned off hibernation and gained 12 GB of data, will uninstalling easy on do the same??

[qwertymodo]

SgtPepper wrote:
Great thread, I,ve often wondered what easy on does too. I turned off hibernation and gained 12 GB of data, will uninstalling easy on do the same??

It shouldn't, unless IO creates its own hibernation file, which is one of the main things I'm still not clear on. The marketing-speak claims that if your battery runs out, it saves your data and shuts down to prevent losing your data (i.e. hibernates), but it is not clear if this is through Windows' built-in hibernation or if it has its own mechanism for hibernation. This is important to somebody who has disabled hibernation in order to free up a significant amount of space on my system SSD. With Windows hibernation disabled, can IO still save my data if the battery is depleted while in IO's uber sleep mode, or will it just die because I have disabled hibernation? Of course, this is a worst-case scenario, as I also would normally save and shut down manually if I were to know I was not going to use the computer for extended periods of time, but if I am uncertain about something important like whether or not I'm going to lose my data, it makes me hesitant to use the feature at all.

[taavi]

Hi

Thanks for nice overview of this topic.

Question for me is that do I need that desktop application for Instant On functionality? I like this faster resume whatever it does, but this app is annoying and taking up screen real-estate.

[Tomislav]

I like this app. Period. As Marshall said best of two worlds...as the great video said, "faster than an apple" 😄

[Dr4g0n36]

Useful post! ---> uninstalled 😄

[babyjosef17]

What I want to know is when in IO sleep mode, can I bag the laptop and freely move about?

I know for my work laptops (Lenovo, DELL) when in sleep mode I cannot place tem inside the bag because after an hour the inside will heat up like an oven.

[danwat1234]

Can somebody please take their Asus laptop, have "Instant On" disabled. Then tell windows to put it to sleep. Then wake it up and time it. What's the time difference between going to sleep and waking up with instant on enabled and disabled? My guess is very little if any difference.

Since when has sleep mode taken a long time on any laptop? My old Pentium m HP laptop goes to sleep pretty quick (limited by hard drive IO/low RAM) and wakes up in about 5 seconds.
Heck, my G50VT laptop resumes from sleep in 2 seconds with windows 8 with no magical instant on software and takes 6 seconds to get to sleep.

EDIT So I have my new Asus u47a laptop and there is no difference in speed in waking up with instant on being enabled or disabled. It might take a few more seconds for it to sleep with instant on disabled but not sure.
So that means that with it enabled, it definitely isn't 'hybrid sleep'ing to have the speed of waking from sleep but data retention of hibernate. With is disabled it obviously isn't 'hybrid sleep'ing either.

The only real difference I saw was the estimated number of days of sleep time on battery power on the windows sidebar rose from 5 day to 8 to 9 days with it disabled/enabled. Who knows how it saves power.