Disable Hibernation to Save Hard Drive Space

When a computer is put on the hibernation mode, the computer takes a snapshot of all the memory contents and the computer settings and saves all this information on the hard disk of the computer. After the information is saved, the computer turns off. The advantage of putting the computer on the hibernation mode is that when the computer is restarted all the memory contents and the settings are restored to the time when the computer was turned off. A great benefit of this is that there is no need for power by the computer to maintain itself in the hibernation state unlike the standby mode. When the computer comes out of the hibernation mode all the programs and documents are restored. However, turning off hibernation mode can save a lot of disk space. The amount of space it will save depends on your pc, but it could save gigabytes worth of space.

How to Turn off Hibernation in Windows 7

In Windows 7, the option of hibernation is enabled and is turned on by default. The hibernation option should be available in the start menu, but if one wishes to turn off the hibernation, certain basic steps need to be followed.

A command prompt needs to be opened. For this, type cmd in the start search option and then press Shift + Control + Enter on the keyboard.
Another option is to select Run from the Cmd search results
Type the command powercfg -h off and press enter

By typing the above command the hibernation option will turn off from the computer.

How to Turn off Hibernation in Vista

Hibernation is one of the seven options in the shutdown menu of Vista. Unlike in Windows XP, it is not possible for users to turn off the hibernation option in the Vista interface. The only option available to the users to turn off hibernation is to depend on the command line utility Powercfg along with the Disk Cleanup wizard. The first way to do this is by following the following instructions:

Click on Start and in the Start Search Box type cmd
When the search results appear right click on the cmd or command prompt and then on the pop up contextual menu click on the Run as Administrator option
The User Account Control will prompt for permission, you need to click on continue.
When the prompt for command comes, type the command and 'powercfg.exe –h off' and press enter
Type exit and then press enter

Another easier option available to disable hibernation option is to use the Disk Cleanup Wizard Tool if they are not comfortable working with the command line. When the hibernation feature is enabled, then only can the user access the hybrid sleep feature. The following steps need to be followed to turn off the hibernation option.

Click on the Start option and then go to All Programs. In the sub menu of all programs click on Accessories and then System Tools. Cick on and run the Disk Cleanup
Then you can choose which files you want to clean. You can choose from Files from All users on the computer or My files only
In the 'Drive Selection' to clean up, select the Windows Vista boot drive. The C drive is the drive where Vista is installed normally and the hiberfil.sys will also be located in this folder only.
After the Disk Cleanup finishes the scan on the system, the window for Disk Cleanup for Vista will open.
There will be an option of Hibernation File Cleaner and you need to click on the check box next to it.
After this is done click the Ok button
The hibernation will be disabled and removed from the system

How to turn off Hibernation on XP

Turning off the hibernation on XP is also available and this helps up in freeing the space on the hard disk of the system. The following steps need to be followed to disable the hibernation option in XP:

On the desktop, right click and then click on the properties
On top, there are different tabs and there is a screen saver tab and click on it
In the tab there will be a power setting button and one needs to click on it
There will be a hibernate tab in the power options properties and one needs to click on it
The hibernation option will be enabled and it needs to be unchecked to disable it
Click on Ok and then there will be another window, click ok on that too

Depending on the operating system there are different ways to disable the hibernation option in the computer to free space on the hard disk.

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-By Dominic

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