ACPI : Computer Hardware Buyers’ Glossary

2008-07-28 by Roedy Green ©1997-2008 Canadian Mind Products
index page for letter ⇒ punctuation 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z (all)

ACPI: Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. A specification for BIOS features to allow a desktop computer go into various power-saving modes of sleep.
working state: Normally a computer is in working mode when it is fully powered up and executing instructions.
sleeping state: If a computer shuts down to conserve power, but keeps RAM powered up read for rapid restart, that is called sleeping.
hibernation state: In hibernation, the state of the comuter is saved to disk, and RAM is powered off to conserver power. It takes longer to recover, but it is safe from power failure.
soft-off state: Soft-off means the computer is powered off, with just a few components left running so that a keystroke can restart the computer ready for reboot. USB ports, Ethernet cards, the mouse, clock (alarm) can bring a computer out of one of soft-off, hibernation or sleep state.
mechanical-off state: Mechanical off is equivalent to pulling the plug. Only the real time clock continues to run. To bring it out of this state, you would need a UPS with AC power control.

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