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If I understand hibernation correctly, RAM contents is save as a temp file on the hard disk so that all work can be resumed even after power to the computer has been cut (for a desktop anyway). Is there a way to do this before restarting? I don't understand why if its possible to do this and completely cut power to the computer it isn't possible to do it before a restart?

Michael Scott
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    Edit your question and include what OS you are using – Ramhound Mar 27 '17 at 22:36
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    *"Is there a way to do this before restarting?"* -- No, because that makes no sense at all. Either you *save* the machine state in order to *resume* later, or you *discard* the machine state and start over. What purpose is there in saving the machine state, and then starting with a clean initialized state? – sawdust Mar 27 '17 at 23:00

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If RAM were dumped to hard disk before a restart, and then read back in afterwards, it wouldn't be a restart. It would be a hibernation.

The point of restart is to clear ram and reload the OS and programs.

The point of hibernation is to continue where you left off after you resupply power.

If you are interested in analysing your ram contents as a file, you can dump to disk: Linux: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/programming-9/copy-ram-to-disk-502547/ Windows: How can I dump the memory of a process in Windows 7?

Sir Adelaide
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  • I don't typically upvote an answer like this, due to "click here for more information" type link, but the response otherwise is gold – Ramhound Mar 27 '17 at 23:16
  • Thanks for the feedback. I'm not expecting the info in the links to be central to the question or answer. But I thought that if I had misinterpreted the question then they could lead to discussion from OP that would illuminate why he wants to do this, allowing a better answer to be written. – Sir Adelaide Mar 28 '17 at 00:40