Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Putting Desktop Macs to Sleep
For what it's worth, it isn't just portable Macs that hibernate—desktop Macs
support it too. Once you've changed the setting as described earlier, click
Apple menu→Sleep to hibernate. After a minute or so, the computer will
completely power down. To wake the computer from hibernation, depress the
power button as usual.
For desktop Macs that take a long time to boot from cold, hibernating can
save a few seconds each time you boot.
Restoring the Original Setting
To return to the standard sleep mode later, open a Terminal window, and
type the following:
SUDO PMSET -A HIBERNATEMODE 3
Tip 122
Fix a Slow Boot
If you find there's a huge delay after the desktop first appears until the com-
puter becomes usable, try cleaning up your desktop by removing as many
files, folders, and aliases as you can without impeding your workflow. Either
create folders and file things away in them or put things where they're
supposed to go in your
DOCUMENTS
,
MOVIES
, and so on, folders. Try to have as few
icons on your desktop as possible, and definitely try to avoid any that might
be automatically turned into thumbnail previews, such as movies and pictures,
because this adds to OS X's workload when it's already busy loading the
system at boot time.
You can try turning off icon thumbnailing by right-clicking a blank spot on
the desktop and selecting Show View Options. In the dialog that appears,
remove the check from Show Icon Preview. Close the dialog box. The changes
take effect immediately.
Also consider pruning the number of programs that start when you boot—see
