The real question is...what program is perfect?

Roberto1, I use hibernation all the time and don't have trouble. It is true that a program with a memory leak will eventually cause trouble, but that's true whether you hibernate or not. I find that there are plenty of operations that require a reboot -- Windows update, installs and uninstalls, settings changes, and so on. As a result, my system gets reset often enough to clear out any problems that accumulate over time.

Hibernation is a great time saver, since a resume is much faster than a cold boot power-on. Also, it saves power since a system in hibernate is powered-off just like a system that has been shut down.

Whats the difference between a raphoenix cold boot, and a ScottW warmish boot ? :) lol

@LH,
Nothing the way raphoenix runs his machines. (+18 sec boot times)
For most others, hibernate will result in a faster boot time.
Since everything is dumped to a HD file, hibernate is good for folks with laptops who leave and return to their computers often as battery consumption is (nil) in the hibernate state.
Also total loss of power, in most cases, is (not) problematic in a hibernate state as it could be in a standby state.
HOWEVER, Windows Does Have a Cleanup Routine it performs on Hard Reboots so it is best to completely shutdown a machine if one plans not to use the machine for a period of time. Due to the Clean Up Routine, it is also best not to (Substitute) the hibernate feature as a (Replacement) for a complete shutdown over and over again.
Most know all this "stuff"; I was testing for another reason.

Rick, what is this Clean Up routine that Windows performs? What does it clean? Will this Clean Up be performed on a warm boot or restart? I don't know *that* stuff.

I would not suggest hibernation as a replacement for a complete shutdown, but an alternative.

I leave and return to my PCs many times a day, so Standby and Hibernation are very convenient. When I come back to a PC, I want to use it ASAP. A resume is immediate, a cold boot is long and boring. Also, S3 Standby and Hibernation save a LOT of power. I have measured it and it's quite significant. Anyone who turns out the lights when leaving a room should know that you save energy by putting a PC to sleep -- several incandescent light bulbs worth of energy. Save money on your electric bill and reduce pollution (if you aren't on 100% clean power).

Rick, I did read your post and I don't skip words! :-) I agree that you outlined a use case that exactly describes me and many others. Another use case that I would recommend hibernation to is someone who sits at their computer all day with no long breaks. At the end of the business day, hibernation is a viable alternative to shutdown for such a person. They can resume the next day without having to restart the applications that they always use and open the files they are working on. Of course, there are many users and use cases for which hibernation would not be a good fit and I would not suggest it for them.

Can you please reread my post and answer the question about this Windows Clean Up tool? If you just tell me the name, I could go google it up and learn for myself.

LH, is there a reason that you never use Hibernation or Sleep? The OP asked if hibernation is *harmful* and I'm wondering about that myself. From my personal experience, and that of others I know who standby, hibernate or sleep their PCs regularly, I am unaware of any harm. Of course, that is anecdotal evidence, but so is everything else discussed so far.

Rick, I am not interested in starting a fight with anyone, let alone everyone, not at any time and certainly not every night. If you have evidence of such behavior, please report it to the moderators so that the offender can be reprimanded.

I am here to help others and to learn. I ask questions so that I can learn, not in order to suggest that someone run their computer as I do. Also, no one is obligated to answer my questions.

BTT, I have found the article at eldergeek.com that I believe is quoted above. The article says: "There really isn't a lot of danger in using hibernate." That sounds like an answer to the original question of this thread. However, everyone who wishes can read the article that I'm quoting from and decide for themselves:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/HT0_007.htm

I have searched hard for a description of a "Clean Up Routine" that is built into Windows and I can't find anything. I believe that the eldergeek.com article is suggesting that the effects of poorly behaved programs, such as ones with memory leaks, accumulate over time reducing the efficiency of the system. A full shutdown or restart will provide a fresh environment free of such effects.

As much as I love Vista, I would not use it in a sentence that included the word "logic" :)

Roberto :) don't worry about it. "The congregation" are always like that. But it's in fun, (a lot goes on behind the scenes).
Always remember, "if it works for you", don't listen to others telling you it doesn't.

ScottW,

I think the "clean up routine" Rick was referring to was if you have the windows scheduler enabled to do that "scheduled maintenance" stuff (the "Scheduled Tasks" applet in CP in XP), like defragging and deleting temp files and such. I myself don't use that scheduler thingy, but rather do the defrag, deleting temp files, and such, on demand about once a week.

I have no idea how that scheduler thing works because I don't use it, but as I recall it may "wake" up a computer to do its thing. Whether "wake" means it brings it out of Standby or Hibernation mode, I don't know.