I have a Biostar mobo, and the BIOS manual says that there should be an ACPI suspend type option listed. However, the BIOS only lists the option for enabling/disabling ACPI. I can put the computer into hibernation, but I want to be able to use an S1 or S3 sleep mode option. Is this a problem with the BIOS ? When I put the computer into standby mode, even the CPU fan stays on. I know that certain fans stay on with the S1 mode, but not the CPU fan. Besides, I want to use S3 if possible.

It's not adviseable to use Hibernation or Sleep mode on a desktop system. Do some research...it leads to premature HDD failure.

Thanks for the advice-I’ll look into that. Are you suggesting that the computer be turned off and on several times a day? Wouldn’t that have more of a negative affect on the mobo and/or the HDD? I have been using sleep mode and hibernation for years and haven’t had any premature HDD failure. Besides, there is an option in standby mode to not shut down the HDD in suspend.

"Are you suggesting that the computer be turned off and on several times a day?" No, just make the adjustments to your Power Scheme under Power Option Properties. Right click on the desktop, click Properties, click the Screen Saver tab, then click Power

I know how to adjust the power properties in XP-I've done it millions of times. The problem is that I cannot adjust the type of sleep mode in the BIOS. Also, when you suggest not using power management-my question was: If one uses the computer at many different times of the day, is it better to shut it down and risk perhaps putting more strain on the MOBO, or should one use power management and risk perhaps putting more strain on the HDD(though I'm not sure that id such a risk) ?

It's worse to shutdown your pc down and turn it back on, on your hard drive. It's kind of like a cars starter and that is if you turn on and off the car more times then normal then the starter is going to give out on you sooner then normal. Same theory behind turning your pc on and off when it comes to your hard drive. Most hard drives are rated for 80 thousand or higher start on and off's before something goes wrong, but lets face it by the time that happeneds you will already be into your 3rd of 4th system. As for stand by I have never had a problem with it when it comes to my hard drive. I know any type of shutdown from a hard drive is not good for it, you kind of want it running like a car engine and avoid those cold starts, but considering you will never prob see any damage from it unless you have your pc for 12+ years then it's really no big deal at all. AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz 2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200 Nvidia 7900GT SATA II 2x 200gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0 Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI

Thanks for the advice. My original question was about no ACPI suspend option in the BIOS. I found out that my version of the BIOS doesn't support the choice of S1 versus S3 mode. Thus the sleep mode I can use leaves the CPU fan running. Should I not have the HDD turn off when using sleep mode ? And is it better to use hibernation mode than such a low level of sleep mode, which I know does shut down the HDD, etc ?