Wouldn?t it be nice...

[JackOfHearts]

Wouldn?t it be nice if when windows XP said saving settings, when you rebooted it actually meant it? By that I mean, saved what programs you had open, even what documents, and what web-pages you had open in IE. I would consider using IE if it has this feature.
I hate when I install a windows update or new drivers, and it forces me to reboot, then open all the crap I had open all over again. If this is already a feature, then someone please tell me how to set it up? If not wouldn?t it be nice?

 

[Markbnj]

It's not a feature. When you restart the operating system it boots clean with only the o/s core, device drivers, services, and start-up applications running. You're thinking of something like a suspend, which XP can also do for power conservation reasons. But a reboot is a reboot. The only way that XP could implement a feature like this would be to take a snapshot of everything that is running, and try to relaunch it on start. Each program would have to respond to some standard means of commanding it to reload its last workspace. Many programs can be passed a document or file on the command line, but where were you in the file? MS could enforce some conventions in its own software, but in general I don't think it's a very good idea. One of the things about a cold boot is that you know you are just getting startup code running. How does the O/S know what you want restored, and what you don't? What if you are trying to get rid of something that is running and in a hung state? What if it is in a hung state because of a problem with the file you were working on?

 

[ForumMaster]

it's called hibernation. when you do it, windows copies the RAM to a file on the HDD. when you turn on the computer, it loads that file and whatever you were doing will be there. to enable it, go to the power control panel and select hibernation. BTW, if you want something that will save your session of web sites, check out Opera. link in sig. it saves what you have open and opens it up next time you turn on the browser. really nice feature.

 

[cubby1223]

Windows updates are downloaded but once a month. And you can set them not to auto-install, but to install whenever you choose, so you can plan for a reboot. Same with drivers, you can install them at any time you want.

 

[Nothinman]

The only way that XP could implement a feature like this would be to take a snapshot of everything that is running, and try to relaunch it on start. Each program would have to respond to some standard means of commanding it to reload its last workspace

No, you could take a snapshot of just those processes and restore them on bootup. Assuming all of the files are still where they were during the snapshot it should be fine. I've seen talks of that on lkml for things like process migration between servers with no downtime.

What would be nice is if Windows allowed operations on open files so that you can updated binaries that are currently running, that would save a ton of reboots cause by patching.

 

[Markbnj]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

The only way that XP could implement a feature like this would be to take a snapshot of everything that is running, and try to relaunch it on start. Each program would have to respond to some standard means of commanding it to reload its last workspace

No, you could take a snapshot of just those processes and restore them on bootup. Assuming all of the files are still where they were during the snapshot it should be fine. I've seen talks of that on lkml for things like process migration between servers with no downtime.

What would be nice is if Windows allowed operations on open files so that you can updated binaries that are currently running, that would save a ton of reboots cause by patching.

Yeah, I was thinking of ways that existing mechanisms could be used.

 

[tersome]

Originally posted by: JackOfHeartsBy that I mean, saved what programs you had open, even what documents, and what web-pages you had open in IE. I would consider using IE if it has this feature.

Google Sessionsaver for firefox. Firefox 2 has this built in, it's so good.

 

[Nothinman]

Yeah, I was thinking of ways that existing mechanisms could be used.

Nothing existing will work exactly how he wants, it requires kernel support.