One thing that the other answers have omitted is that, in modern operating systems, the entire hibernated contents of the RAM are not written back right away upon awakening. Enough is written back to make the computer usable, and the rest is used like a virtual memory cache, with the memory manager deciding what does and doesn't need to be written back to memory--the same way it works when you are just using computer normally.
Windows 8 even takes this further, in that it separates out two different parts of memory and hibernates them into different files. Only the part needed to have the computer running at all is in the hibernation file. The rest is written directly to the page file. In fact, the fast "startup mode" of Windows 8 is actually just resuming from hibernation using the hibernation file, but not using the page file. Hence, your friend is likely using hibernation all the time without knowing it.
The main benefit in not hibernating is just that you start out with a clean slate. (Or cleaner state in the case of Windows 8's fast start up mode). Memory does get corrupted over time. But you deal with the same issue just from leaving your computer on all the time.
The best solution is just to occasionally restart your computer. If you have Windows updates turned on (and you should) you probably do that anyways.
74It couldn’t “burst in to the RAM” even if it wanted to, because a hard drive or even SSD is several orders of magnitude slower than RAM. ;) – Daniel B – 2015-04-29T08:33:03.807
84I have bad news for your friend. Your friend knows nothing about memory in a computer works. If hibernate caused physical damage to computers it wouldn't exist on nearly ever operating system in existence. – Ramhound – 2015-04-29T11:00:39.457
55Did he say "RAM"? Maybe he meant the SSD? Forcing the OS to page out all the RAM definitely increases the amount of data written to the SSD, reducing its lifetime. – AndreKR – 2015-04-29T13:28:14.163
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Computers usually use DRAM so it seems unlikely as the DRAM is constantly refreshed. I means that whole RAM is read and written to about 15 times per second. So it would seem likely that any other read/write would have negligible effect on lifetime. Assume you would hibernate/resume only for 15 minutes each time - you would get 13500 writes of whole memory due to refreshes and 1 due to resume.
– Maciej Piechotka – 2015-04-29T15:51:12.50320Your RAM can happily shovel around several gigabytes of data per second, all day, every day. Your friend is talking nonsense. – Boann – 2015-04-29T11:39:13.943
5The RAM will be fine as long as the hard drive truly loves the RAM and treats it gently, with the care, attention and respect it deserves. – JakeGould – 2015-04-30T00:35:41.447
4It could theoretically happen if you use ferrite core memory for your RAM. However, I doubt that you'll find a computer which uses ferrite core memory and has a modern operating system capable of hibernation, as ferrite core memory was obsoleted 40 years ago. – vsz – 2015-04-30T10:03:33.313
@AndreKR OP is using an SSD? – MonkeyZeus – 2015-04-30T19:23:47.933
1@MonkeyZeus Who isn't? :D – AndreKR – 2015-04-30T19:47:52.790
@AndreKR Looks like OP isn't based on this part:
...data stored on the hard disk will...
– MonkeyZeus – 2015-04-30T19:51:16.2471Good catch. Still, I can imagine the OP's friend meant that hibernating can cause damage to SSDs. – AndreKR – 2015-04-30T20:50:28.870
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@AndreKR is right, see http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/disable-hibernate-ssd-warranty-purposes/. "A PC with 32GB of RAM, if hibernated 4 times a day, writes up to 46.7 terabytes per year in hibernate file writes alone. This voids many manufacturer warranties, if they place a cap on “host-writes” (which differs from NAND writes, due to a factor known as “write amplification“."
– amdn – 2015-05-01T15:23:56.950I recall hearing a story Back In The Day that goes something like: A government-run lab were given a brand-spanking new computer. The scientists all oooh-ed and aaah-ed over it as it was installed, and profusely thanked the minister whose influence had enabled the lab to get the computer. About a year later, though, when the minister visited the lab again he found that the computer was sitting in a darkened room, turned off. Upon inquiring "Why?" he was told, "Well, there's only so many machine cycles built in to the computer, and we don't want to use them up too quickly". :-) – Bob Jarvis - Reinstate Monica – 2015-05-01T16:40:14.637
I wonder if the number of upvotes on this question is indicative of the amount of misinformation that is propagated about technology by people who don't understand it. – RockPaperLizard – 2015-05-02T08:09:40.953
Your friend was joking :-) "Burst into RAM" - there is no such thing. I wonder why moderator has protected this post. I would delete it at all. And I wonder why do people write 6 answers when all the answers are stating the obvious - NO. – Jet – 2015-05-02T23:15:21.203
1@Jet: It's only "obvious" when you know the answer. This is a perfectly reasonable question. – Lightness Races with Monica – 2015-05-03T01:42:53.697
No. It doesn't affect the RAM, normally when you use hibernation the system store the RAM to the HDD and on next boot it will reload it again from the disk to the RAM. – garybsimon – 2015-04-29T08:22:43.553