Docking and Undocking Windows 2000 Professional users can plug mobile computers in and out of a docking station without rebooting. This is especially helpful because when moving from one environment, such as an office, into a conference room for a presentation open applications and documents continue to run.¹ If users dock the computer into an unknown configuration, new hardware is detected and installed. ¹Applications and hardware must support hot docking. When it comes to efficiency and time management notebooks have always played an important role. Computing anywhere and at any time is important for today's business people. Toshiba's notebooks are recognised as one of the most reliable mobile PCs worldwide. Toshiba notebooks support the hot docking hardware requirements and offer the most convenient way to switch easily from one working environment to another. OnNow: Quick Startup and Shutdown: A typical computer may take several minutes to completely start-far too long for a business meeting where potential clients are short on time and patience. With Windows 2000 Professional the computer can be turned on at the flip of a switch. Support for the ACPI hardware standard allows a user to move from Hibernate mode to on in less than 30 seconds. The startup process of a computer normally uses different layers. At the beginning the BIOS checks the key system components like memory, processor and BIOS. After that the system checks the operating system on the hard disk and tries to start it. Toshiba has optimised the first part of the boot process, which reduces the overall boot and Shutdown time and therefore reduces the amount of battery power which is used for the startup and shut down processes. Power Management - Managing Portable PC Power Maximizing battery life is a constant challenge for mobile users. Windows 2000 Professional supports the latest generation of power management technology called the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) hardware. ACPI defines a flexible and extensible hardware power management interface. A user such as a field sales representative making customer calls and using a mobile PC for taking occasional notes or referring to product specifications could configure the system to turn off the display and hard disk after two minutes of inactivity. And the system can be configured to standby after five minutes, allowing the user to make it through an entire day of customer calls. Performance in this case would be slow, but the user can make the decision as to whether power conservation or performance is more important. The device interface allows a system to respond to events initiated at the device. For example, a mobile PC has a modem connected to a wireless phone. Even while on a train the computer could be put into wait for fax mode, where only the modem is on, using little power. The phone rings, the modem turns on the computer, answers the phone and downloads the fax. Toshiba is one of the key companies, which has developed ACPI jointly with Intel, Microsoft and IBM. Toshiba's competence in developing in Power Management Software has contributed to integrate this professional feature into an operating system. Toshiba notebooks with Windows 95 and Windows 98 have always been equipped with Power Management tools Hibernation and Suspend mode Hibernate mode turns off all power to the computer for an indefinite period of time, while maintaining the state of open programs and connected hardware when the computer went into hibernation. For super fast access, Windows 2000 Professional supports Suspend mode which puts the system into a deep sleep, with some power. Waking from Suspend mode takes only a few seconds yet can add hours to a battery's life. As one of the most experienced and high quality mobile computing manufacturers, Toshiba has always tried to increase the efficiency of mobile workers. Toshiba has started delivering Power Management Software for its notebooks quite early. The suspend/resume functionality has been developed for mobile users to increase efficiency. The hard disk is turned off and the CPU is made to idle at its slowest speed. All open applications are retained in memory. With the introduction of Windows 98, the hibernation support was developed for all Toshiba notebooks to increase efficiency. The hibernation tools turns off all power of the PC and saves the status of the current PC on the hard disk. If you start the PC again the user can continue working where they had stopped.