A method and system for auxiliary processing of information for a computing device. By simplifying the user managed power states to On and Standby, the computing device preserves its execution context by default when the machine is powered down. As a result, the computing device is made available for use even when it appears to be powered down. The computer hardware and software is capable of responding immediately to network or communication activity, user input, and other events. While the computer is in Standby, it is alert and able to handle background tasks that do not require user interaction. Activities such as answering phone calls, handling voice mail, displaying new e-mail, record voice messages, browsing the Internet, recording TV shows and so forth occur without the user having to turn on the computer.