Power-button in Windows Vista

You may have noticed that the Start->Power-button in Windows Vista does not give you the same alternatives as it did in the previous versions of Windows. This article will show you how to configure this.

How to configure

To enter the configuration-panel for the power-button, go to Start ->Control Panel->Hardware and Sound-> Power Options->System Settings. You will then have a window that looks like this:

This window will allow you to choose what should happen when you press the power-button or when you close the lid if it is a laptop you are using.

• 'Shut-down' will close your session and shut down the computer completely so that it uses no power.
• 'Hibernate' will store your session to disk and shut down the computer completely so that it uses no power. When you start the computer again it will say "Resuming Windows" while starting and you will enter the session you had earlier with all programs and such running.
• 'Sleep' will store your session to RAM and shut down the computer. It will use a tiny bit of power, but in most cases you can leave the computer unplugged for several hours before it shut downs completely. When you decide to start the computer up again, you will enter your last session in the same way as with Hibernate. The Sleep option allows for a bit quicker start-up than Hibernate because it is easier for the computer to access RAM than disk. (Quicker)

When you are happy with your choices, press 'Save changes' and test to see if it worked and you are happy with the choices made. If not, repeat the procedure above until you are happy.

This configuration window also offers the choice of using passwordless login. This is not recommended for laptops or computers with more than one user.