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Hibernation is a great feature that's often sadly ignored despite its great benefits. It's like Stand By mode where you save battery power, but instead of merely entering a low-power state, the computer is actually turned off. Everything in memory is saved, however, so that when the computer is turned on again, it's like you never left.
Putting Your Laptop into Hibernation
Here's how to hibernate your laptop:
1. Save your work.
Do this as a precaution; you should always save your stuff. Even so, there is no need to quit any applications now.
2. Click the Start button.
3. Click the Turn Off Computer button.
The Turn Off Computer box thing appears.
4. Press the Shift key.
You'll notice that the caption beneath the Stand By button changes to read Hibernate. Keep that Shift key down!
If the caption does not change, then your laptop lacks the Hibernation feature (or it hasn't been enabled).
5. Click the Hibernate button.
The laptop hums for a few moments, then it hibernates and turns itself off.
That humming is the laptop saving everything in memory to disk. When the laptop turns itself off, it's really off. You can touch the keyboard or jiggle the mouse, and that won't wake it up again.
To rouse the laptop from its hibernated state, turn it on. (Just press the power button on your laptop.) You may have to log back into Windows, but eventually you'll see the desktop and any open applications just as you left them before hibernating.
 | - The best way to tell the difference between a laptop in Hibernation mode or Stand By is that Stand By mode usually has that moon icon lit. In Hibernation mode, the laptop appears to be turned off. (Which it is.)
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- You may prefer to put your laptop into hibernation if you know you're not going to be using it for longer than an hour or so.
 | - A big advantage of hibernation is that it's quicker to start the computer than a regular start up. Some hibernation fans always hibernate their computers and never really turn them off.
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- Unlike Stand By mode, you can leave your laptop in a hibernated state for as long as you wish. Even if the batteries eventually drain, the system will return to where you left it once the computer is plugged in and started again.
Turning on Hibernation mode
If your laptop seems to be unable to enter Hibernation mode, follow these steps:
1. From the Start menu, choose the Control Panel.
2. Open the Power Options icon in the Control Panel.
3. In the Power Options Properties dialog box, look for and click on the Hibernation tab.
If there is no Hibernation tab, then there's your answer: The laptop is not capable of hibernating. Oh well. (You might want to also check the laptop's Setup program to see if hibernation can be activated there.)
4. Select the Enable Hibernation option by clicking the check box to place a check mark in it.
5. Review other options, if available.
6. Click OK to confirm the changes and close the Power Options Properties dialog box.
7. Optionally, close the Control Panel window as well.
Some laptops may require you to restart Windows for this change to take effect.
 | Note that Hibernation mode requires hard drive space. When hard drive space runs low, it's possible that Hibernation mode won't work. Be aware of that. |
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