For Seniors: Define Laptop Power Button Functions
You can control what happens when you press the Power button on your laptop, close its lid, or press the Sleep button (if your laptop offers one). When you perform one of these actions, you can opt to have your laptop go into Sleep mode, Hibernate mode, shut down completely, or do nothing at all.
Choose Start→Control Panel→Hardware and Sound.
The Hardware and Sound window appears.
In the Power Options section, click the Change What the Power Buttons Do link.
The System Settings window appears.
Change the options in the On Battery and Plugged In columns.
The options (depending on the setting) include:
Do Nothing: Does nothing. You guessed that, right?
Sleep: Essentially pauses your computer, leaving your open programs and documents intact, held in your computer memory. When you awaken your computer, it comes back almost immediately, ready for you to work. Sleep draws a small amount of power.
Hibernate: Saves open programs and documents on your computer hard drive and then turns off your computer so you’re not using any power. If you’ll be away from your computer for a while but want to return to the items you had opened before quickly, Hibernate is a good choice.
Hibernate is usually the default action when you close a laptop lid. Hibernate requires you to log on again when you revive your computer by pressing Enter, clicking the power button, or using your mouse.
Shut Down: Closes any open programs and powers down your computer. You have to turn the power on again to use it — no programs or documents are open when you turn the laptop on again.
For security, consider using the Require a Password setting in the System Settings window to require that a password be entered to access your computer.
