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Don't touch that power plug!
Partly due to our Green Computing campaign and partly due to upbringing, I habitually turn computers and other equipment off at the wall. Since the introduction of ATX case design, computers are never really off; the power supply is still providing power to the computer.
This has never presented a problem and may have saved me a few pennies over the years but may now be a problem with Windows Vista.
I've mentioned in a previous post that my notebook enters a 'sleep' mode rather than shutting down. A little investigation proved that this is true of desktop computers as well. The problem here is that a desktop PC has no battery to keep information safe until the computer is turned on again or decides to hibernate to save the files to disk.
What can be done?
The settings for the Start menu button cannot be changed so the first step is to turn on Hybrid Sleep. This mode takes a little longer but it saves documents to the hard disk so that a loss of power does not destroy them. I would say this is an essential change for notebook users.
It will probably come as no surprise that accessing this option is a rather convoluted process. Click on the Start button and then on Control Panel. Click on System and Mainenance, then Change when the computer sleeps and then on Change advanced power settings. Click on the + next to Sleep and then next to Allow hybrid sleep. Turn it on for both battery and plugged in.
The other is to use the extended shutdown menu to the right of the lock computer icon in the Start Menu to either hibernate or shut down the computer. You can then be reassured that, not only are your files safe, but you are doing something to help the environment.
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