Change the Windows Vista Power Buttons to Shut Down instead of Sleep
The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep. I found this really annoying especially as I am never sure how to get my PC “out” of hibernate and it can sometimes take forever.
Anyway, you can change this pretty easily by using the advanced power settings panel. The easiest way to get there is to
Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following:
powercfg.cpl,1
Otherwise you can get there by going to Control Panel=>Power Options=> Change Plan Settings=> Change Advanced Power Settings
Once you get to this dialog, browse down as shown to “Power buttons and lid”
From here, you can change the options:
- Power button action - Changes the hardware power button action
- Start menu power button - Changes the power button on the Start Menu
You can change the power button to either Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down, or even nothing for the hardware power button.