• Changing the Whole On-Off
  

Changing the Whole On-Off Scheme of Things

As I’ve said throughout this chapter, your laptop doesn’t have an on-off switch, it has a power button. While that may seem frustrating, it actually has one nice benefit: You control what happens when you press the power button.

While pressing the power button on a laptop that’s off will turn it on, when the laptop is on, what happens when you press the power button is up to you. Now that’s power!

Setting the function of the power button

To tell the computer what do to when you press the power button, abide by these steps:

1. From the Start button’s menu, choose the Control Panel.

Chapter 6 offers more help on getting to and using the Control Panel should you need it.

2. Open the Power Options icon.

3. In the Power Options Properties dialog box, look for and click the Advanced tab.

On the bottom part of the Advanced tab, you’ll find a section roped off called Power Buttons, as shown in Figure 4-7. Note that you may not see all of the options as shown in that figure.

4. From the drop-down list under When I Press the Power Button on My Computer, choose an option.

There are five options:

A. Do nothing. The power button is disabled and not used for turning off the laptop. In that case, you have to use the Start button’s Turn Off Computer command instead.

B. Ask me what to do. In this case, pressing the power button displays the Turn Off Computer message (refer to Figure 4-6). You choose what to do from that menu.

C. Stand by. The computer goes into Stand By mode.

D. Hibernate. The computer goes into Hibernation mode.

E. Shut down. The computer shuts down Windows and then turns itself off.

Figure 4-7: Lording it over the power button.

Any of these items can be chosen and assigned to the power button.

For example, if you want the laptop to hibernate whenever you press the power button, assign that option to the power button’s function.

5. Click the OK button to set the option.

And the power button’s function is changed.

6. Close the Control Panel.

This change does not affect the power button’s duties for turning on or waking up the computer.

Note that not all of the options listed in this section may be available. It all depends on your laptop’s design and whether certain functions have been enabled by the manufacturer. In other words, don’t get all bent out of shape and yell at me just because I list an option that isn’t on your laptop!

Changing the sleep button’s function

If your laptop has a sleep button, you can use the Advanced tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box to set its function as well. Refer to the previous section, where the power button information also applies to the sleep button.

• Not every laptop has a separate sleep button; sometimes the Power button is the sleep button.



• The sleep button has the moon icon. Refer to Figure 4-3.

What happens when you just close the lid?

Ah, one of the great laptop mysteries, ranking up there with “Does the light in the refrigerator go off when I close the door?” is “What happens to my laptop when I close the lid?”

On my laptop, the sucker goes into sleep mode when I close the lid. That’s handy for when the nasty manager comes over and tells me that I’ve spent too much time working in the restaurant, and he needs my table for an actual paying customer. It’s close and run!

While it makes sense that the laptop goes into Stand By mode when the lid is closed, that’s not always the case. Like the power button, you can determine what happens when you close the laptop’s lid. Here’s how:

1. Choose Start?Control Panel and double-click the Power Options icon.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

In the Power Buttons area, you’ll find an option for what do to when the computer’s lid is closed — just like for the power button. The options, however, are skinny:

A. Do nothing. The laptop continues to stay on and happy when you close the lid.

B. Stand by. The laptop blanks out into Stand By mode.

C. Hibernate. The laptop becomes a bear and hibernates.

Obviously, the Ask Me What to Do option would be pointless with the lid closed, and the Turn the Computer Off option may be a bit drastic. But those three options make sense.

Yes, even the Do Nothing option makes sense. After all, if you want to keep your computer docked and use a larger screen and separate keyboard and mouse, it’s handy to also keep the laptop’s lid down.

3. Choose an option.

4. Click the OK button.

And the laptop’s lid has newfound powers.

5. Close the Control Panel.

Again, I find the Stand By option to be the most logical choice. However, for situations where the laptop is plugged in all the time, perhaps the Hibernate option is the best choice.