Laptop Goes On, Laptop Goes Off (Chapter 4)
In This Chapter
- Turning on the laptop
- Finding the power button
- Starting Windows
- Locating basic Windows places
- Discovering options for turning off the laptop
- Putting the laptop into Stand By mode
- Hibernating the laptop
- Dealing with shutdown issues
- Changing the power button’s function
Computers stopped coming equipped with on-off switches in the late
1990s. Laptops pioneered the trend. For some reason, computer scientists
decided that consumers were just too satisfied with a reliable, obvious,
trusty old on-off button. It gave users too much control to be able to turn off
the computer at their whim. So an alternative was developed: the frustrating
power button.
Unlike a plain, familiar on-off switch, the power button no longer turns the
computer on and off. Well, it can be trusted to turn the thing on, but off?
That’s an entirely different matter, one that this chapter covers in depth.
Turning It On
Turning on your laptop is cinchy: Just press the power button. A blindfolded
monkey on a sugar high could do that. But what the monkey — and many
laptop users — cannot often do is find the bleeping power button.
 It’s a power button, not an on-off switch.
Before you turn on the power!
Ensure that your laptop is set up in the proper location and position for
working. Yes, this even includes putting it on your lap. But more importantly,
if there is a power source nearby, plug in the laptop! Always use that juice
whenever you can. Save the battery for later.
- If the laptop has a docking station or port replicator, attach it per the
instructions.
- Refer to Chapter 3 for more information on laptop setup.
- See Part IV of this book for information on taking your laptop on the road.
Open the lid
Believe it or not, the laptop must be in an open position for you to use it.
It’s difficult to see the screen and nearly impossible to use the keyboard
with the lid closed. Many have tried. They all failed and, giving up in frustration,
returned the laptop to the store and wrote the whole thing off as a hightech
folly.
Here’s the catch: The lid has a catch, or possibly two! The catch is either a
button that you push in or a little slider that you push sideways to release the
lid. After you release the catch(es), the laptop’s lid pops up slightly. You can
then raise it up to an angle best suited for viewing, according to Figure 4-1.
- If your laptop has one catch that you must release to open the lid, it will
probably be in the middle. If your laptop has two catch release
buttons,they will be on the front corners of the laptop’s lid. The catches
will either be on the front or sides. Figure 4-2 offers some hints.
- The front side of the laptop is the side without all the connectors.
(Though in the future, laptops may have connectors on the front.)
- It’s possible to configure the laptop to be on without opening the lid, for
example when using a docking station or an external monitor. Refer to
Chapter 7 for the details.
- Do be aware that your laptop’s cooling system is designed with the
assumption that the lid will be open. Many laptop users who keep their
systems on while closed have cooked their displays. Beware!
Figure 4-1:
Adjust the
lid so you
view the
screen at an
angle that’s
just right for
you.
Figure 4-2:
Possible
locations
for the lid
catch(es).
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