Jan's Working with Windows:

   Shut Down

While recent versions of Windows are even more forgiving of mistakes than previous versions, it is still quite possible to destroy your hard work, without much effort. One error that is common to newcomers is turning off the computer without saving your documents and closing the applications. That power switch can be dangerous to your work!

This section will show you how to shut down the computer correctly. The directions are for a keyboard method (without using the mouse). These keyboard skills are actually quite useful at those times when your mouse decides to take a vacation from reality.

Options for quitting what you are doing

Recent versions of Windows have several choices besides just turning off the computer. Which choices you see will depend on the version of Windows and on the particular computer, especially for laptops and tablets.

Switch user - Lets you switch to a different user account without closing down the open programs. The computer is, of course, left turned on. When you switch back to the original user, all of the programs appear just the way they were before you switched users.

Log off - Leaves the computer on but closes any open programs and returns you to the logon screen. This leaves the computer ready for the next person and also keeps the computer awake for the technical staff to manage from afar.

Lock - Lets you keep others from using your computer while it is still on. You must re-enter your password to unlock the computer.

Restart - Closes documents and applications and shuts down the computer, but immediately restarts it. This is useful when installing software that requires a restart to finish the installation.

Restart to fix a glitch: A restart can often fix a computer that is behaving oddly. Sometimes a restart is not enough rest/cool down. You might need to shut down the computer and let it sit there and cool off for a half hour or so. If a long rest cures a problem for a while, you need to figure out what is wrong before it gets worse and worse! A dead fan inside the case, an accumulation of dust in there, and a dying power supply are prime suspects.

Shut down - Closes all your programs and turns off the computer. Most programs (but not all!) will prompt you to save any unsaved documents as part of the shut down process.

Install updates and shut down - When one or more updates have been downloaded but not installed yet, the next time you shut down or restart the computer, the update(s) will be installed before the computer is shut down.  How long the installation will take depends on the size and complexity of the updates. It can add several minutes to the shut down process AND to the next start up. You may or may not see a message about the installation during shut down. You should see a screen tip about a successful installation when you start up again. But look around quickly! Screen tips fade away after a few seconds.

Low-Power Modes

When you are not going to work for a while, you can save electricity or battery charge by putting the computer into a low-power mode. This is especially useful for laptops and tablets that are running on battery power.

Which choices you have will depend on your version of Windows and on what modes your computer can use. The modes are different in how fast the computer returns to normal and in what happens if power is lost while in the low power state.

Sleep/Stand by - Saves your work to memory and puts the computer into a low-power state. If the computer loses power while asleep, the changes saved only to memory are lost. Waking up from Sleep or Stand By mode is quick.

Hibernate - Saves your work to memory and to the hard disk or solid state drive and then puts the computer into a lower-power state than Stand by does. If the computer loses power while in hibernate mode, your recent work is not lost. Waking up from Hibernation is slower than from Sleep/Stand By. Hibernation creates more 'saves' which wears out a solid state drive somewhat faster.

Hybrid Sleep - In Windows Vista on some computers, sleep combines features of stand by and hibernate. Open documents are saved to memory and to the hard disk.