Sleep mode immediately puts your computer in a low-power mode: The monitor turns black, and Windows seems to shut down. You can, however, return to your work just as you left it by pressing one of the arrow keys on the keyboard or moving the mouse. It's rather like your monitor waking up from a screen saver snooze: It saves time and electricity, and makes it easier to return to your work "already in progress." To go into sleep mode, choose Start, click the right arrow button on the Start menu, and then choose Sleep from the pop-up menu.
Not all computers support sleep mode. Check your computer or motherboard manual to see whether you can use this feature. If you can use Windows's sleep mode, you may also be able to set your computer's power switch to activate sleep mode rather than turn off the computer. Or, your computer can go into sleep mode automatically after a certain amount of inactivity. Manually save your documents before putting your computer in sleep mode because putting your machine into sleep mode does not save to your hard drive the files you're working with - instead, they're saved to your computer's memory. You lose everything if your computer is hit with a power failure and you haven't saved your documents.
Hibernation is a variation of sleep mode that's popular with laptop owners. It takes longer for your computer to switch to hibernation mode or to return from hibernation, but that's because a snapshot of your computer's current state is saved to your hard drive. Unlike in sleep mode, a power failure while your computer is hibernating doesn't result in lost files! As with sleep mode, your computer's motherboard must support Windows 7 hibernation mode. When you want to put your machine in hibernation mode, choose Start, click the right-arrow button on the Start menu, and then choose Hibernate from the pop-up menu.
The last three system choices available from the right-arrow button on the Start menu are useful in a multiuser environment: in other words, when multiple people are sharing the same computer at different times and using a different user account for each person.
Switch User: If another user simply needs the computer for a short time, you can choose the Switch User menu item, which allows another person to log on and take care of business. Unlike logging off, however, your applications continue running . When that other person has finished with her account, she can log off, allowing you to return to your far more important tasks! In other words, Windows 7 is allowing two accounts to run at the same time but allowing only one person to use the computer.
Log Off: Leave your computer running but allow others to log on to the computer if they enter a valid username and password. Like a true shutdown, logging off in Windows 7 automatically closes most applications and any open documents. To pass the computing torch to someone else, choose Start, click the right-arrow button on the Start menu, and then choose Log Off from the pop-up menu.
Lock: Choose Lock, and Windows 7 immediately displays a passwordprotected screen that prevents anyone from logging in or using the machine until the proper password is provided. In effect, a Locked system operates just like it would with a password-protected screen saver.
Windows 7 keeps track of each different user's account data and documents, so you can be assured that everything you don't want seen by others remains private.
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