How to Turn Off Your Computer
To turn off your computer when you’re done using it, you need to
initiate a shut down sequence in your
operatingsystem instead of simply turning off the power.
Choose Start and then
click the Shut Down button.
If you prefer to stop your computer running but not turn the
power off, click the arrow to the right of the Shut Down button and, in the
resulting shortcut menu
, choose Hibernate on a
laptop (or simply close the lid of your laptop)
to shut the computer down. If you want to
reboot (turn off and turn back on) your
computer, choose Restart.
If you’re going away for a while but don’t want to go through
the whole booting up sequence complete with Windows 7 music when you return,
you don’t have to turn off your computer. Just click the Sleep command instead
to put your computer into a kind of sleeping state where the screen goes black
and the fan shuts down.
When you get back, just click your
mouse button or press Enter or, in some cases
(especially on some laptops), press the Power button. Your computer springs to
life, and whatever programs and documents you had open are still open.
If your computer freezes up for some reason, you can turn it off
in a couple of ways. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice in a row or press the power
button on your CPU and hold it until the computer shuts down.
Don’t simply turn off your computer at the power source unless
you have to because of a computer dysfunction. Windows may not start up
properly the next time you turn it on if you don’t follow the proper shut down
procedure.