# Windows XP shutdown options **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426 "2006-06-28T01:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/1 "2006-06-28T01:07:47Z")
The normal story after you click on Turn Off Computer is a box with three icons from left to right: Standby, Turn Off and Restart. I’ve seen a different scheme: the box contains a vertical menu without icons; the list includes Hibernate and has the most recent action highlighted. Anyone know how to switch to this scheme? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/2 "2006-06-28T02:05:52Z")
START CONTROL PANEL USER ACCOUNTS CHANGE THE WAY USERS LOG ON OR LOG OFF Unselect “USE THE WELCOME SCREEN” ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/3 "2006-06-28T03:39:11Z")
That’s it! Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/4 "2006-06-28T04:24:24Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > The normal story after you click on Turn Off Computer is a box with three icons from left to right: Standby, Turn Off and Restart. > > I’ve seen a different scheme: the box contains a vertical menu without icons; the list includes Hibernate and has the most recent action highlighted. Anyone know how to switch to this scheme? If you hold down the shift key while you’re looking at the icon version, Standby turns to hibernate. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/5 "2006-06-28T12:23:36Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > That’s it! Many thanks. You are welcome. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/6 "2006-06-28T18:41:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > START > CONTROL PANEL > USER ACCOUNTS > CHANGE THE WAY USERS LOG ON OR LOG OFF > Unselect “USE THE WELCOME SCREEN” This apparently does not apply to XP Pro. On my XP Pro box, I see the dropdown box on shutdown. When I go to User Accounts, the “Change the way. . .” option is not there. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/7 "2006-06-28T18:47:09Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > This apparently does not apply to XP Pro… Strange. I’m using XP Pro, and when I go to Control Panel -\> User Accounts, the third option under “Pick a Task” is “Change the way users log on or off”. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/8 "2006-06-28T19:14:25Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > If you hold down the shift key while you’re looking at the icon version, Standby turns to hibernate. OK, something I’ve always wondered is what’s the difference between standby and hibernate. And for that matter which one is activated when you push the “moon” key on you keyboard. And how the heck do you disable that key since every time I push the key by accident, I can never remember how to restart my computer easily. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/9 "2006-06-28T19:56:54Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > And how the heck do you disable that key since every time I push the key by accident, I can never remember how to restart my computer easily. START CONTROL PANEL DISPLAY SCREEN SAVER POWER ADVANCED tab “When I press the sleep button on my computer” There is a pull down box, select “DO NOTHING”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/10 "2006-06-28T20:04:16Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > \ When I go to User Accounts, the “Change the way. . .” option is not there. Are you in an admin accout? It is grayed out on limited users. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/11 "2006-06-28T21:21:10Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > OK, something I’ve always wondered is what’s the difference between standby and hibernate. And for that matter which one is activated when you push the “moon” key on you keyboard. > > And how the heck do you disable that key since every time I push the key by accident, I can never remember how to restart my computer easily. Standby is a low-power state in which the computer is still on, and information is held in memory. If the battery runs out, or the power fails, when the system is in standby, everything unsaved will be lost. It consumes much less power to keep a computer in standy than running on full power, and the time taken to resume is comparatively short, so it’s a good compromise. When you put Windows into hibernate mode, everything in memory is written to disk, and then the computer is turned off - so a computer can stay in hibernate indefinitely, even without power. When you resume from hibernation, all your data is pulled off the disk and put back into memory, so you can resume from the point where you left off, even if you hadn’t saved your data. On my laptop (Dell Inspiron 510m), there’s a key combination for suspend, but to hibernate I have to go to the Start menu. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/12 "2006-06-28T23:14:03Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > On my laptop (Dell Inspiron 510m), there’s a key combination for suspend, but to hibernate I have to go to the Start menu. YMMV. Meanwhile, back at “Display” “Screen Saver” tab “Power” There is a “hibernate” tab. When I “enable hibernation”, (apply) 🙂 Hibernate is added as an option to “When I press the power button”, “When I press the sleep button”, and “when I close the lid” under the “Advanced” tab. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/13 "2006-06-29T02:10:23Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Standby is a low-power state in which the computer is still on, and information is held in memory. [nitpick]The “computer” is off, only the RAM memory remains on. CPU, video, HD, etc, are powered down.[/nitpick] (everything else in your post was quite accurate, though) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/14 "2006-06-29T15:25:34Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Are you in an admin accout? It is grayed out on limited users. I have admin privileges. Here’s a [screen shot](http://www.seigle.net/user_accounts.jpg) of what I see when I click on User Accounts. My account is JSEIGLE. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/15 "2006-06-29T16:23:06Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > This apparently does not apply to XP Pro. On my XP Pro box, I see the dropdown box on shutdown. When I go to User Accounts, the “Change the way. . .” option is not there. You are probably connected to an Active Directory domain (or to a domain through Active Directory). The other method of logging in and out is not applicable for domains. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/16 "2006-06-29T16:26:43Z")
I can’t make your link work. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/17 "2006-06-29T20:12:59Z")
Well, the original OP seems to have been answered, maybe I can borrow the thread for a minute. I have XP, SP2 and cannon get my computer to shut off or go into hibernate (or stand by). When ever I select either of those two options, the computer performs a restart. I have to physically punch the button to actually shut it down. I’ve recently rebuilt the harddrive (reinstalling a new copy of XP) and I don’t remember whether I had the problem before or not. Any ideas here? Bob ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/18 "2006-06-29T22:17:22Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > You are probably connected to an Active Directory domain (or to a domain through Active Directory). Oh, yeah. Work PC, in their domain. (In fact, the thing I hate about that configuration is when I connect at home, I can connect to the Internet but not the home network.) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/19 "2006-06-29T22:22:43Z")
> [@urban1z](#): > > Well, the original OP seems to have been answered, maybe I can borrow the thread for a minute. > > I have XP, SP2 and cannon get my computer to shut off or go into hibernate (or stand by). > > When ever I select either of those two options, the computer performs a restart. I have to physically punch the button to actually shut it down. I’ve recently rebuilt the harddrive (reinstalling a new copy of XP) and I don’t remember whether I had the problem before or not. > > Any ideas here? > > Bob If you reinstalled Windows, it may just be a matter of reinstalling all your drivers. Did you do that? ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426/20 "2006-06-29T22:44:45Z")
Yes, thanks. Drivers are all up to date. Bob [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-shutdown-options/362426.md?page=2)