Change Vista's default action for the Shutdown menu Sleep

When you put Windows Vista to Sleep and turned off the power, you start your computer and receive the message "Windows Shutdown abnormally". The default action for Vista's Shutdown dialog box is Sleep.

Microsoft figures they can hide the fact that new version of Windows takes longer to shutdown and longer startup, by keeping the power on and a large portion of the operating system in memory.


To change Vista's default Start menu Shutdown to actually "Shutdown", go to Control Panel's "System and Maintenance" group, select Power Options. In the Power Options utility, in the list of "Preferred plans", under the name of the plan with it's radio button set, click on the "Change plan settings" link. In the Change settings for the plan: ... dialog box which appears, click on the "Change advanced power settings" link. In the Power Options dialog box which appears, expand the "Power buttons and lid" branch, and then expand the "Start menu power button" and in the drop-down list of options that appears, select "Shut down". Click on the [Apply] button, then click on the [OK] button. Close the Change settings for the plan: ... dialog box.
Related Post: Windows Vista Annoyances

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