Chapter 4. Starting and Stopping Windows
In This Chapter:
- Master the shutdown options
- Protect your computer from prying eyes
- Understand the benefits of Vista’s new sleep mode
- View mobile sideshow on your laptop
Hit the power button and it instantly turns on. Hit the power button again and it instantly turns off. No, not your computer! It’s your radio that turns on and off so nicely. Wouldn’t it be nice if your computer responded so quickly and consistently when you wanted to turn it on and off?
One of Microsoft’s stated goals for Windows Vista is a carryover from the wishlist of previous Windows versions: that is, to get Windows to load faster and shut down more quickly. When you first install Vista, that seems to be the case. If you’ve experienced fast computers and new operating systems before, you’ve probably seen this speed improvement initially only to find out a few months later that things begin to grind to a crawl again as you load your computer with new programs and change system settings. Only time will tell whether Vista remains a quicker on-and-off operating system. In the meantime, you should understand some of the startup and shutdown options Vista provides.
By the Way
Microsoft designed Windows Vista with a new feature called Superfetch. Vista monitors what you do and takes note of the programs you load most frequently. Vista then loads some of those programs into memory automatically (doing so when you’re not busy doing another task and without sacrificing any memory you might need for something else you’re doing). The goal is to speed the launch of your programs.
Starting Vista
Vista loads automatically when you start your computer. The exception to this rule is if you installed Vista alongside another operating system such as Windows XP or Linux. If so, a few seconds after you turn on your computer, you have to choose which operating system you want to start. Select Vista and it begins to load. In many instances, Vista loads faster than XP on the same computer.
Watch Out!
Resist the temptation to begin using your computer too soon after your Windows Vista desktop appears. Most of the time Windows continues to load drivers and utility programs, such as the Windows Firewall and any antivirus software you have installed. If you begin to use your computer before everything loads, at best, things will work sluggishly for a while. You might even have to close programs you opened and open them again. Vista’s built-in protection is such that you probably won’t do any damage to anything in the meantime.
It’s difficult to know exactly when your computer has completely started. You can get an idea of whether the computer has settled down by monitoring the notification area’s icons. As Figure 4.1 shows, your notification area contains several icons representing many of the programs loaded at startup.
Figure 4.1. The icons in your taskbar’s notification area indicate the startup status of your computer.
Until you get better accustomed to knowing which icons to expect in your notification area and you get a good feel for how long it takes Vista to load, give your computer extra time the first several times you boot up. Let the computer’s startup loading sequence have plenty of time to settle down. If you see an arrow icon appear in the notification area, it means there are some icons that Vista is hiding to prevent the area from becoming too cluttered. To see these icons, just click the arrow.
By the Way
Most computers have a light on the case that indicates when disk activity is taking place. Save a large file to your disk and the light blinks. Vista often works in the background. For example, if Vista notices you’re not performing any heavy tasks such as displaying high-resolution graphics, it might take advantage of that downtime to index some files to keep your searches fast. This means that you can’t depend on that disk activity status light going out to indicate that Windows Vista has finished loading.
Vista’s Shutdown Options
Today’s computers are left on far longer than they used to be. Many users, especially in office environments, don’t power down their systems at all, if for no other reason than to avoid having to sit through a lengthy startup sequence.
For example, with an always-on high-speed Internet connection, you might want to run to your computer to check out movie start times. In the past, when you had to dial a connection and wait for a slow movie site to load, it was far simpler to check a newspaper. Now it’s easier, faster, and more informational to look online. With the computer left on, this is possible. If you had to turn on your computer each time you needed to quickly reference some small bit of information, you probably wouldn’t bother with the hassle, even if Vista does start up faster than previous versions of Windows did.
Although you’ll leave your computer on more often, sometimes 24/7 as so many people do, you won’t always want to walk away from the keyboard without changing the state somehow. For example, if several members of your family have their own user accounts, you will probably want to log off your account, especially if your account has Administrator privileges. You wouldn’t want a younger member of your family installing a game without your knowledge, possibly overriding some firewall warning intended to safeguard your data from prying eyes.
Not only are accidents possible when you leave your computer without at least logging off, security might be an issue for you. If you work in a Payroll department at a business, for example, and you’ve been running some reports, you don’t want to leave your computer where others without proper authority and access can view files while you’re at lunch. You’ll certainly want to log off, or possibly shut down your computer to a power-off state or a sleep mode, and you’ll want to make sure that your user account is password-protected so that nobody can turn on your computer and easily log in to your account.
Is Powering Off Your Computer Always Best?
Certainly leaving your computer turned on is the easiest way to get back to work when you return to your machine. Are there consequences to leaving your computer on all the time, even at night when you sleep or aren’t at work?
This debate has raged for years.
People worried about the environment don’t like computers left on because doing so uses resources. That’s true, although the power consumption of modern computers isn’t bad at all, especially if you enable Vista’s power-saving features. Others don’t like the machine left on because it uses resources but in a different way: The resources it uses cost money! With energy prices heading upward so steeply these days, cost is a real concern.
Only you can decide which end of the cost-versus-usability spectrum you want to adopt. In general, your computer consumes very little power when operating and still less when you stop working and your PC enters one of its automatic power-saving modes. Unless your monitor is extremely old (pre-1995), Vista can usually turn off your monitor’s power as well, or at least put your monitor into a sleep mode that consumes virtually no power until you return and press a key or move your mouse to wake your computer back up. Keep your computers turned on (although you might have to log off your account if others share your computer as mentioned in the previous section) so that when you return to your desk, a quick push of the display’s power button puts you right back where you were when you left your machine, ready to work again.
Did you Know?
Chapter 34, “Saving Power with Windows Vista,” explores Vista’s power-setting features that determine when your computer’s energy-saving features kick in.
Vista’s Sleep Mode
At the bottom of your Start menu’s right pane are two shutdown buttons and an arrow you can click to display additional shutdown options (see Figure 4.2).
Figure 4.2. Your Start menu provides buttons with which you can shut down your computer in various ways.
The Power button is slightly misleading. By default, it doesn’t actually turn your computer completely off. Instead, the Power button puts your computer in a sleep mode that greatly reduces the amount of power your computer consumes.
When you click the Power button to select the sleep mode option, Vista saves all your current settings to main memory, including your open programs and open window locations. When it’s finished, it goes into sleep mode in which it consumes only enough power to keep the settings active. When you press your computer’s actual power button (the physical one, not the Start menu’s Power button), Vista quickly starts back up and displays the login screen unless you’re the only user and have no password on your account. When you select your user account (and optional password if you set one up for your account), your screen will be right back where it was when you clicked the Power button. If you were in the middle of typing a letter, for example, the letter will be right where you left it.
While going to sleep mode, Vista writes a snapshot of your computer to your disk drive so that if power does go out, everything will be the way you expect it when you turn your computer back on.
Returning from sleep mode is far faster than rebooting your computer from a powered-off state. And you don’t have to reopen any of the programs you were working in when you entered sleep mode.
By the Way
Previous versions of Windows supported a standby mode, a hibernate mode, and a sleep mode. The standby and hibernate modes consumed a little more power, but started more quickly than sleep mode. These somewhat similar but different options confused more than they clarified and users often were unsure which to use. Vista’s single sleep mode demystifies the situation. You now can put your computer to sleep for a quick wake-up or power it off completely.
Laptop users will see that Vista enters sleep mode automatically when they close their laptop screens. When they reopen their laptop, Vista puts them right back where they were. Sleep mode cannot last forever on a laptop battery, however, because the battery’s power will eventually drain away and the laptop will shut down to a power-off state. Because Vista saves an image of your workspace to disk no matter how you enter sleep mode, your work should be fine when you charge your battery.
Your Computer’s Lockdown
If you click the Start menu’s Lock button, Vista instantly logs you off and displays your username in the center of your screen; unless you have a screensaver set up, in which case Vista logs you off and launches your screensaver. Chapter 7, “Changing Windows Vista’s Look,” explains how to set up a screensaver. When you return to your computer, you only have to click your username and enter a password, if you set one up with your account, and you’ll be right back where you were before you locked down your machine.
The Lock button is the quickest way to put your computer into a state in which nobody can use your account, but you can return easily and continue where you left off, with all open programs intact after you log back in.
Did you Know?
If someone shares your computer with you and he or she gets to the locked machine before you do, that person can still use the computer. Instead of clicking your username, they only have to click the Switch User button and they will be given a user list from which they select their user account.
Vista’s Other Shutdown Options
Figure 4.3 shows the six shutdown options available to you when you click the arrow to the right of the Lock button on your Start menu. The options are as follows:
- Switch User
- Log Off
- Lock
- Restart
- Sleep
- Shut down
Figure 4.3. Click the arrow next to the Start menu’s Lock button to see all the shutdown options available.
The option you select depends on what state you want your computer to be in when you leave it. If all you want to do is let someone else use the machine, select the Switch User option. Vista will log you off and display a list of users set up to use your computer. When you eventually return to the account you switched from, all your open programs and windows will be intact.
Did you Know?
If you are using a standard, non-Administrator account and want to switch to your Administrator account, select the Switch User option to log in as Administrator. You may also run an administrative program from a non-administrative account if you know the password. Just right-click the program’s icon and select Run as Administrator.
If you select the Log Off option, Vista assumes that you do not want to save your desktop and return right where you left off. The Log Off option tells Vista you want to shut down all running programs in your account; when you return to the computer, you’re ready to begin at a startup state.
If you have programs running when you select Log Off, Vista will ask whether you want to save any unsaved data. For example, if you were working on a Word document and selected Log Off before selecting Save, Vista would ask whether you want to save your document before logging you off.
As an extra precaution, if you log off with programs running, Vista displays a list of all running programs and asks you to verify that you really want to log off (see Figure 4.4). If you haven’t yet responded to the prompt to save unsaved data in a program when this screen appears, you’ll see a new message that says: This program is preventing you from logging off your computer.
Figure 4.4. Before logging you off, Vista gives you a chance to verify that you want to log off and prompts you to save any unsaved data before continuing.
If you click any entry in the open programs list, such as one that might have unsaved data preventing you from logging off, Vista returns to that program and cancels the log-off process. You then save your unsaved data and close any open programs you want to exit. If, instead, you click the Log Off Now button, Vista honors your request and logs you off, closing your programs—even those with unsaved data.
Selecting the Lock option from the options menu does the same thing as clicking the Start menu’s Lock button. Vista logs you off, but it won’t close your open programs and current work. You must log back in, entering a password if your account requires one, before you can return to your work. If another user logs in to your computer in the meantime, he or she can work in their account until they log off or select the Lock option.
The Restart option does everything the Shut Down option does except power off your computer. Instead, Vista shuts down and then restarts your computer just as if you had turned off the machine and then turned it back on.
Did you Know?
Many contend that a system Restart is easier on your equipment than turning your PC all the way off and then turning it back on again. (It’s also faster.) Think about when a light bulb most often goes dead: when you flip the switch to turn it on. A sudden rush of current shocks any electrical device. Your computer is made to withstand that shock and you have nothing to fear from turning it off and on, but if all you want to do is clear or reset system settings (as is often required when you install or remove a program, especially a utility program such as a disk-imaging program), select Restart. Doing so is probably better for your computer—and quicker and easier for you—than shutting down the system completely and then turning it back on again.
The Sleep option saves your work to memory to the disk and then powers down your computer to very low-power state. Sleep performs the same action as clicking the Power button does. When you resume from Sleep mode, all your previously open windows and programs will be right back in the state you left them when you entered the Sleep mode.
The Shut Down option is the big one. Select it and Vista prompts you to save any unsaved documents or data. When you do that, Windows Vista closes your open programs and turns off your computer. Always shut down your computer before installing any internal hardware such as a new graphics card or hard drive. If you still use a mouse attached to a PS/2 port (instead of a USB-connected mouse or keyboard), you should shut down your computer before plugging it in or unplugging it from your PC.
Watch Out!
PS/2 mouse ports are sensitive and can go bad when you connect a mouse to them with the power on. Because they’re designed to be hot-swappable, you don’t need to shut down your system when connecting a USB- or FireWire-based device.
As you use Vista for more things, you’ll run across other modes you might never have seen. Vista supports an away mode that disables your power button. When in away mode, your computer appears completely turned off, but your PC is actually doing something such as recording a television show or burning a DVD from inside Vista’s Media Center. By allowing an interruption such as an accidental press on the power button on the front of your computer, such activity would be severely affected and you would lose your work or have a half-burned CD or DVD that is unusable. When in away mode, the power button will neither put the computer to sleep nor turn it off until the activity finishes.
Help for the Stubborn Computer
The promise of sleep mode (and the old standby mode) is just fine until it stops working. Every version of Windows since Windows 3.1 has had problems shutting down via the keyboard on some systems. Whether going into one of the sleep modes or turning off completely, some hardware just won’t obey. If you’re like some users, your sleep mode and shutdown modes work fine initially, but after several months of installing new programs and updates your computer freezes instead of turning off or going to sleep.
Vista’s design should make such problems less frequent, but one would have to be extremely naïve to believe such problems will disappear entirely. Only time will tell, but if you have a stubborn computer that doesn’t want to go to sleep or shut down, make sure that you’ve downloaded and installed all the latest updates and drivers. You might even have to update your motherboard’s BIOS (basic input/output system), a process that differs from manufacturer to manufacturer and can be dangerous to the integrity of your system if you’re not sure of what you’re doing. (BIOS updates can also be notoriously difficult to find.)
Did you Know?
If you must resort to shutting down your computer manually by pressing the power button on the front of the machine, you might have to hold the button in for five seconds or so before your computer turns off. Powering down your computer manually is typically required when it locks up instead of entering sleep mode or shutting down properly from the keyboard.
Watch Out!
Resist the urge to turn off your computer by its power button. If your system seems unresponsive to conventional mouse and keyboard input, try pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del in an attempt to get your computer’s attention. Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del usually grants you access to Vista’s log off and shutdown options. If it’s a specific application causing the lockup, switching to the Task Manager usually allows you to close the offending program.
Always give your computer a few seconds to return control to you before resorting to using the actual power button. Your computer’s power-up state may take longer because Windows might have to repair some driver files that get corrupted if you don’t shut down properly from the keyboard. Of course if your computer is really frozen there’s little more you can do but press the power button. And if even that doesn’t work, the worst case scenario is to simply pull the plug. Avoid going this route if you can.
If you’ve logged off and no other users are on your computer, you can safely turn off your computer by the power button in most cases. However, the preferred and safest way to turn off your machine is through the keyboard, if you have that option.
Using Vista’s Mobile Sideshow
Sideshow is an entirely new feature to Windows. If your laptop supports its features, you won’t believe what you can do with Vista’s Sideshow! Requiring a laptop with a small display screen on the outside of the laptop (often on the screen’s case), Sideshow can display information from your laptop even with your laptop turned off. Figure 4.5 shows such a laptop and Figure 4.6 shows a close-up of the Sideshow display.
Figure 4.5. Listen to MP3s and read emails without having to open your laptop’s case using the Sideshow feature, such as this version powered by PortalPlayer Preface™ technology.
Figure 4.6. Without raising the lid and turning on your laptop, you can use Sideshow to get information from your laptop computer.
The biggest Sideshow advantage is saving your laptop’s battery. As long as your laptop has some battery power remaining, and Sideshow’s tiny display doesn’t consume much power, you can access Sideshow. Sideshow displays data from various programs, not unlike the Windows Gadgets on Vista’s Sidebar (see Chapter 9, “Working with the Sidebar and Gadgets”). Depending on your Sideshow’s configuration, you can look at appointments in your calendar, play an MP3 file stored on your laptop, and check an email you received earlier when your laptop was on and connected to the Internet.
The idea behind Sideshow programs is to give you quick and small bits of information without requiring you to turn on your laptop completely. Microsoft will be working with vendors such as PortalPlayer (www.PortalPlayer.com) to release more Sideshow applications over time.
Sideshow applications work more like the small and lean gadget applications in that you shouldn’t expect Sideshow to present you with a full-fledged application such as Adobe’s Photoshop. Sideshow applications must be small enough and require only enough light disk access to work with very little battery power to ensure that Sideshow doesn’t drain your battery as fast as using the full laptop would.
Chapter Wrap-Up
Windows Vista offers different startup and shutdown options but, as you’ve seen, Vista’s startup and shutdown options are more intuitive and safer than those that came with Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows. Data safety and giving you quick access to your computer when you return to do more work seem to be primary goals of Vista’s shutdown options.
Starting up and shutting down is even more critical for laptop users than for tabletop PC users. Vista respects your laptop’s battery life by going to sleep mode when there’s enough juice, but writing your workspace to the disk drive for safekeeping when the battery begins to run dry. The Sideshow application is Vista’s way to give you quick access to useful bits of information on your laptop without consuming extra power or requiring you to open and turn on your laptop.
In the next chapter, you’ll see all the ways that Vista helps you manage your programs. Your programs are the workhorses of your computer productivity and you need quick and reliable access to them.