How-To Geek
Create a Shortcut to Put Your Windows Computer into Hibernation
Putting your Windows computer into Hibernation Mode allows you to save power, and quickly access your desktop again when you need it. Here we show how to create a shortcut to put your PC in Hibernation Mode quickly.
Note: Here we show how to create the shortcut in Windows 7 and add it to the Taskbar. But creating the shortcut should work in XP and Vista as well.
Create Shortcut
Right-click an empty area on your desktop and select New \ Shortcut from the Context Menu.
In the Create Shortcut window type or copy the following in the location field…
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll, SetSuspendState 0,1,0
Now give the shortcut a name such as Hibernate Computer or whatever you want to call it.
Now you have the shortcut on your desktop, but you might want to change the icon to something else.
Change Shortcut Icon
Right-click the shortcut icon and select Properties.
Select the Shortcut Tab and click the Change Icon button.
In the Look for icons in this file field copy and past the following then click OK.
%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
This brings up a list of included Windows icons you can choose from. Select whatever you want it to be. There are a couple of Power icons in the directory…click OK. Of course you can choose any icon you want, if you customize your icons just browse to the directory they are in.
For more on selecting icons check out our article on how to customize your icons in Windows 7 or how to change a file type’s icon.
Now you will see the icon in the Shortcut Properties window, click OK.
Here we have a nice looking shortcut that you can use to put your machine into Hibernation.
Or here we used a customized Star Trek icon just to make things more interesting…
You can pin the shortcut to the Taskbar for easy access.
Conclusion
If Hibernation is not enabled on your Windows 7 system you can easily manage it. By creating a shortcut and pinning to the Taskbar, it allows you to put your machine into Hibernation Mode quick and easy.
If you like to customize your desktop with unique icons check out our posts on a Sci-Fi icon pack or Video Game icon pack.
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Comments (13)
Programmer by day, geek by night, The Geek, also known as Lowell Heddings, spends all his free time bringing you fresh geekery on a daily basis. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 05/28/10
I am using this location %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState without 0,1,0 and it works great.
I enjoyed this artical on creating a shortcut for Hibernation Mode, I was wondering if you can do one for standby as well?
I followed the instructions exactly,to create a Shortcut for HIBERNATE…But…when I entered
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exepowrprof.dll,SetSuspendState0,1,0 in the Location Window, I received an ERROR message saying that ‘ the file could not be found ‘. I repeated the process over and over, but the same message popped-up every time.
Allow me to back-track… I had been using both Standby & Hibernate for years without a problem.
And then I downloaded Internet Explorer 8, because ‘ Windows Update ‘ stated that I should
‘ Upgrade ‘ to IE8. BIG MISTAKE!!! Since the download of IE8 on my Computer, I have encountered Problem after Problem after Problem. Standby & Hibernate have disappeared. Now, only ‘ Turn Off Computer ‘ works. There is no ERROR Message, no Pop-up explaination… they’re just gone!
I have searched all the ‘ Search Engines ‘ and ‘ Trouble-Shooting ‘ sites that I can find… I follow their vague instructions to ‘ find ‘, ‘ restore ‘,and ‘ Repair ‘ the Problem… and NOTHING ever gets Fixed.
Meanwhile, I have no access to Standby or Hibernate. So when I found your TIP about how to make a shortcut for Hibernate, I thought that MAYBE, this process would help to regain access to the Services… and then THIS happened… ‘ cannot find file…’ I also tried out what works for ALEXX,,, %windir%\system32\rundll32 blah, blah, blah!!! Same Results… ‘ file cannot be found…’ What happened to it? Where did it go?
I welcome any help or insight anybody has, about this Problem. Thanks!
What location would you use if you wanted to sleep instead of hibernate?
How about showing how to create a shortcut to turn of the monitor?
How did you put the start orb at the middle of the taskbar
@RodneyM: You can check out the following article from The Geek … and it will show you how to create shortcuts to put your PC to Sleep, Lock the Workstation, Restart, and shutdown….
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/quick-tip-create-shutdown-restart-lock-icons-in-windows-vista/
@Sputnick: Check out the following article for creating a shortcut or hotkey to turn off your monitor…
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-turn-off-the-monitor/
@rue: That is not the Start Orb, it’s a shortcut to Windows Media Center ;-)
@WEHOWILLY
The best solution that I can think to our problem right now us inserting your original OS CD/DVD into your PC and repairing the entire installation. This would completely solve your problem.
Another thing you could do reformat your PC and don’t forget to back up your data before you do so ;)
thank you
good one
THANKS A LOTS……………………………………………