Re-Enable Hibernate Option in Windows Vista
If you've found that your Hibernate option is missing from Windows Vista, it might be from running the disk cleanup wizard and removing the hibernate files. This is due to a known bug in Vista that might not have been hotfixed already.
Turning it back on is very simple, however.
Type cmd into the start menu search box, and use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open in administrator mode. You can also right-click the item in the menu and choose Run as Administrator.
From the command prompt, type in the following command:
powercfg /hibernate on
You'll have to restart your computer before it will take effect.
Update: Alternative Method
An alternative method with more steps was suggested by Shane in the comments. If the above doesn't fix your problem, you can use these steps.
- Go to the command prompt icon in the Start menu under Accessories and right click the icon: click "Run as administrator".
- Paste: "powercfg.exe /hibernate on" and hit Enter and also paste "powercfg -h on" and hit enter just to be safe.
- Open Control Panel and type in "Hibernate" in the Search.
- Click "Turn hibernation on or off"
- Click "Change advance power settings"
- Scroll to and expand the "Sleep" option.
- Select "Off" to the "Allow hybrid sleep" option.
- Scroll to and expand the "Power buttons and lid" option.
- Select "Hibernate" for the "Sleep button action" option. 10. Select "Hibernate" for the "Start menu power button" option.
Hopefully one of these methods will solve your problem!
When I tried to open cmd in the Administrator mode with ctrl/shift/enter I did not get Administrator. Trying again I found C:\Users\W.G.Powell> Thinking I needed to be in the C dir I typed cd\ and used the ctrl/shift/enter keys. Even when I got the C prompt I was not in the administrator mode. Where am I messing up?
The hibernate option is also not available on the menu if Hybrid Sleep is enabled.
Even though hybrid sleep writes the system state to disk as well as RAM, it
is not the same as hibernation. For instance, you can easily and inadvertently
wake the computer from hybrid sleep by moving the mouse or touching a key
on the keyboard (if the wake options aren't disabled). Or, if you have a modem,
the modem may wake the system on an incoming call.
Even if hybrid sleep is enabled, you can still program the shutdown button
on the start menu to hibernate rather than shutdown. On my system, I leave
the power button on my case to do a true shutdown when needed.
After breaking a fingernail trying this solution countless times in vain, I discovered that we were not in the same configuration. I went to control panel, clicked user accounts and DISABLED the
user accounts control (UAC) from there on it worked perfectly….this info might be helpful for dummies such as this reader.
I found out how to get the hibernation option back with 10 steps. Of course remove/omit all the ""quotes""! 1. Go to the command prompt icon in the Start menu under Accessories and right click the icon: click "Run as administrator". 2. Paste: "powercfg.exe /hibernate on" and hit Enter and also paste "powercfg -h on" and hit enter just to be safe. 3. Open Control Panel and type in "Hibernate" in the Search. 4. Click "Turn hibernation on or off" 5. Click "Change advance power settings" 6. Scroll to and expand the "Sleep" option. 7. Select "Off" to the "Allow hybrid sleep" option. 8. Scroll to and expand the "Power buttons and lid" option. 9. Select "Hibernate" for the "Sleep button action" option. 10. Select "Hibernate" for the "Start menu power button" option.
Thanks guys it worked the first time round… I'll surely be visiting this site a lot more now!!
This step-by-step help did work for me. Thanks a lot!
Thanx a Ton Shane !!
it works great for me,
The only thing i miss is the WinXp, power off/hibernate/logoff keyboard shorcuts…
windows + U/H/LL…
anything like tht in vista ???
thnks a ton for the great info…
Thank you very much…..
Thanks that worked, hibernate was immediately added to the shutdown menu options.
Thanks i solved my problem of hibernate…
Shane!! You're simply amazing!! I had tried ##every## damn f****** thing i heard of and but none of them ever worked……!
Was at my wits end man… You're a real life-saver!
Wish I could give you a bear-hug now!!
My rating for your answer: A++++++++++++++++……….!!!
My thanks to Shane. His step-by-step worked perfectly.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!! , you're awesome I thought was going to pull my hair off..LOL
I agree: this is an excellent guide. Perfect Disk detected that I needed to run chkdsk /r /f and after that and a couple of runs through the defragmenter I was able to resize :C as I wished (140Gb to 50Gb)
Wawwwww, great, really fantastic.
Finally back. With only seconds……….
Thanks a lot budd
I followed the steps till i got to the advanced power options.. all the buttons in that window were non responsive. Maybe i was being denied permission to modify them. Do i need to run the advanced power options also as an administrator? If so, how to do that?
Thank you so much for all of your tutorials, I am a ditz at computers and would have thrown my laptop out of the window long ago if it weren't for your site.
I have tried everything listed here. Dell has gone in and tried to get the computer to hibernate nothing works. The computer is only a few days old and they will issue a new computer but I really would hope to get this feature to work. Any help would be appreciated as nothing else works. Thanks
Thanks Shane
Thanks like stated by others it worked within seconds
Thanks Shane I finally got it to work.I think I had checked the box on step 7. Even Dell support called me back and said they would use this site to help others with the hibernate. Now to get all my stuff from my old computer to my new computer. Thanks again for the great solution to hibernate.
Thanks. The command worked.
I updated this article with Shane's alternate method of fixing this problem. Thanks Shane!
Thank you so much!
Thanks a lot. The second set of instructions worked
Just go to accessories-> right button on command prompt-> run as admin-> type powercfg /hibernate on and you are done
Thanks a lot. it really worked.
Thanks a ton. I think all we need to do is run the Explorer as Administrator and then access Control Panel through it.
thanks alot dear friends,
it was a very happy moment for me to get the solution for this problem
again thanks alot dear
i am very thankful to mitko also coz i followed the command mentioned by mitko
dear i've one more problem with the internet explorer 8.
i had downloaded this new browser from the net but it is not istalled properly
when i open it the following message comes
a windows security update is needed for internet explorer 8 to work correctly.
click ok to download windows security update
once the update has been installed, restart internet explorer
I just wanted to thank for the information posted here, I was able to fix my problem
I tried the first method and it didn't work. However, upon trying the second method I found that hibernate had been enabled! Thank you very much as this was a very annoying problem =).
I had to go to windows explorer (AKA FILE MANAGER) locate the powercfg.exe and right-click and run as administrator and type in powercfg /hibernate on did a restart and went into control panel and vista hibernate NOW!!! THANK YOU FOR THE HELP you guys are great….
Thanks guys!! worked with the first try. haha. This site is now on my list of favorites. wonderful.
It works fine. Thanks. I've tried only the 2nd solution.
yes.. thank you very much..
I just restored hibernation using your "cmd" suggestion. Thanks guys. Keep up the good work.
i've tried everything in here… but i still cannot find the hibernate, but when i get to the "additional settings" and click on "Sleep"…. it only show "sleep after"… and nothing else!! did i delete my hibernate?? could anyone help me please!!
it is good….it really works
Your method worked with no problems. Thanks for your efforts.
I used your command in reverse. Hibernate was killing my desktop and there is NO EASY way to turn it off. i just used the command /hibernate off. here's to hoping its TRULY off when i reboot.
THX this works wonders!
Thanks, worked first time no probs.
I have been recently experiencing a problem with Hibernate on my computer. Until last week, When I hit hibernate the machine does not completely power
down. The power indicator light on the CPU unit does not go off. When I
try to restart, it wont. I have to acutally hold down the power button and
force a shut down and restart. At restart of course I get the usual f8
screen - do you want to start normally or on safe mode, etc?
Does anyone have any idea why this is happening now? Does it have to do
with a recent update from Windows?
I look forward to your help.
Thanks
Thanks a lot, I really don't like Vista and it's because of these stupid bugs … but thanks for posting these information.