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.

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From the command prompt, type in the following command:

powercfg /hibernate on

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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!