Hibernation unavailable in Windows Vista


I recently installed some Windows udpates on my Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit OS. When I came back up after the required reboot, I got the dialog box to the left from my PowerChute software (software that controls my APC battery backup). The text of the dialog reads:

“PowerChute has detected that hibernation support is not enabled on your computer. Unsaved data will not be saved following an extended power problem.

APC recommend that you enable hibernatoin support so that all application data is preserverd.”

Aside from the annoying grammatical error (“APC recommends“), it did not give any information on how to re-enable it. I searched all over Windows Vista to find something to turn it back on. It was just NOT available!! I thought the latest Windows Update just ripped it out of the OS (as Microsoft has done with many features in Vista that used to be in XP). When I googled the text in the dialog box, I got a whopping ONE result and it was on how to resolve the problem in Windows XP. So, I held my nose and went to the Windows Vista “Help & Support” option on my own computer and looked up “hibernation”. The first hit was “what happened to sleep and hibernation?”. Clicking on that link led me to a Microsoft web page explaining how to turn it back on. This is where Apple Computer gets all their amunition against Microsoft. Here’s the answer:

  1. Go to a command prompt. (Start menu, Programs, Accessories, right-click “Command Prompt”, choose “Run as administrator”, and enter your administrator password when prompted.)
  2. type: powercfg -h on
  3. Reboot.
  4. When it comes back up, go to control panel, power options.
  5. Click on “Change plan settings” under whichever power plan you have selected.
  6. Click on “Change advanced power settings”.
  7. Expand “Power buttons and lid”.
  8. Expand each sub-item and set them as you wish. You’ll notice that “hibernate” is now an available option.

One Reply to “Hibernation unavailable in Windows Vista”

Leave a Reply