Tip of the day: Shut down, stand by, or hibernate without a mouse

What do you do if your mouse stops responding? How do you close all open programs and restart Windows without losing any data? The secret is to know these keyboard shortcuts, which bypass the mouse. They also come in handy if you have a notebook computer and want a fast way to stand by or hibernate without having to mess with touchpads or other pointing devices.

1. Press Alt+Tab to switch between running programs.
2. Press Alt+F4 to close the current program or window. (If a document is unsaved, you’ll be prompted to save it, which you can do by giving it a name or accepting the default name and then pressing Enter.)
3. After closing all windows, press the Windows logo key (or Ctrl+Esc, if you don’t have a Windows logo key) to open the Start menu.
4. With the Start menu open, tap the Up arrow to choose the Turn Off Computer option.
5. Press the Enter key to display the Turn Off Computer dialog box.

   

6. By default, Stand By is selected. Use the right arrow to choose another option if necessary, and then press Enter to complete the operation.

Where’s the Hibernate option? Press the Shift key. If hibernation is enabled on your computer, the Stand By Option changes to Hibernate.

In fact, you can use these shutdown shortcuts even if your mouse works just fine. It’s especially useful on notebooks and Tablet PCs, where a touchpad or other pointing device can slow you down. I’ve mastered the art of shutting down in three taps, using keyboard accelerators (shown as underlined letters in the Turn Off Computer dialog box).

• To stand by, press Windows logo key, U, S. (U is the accelerator key for the Turn Off Computer command on the Start menu.)
• To hibernate, press Windows logo key, U, H. (Even though the accelerator key isn’t visible, it still works!)
• To turn off power, press Windows logo key, U, U.
• To restart, press Windows logo key, U, R.