Note: If your system is “frozen” and won’t respond to the

mouse or keyboard, you can’t use Shut Down. In this case, press the On button to turn off the power of your computer. Wait a few seconds, then turn the computer back on. Turning off your computer this way does not protect your programs and files as well as Shut Down does. The next time you turn on the computer, the hard disk may be scanned for errors.

Suspending Your Computer

As an alternative to shutting down your computer, you can put your PC in Suspend mode. When you suspend your computer, it goes into a low-power state and your display is blank as if it’s turned off. The next time you use your computer, any applications, folders, and documents that were open before you suspended the computer will be ready and waiting for you. With Suspend, you can save electricity without having to wait for your PC to go through the normal startup routine when you turn on the computer.

Suspend also allows faxes to come through to your computer, and enables your PC to automatically retrieve your e-mail messages and download information from the World Wide Web (if you have programmed your computer to do so).

To suspend the computer:

1Press the Suspend button on the keyboard. The screen goes dark, and the computer goes into Suspend mode.

2When you want to use your computer again, just start to use the keyboard or mouse, or press the Suspend button. The screen display will reappear just as you left it.

Another way to suspend your computer is to choose Suspend on the Start menu.

Chapter 2 • Exploring Your System

27