Enabling Hibernation in Windows Vista

For desktop, in some cases, Hibernation has been disabled. There are many reasons why this is so including BIOS settings etc... However, there is a way to set it on if you are sure you want it and it works.

First, you have to ensure its not already on. Look for the file Hiberfil.sys. If you use the Disk Cleanup function, sometimes this file is delete and Hibernation, as a result, is turned off.

If the file is missing, do this :

1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.
2. In the search results list, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.
3. When you are prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.
4. At the command prompt, type powercfg.exe /hibernate off, and then press ENTER. Actually I found that powercfg /h on will work too.
5. Type dir c:\hiberfil.sys. You should see the file now.
5. Type exit, and then press ENTER.

Then, obviously, if you want to turn it off, replace the on with the off.

Now, the next step is that if you have not reboot, the hibernation function is not yet enabled on you shutdown menu in Vista. And if you are stuck with a damn long process which can be paused, but cannot be resumed if you restart.. then its time to force a hibernation immediately.

To do that :
1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.
2. In the search results list, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator. Note that it may or may not need administrator rights to hibernate the computer.
3. When you are prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.
4. At the command prompt, type shutdown.exe /h, and then press .

Oh, you have pressed. There it goes. If for any chance you want to abort the shutdown, just execute shutdown.exe /a. This is a damn good way to do debugging for the RPC worm if you remember.