One of the great mysteries about Windows Vista for me has been how to get the power button on the Start menu to shut down the computer rather than putting it to sleep. I've seen lots of posts elsewhere that say to go into the Control Panel, select Power Options, and then click the "Change what the power button does". However, this changes what happens when you press the physical power button on the machine, not the one in the Start menu.

Well this evening, I was playing around on my wife's machine because the screen saver didn't appear to be kicking in, and purely by chance I finally found the setting. So here goes: the solution to one of Vista's best kept secrets.

You do indeed start by going to the Control Panel and selecting Power Options. You can also get there by clicking the "Change power settings" link in the screen saver dialog box.

Once you're in Power Settings, you need to click the "Change plan settings" link under whichever power plan you are using. In the next screen, click "Change advanced power settings." This is the dialog box you need - scroll down to the "Power buttons and lid" option, click the plus sign to expand it, and there you have it - "Start menu power button."

Some day, someone will have to explain to me why Microsoft decided to make "sleep" the default option, and more importantly, why they decided to hide the setting. For now, though, I'm just glad I finally found it.

Now if I could only figure out how to get rid of the "Start Search" option on the Start menu ...