How To Enable/Disable Hibernate Option In Windows 7

Hibernation is a handy option, using which you can put your Computer to rest for a while, without any power consumption. While this feature saves time between shutdowns and restarts, it takes up a lot of disc space. Whenever you hibernate, Windows takes a snapshot of your system’s RAM and stores it in Hiberfil.sys, eventually taking up space.

For those who rarely use hibernation, it is recommended to turn off the feature. In Windows 7, turning off Hibernation is a bit more complex than in Windows XP. Here are the steps to disable hibernation in Windows 7:

1. Type ‘Cmd’ in Start Menu search box. Right click on the search result titled ‘cmd.exe’, and select ‘Run as administrator’.

[Tip: You can add Run Command to Windows 7 Start Menu, and also always run a program as administrator.]

2. In the command prompt, type powercfg.exe /hibernate off and hit Enter.

3. That’s it. You will no longer find the ‘Hibernate’ option in the Power Button Menu.

Want to enable Hibernation back? Repeat step 1 above, and in step 2 use the command powercfg.exe /hibernate on.