Replacing the Shutdown power button in Windows 7
If you lock your computer several times a day and find it awkward to go to the Start menu, hover over the tiny arrow symbol and click the Lock button, or find it irritating when hitting the Shutdown button by accident, then you can prevent this by replacing the big Shutdown power button with one that you use on regular basis.
Although, locking your computer can be easily performed through the Ctrl+Alt+Del function, replacing the Shutdown power button can still help you prevent accidental shutdowns. To achieve the required setting you need to configure a policy called ‘Change Start Menu power button’.
- Open the Local Group Policy Editor snap-in by typing gpedit.msc in the Start search text box and press enter.
- Go to Local Computer Policy\User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar node.
- Double click Change Start Menu power button and check the Enabled radio button.
- Under options, choose the desired action from the drop-down list of functions
- Click Apply and OK.
Note, if you set the button to either Sleep or Hibernate, and that state is not supported on a computer, then the button will fall back to Shut Down.
