Disable SATA Native Mode in Bios

Little bit confused by your post, because what your describing as the 'wrong way' it works IS the RIGHT way it works for Hibernation mode, not SLEEP mode (there are two different modes), and has nothing to do with Sata Native Mode (except to kill the Hibernation mode).

So let me clarify a few things, SATA Native Mode is already answered here http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080729222223AAR5wdI as to all the IMPROVEMENTS it provides, so disabling it I believe was a mistake. I would turn it back on, and then read on the rest AFTER reenabling it.

Laptops took off during Vista selling 3 to 1, and by default in W7 all W7 installs were set to be like 'laptops', enabling two key features your discussing, sleep and hibernation, which are different.

Sleep is when the computer just 'closes its eye' and goes low power on everything, nothing is happening perse except the minimal power constantly used to keep it 'alive' (like sleep, you don't shut off your heart and brain, you just use them very little). The most common use was on the plane and you 'closed the lid' to land then depart the plane and 'open the lid' once inside the concourse to wait for your next flight, everything was still 'opened' as you had it (as you say loaded docs and no lose of information). The problem was if you took a long time (45min to 1 1/2 hour) the computer would eat up the battery power and eventually have to shut down, corrupting the data (open docs) or work breaking Windows.

Hibernation is when the computer make a storage file on the Hard Drive (HDD) of how 'everything looks' being open, what files were open, where the windows are placed, etc. then shuts down. This uses no power as the system is shut off, but everything will be 'restored' when the system power button is pressed, just like nothing ever happened. The two problems was a lengthy boot time to 'load it all back' would be A) too long for most people to 'wait on the computer to start' and B) Often convince people Windows was 'broken' and cause them to reboot the computer constantly till the Hibernation file was deemed 'broken' by Windows and would bypass it to load Windows 'cold' (all open files gone, programs shut down, etc.). In Vista this became even more a problem as Vista didn't store the Hibernation file reliably so even if the user did wait say, 10 min, to boot from Hibernation, the file was still corrupt and Windows 'won't load all I get is a black screen'. W7 improved it to be much more reliable.

Now that explanation is key to the next step, In windows bottom right tray click on the power icon then select 'More Power Options'. By default it is set to Balanced, under Additional plans you will also see Power Saver and High Performance. I use my laptop as a desktop replacement so I set mine to High Performance, this means Windows / the hardware doesn't 'slow down' (throttle back) the CPU, memory, HDD, etc. to 'conserve power' as it does in Balanced and very much so in Power Saver. For someone working on a Excel doc being in Power Saver mode and on Battery power, this is a lifesaver as they can get 2 hours or more of 'power' to keep working before needing to DOCK/Charge the laptop, but won't notice that much of a 'lag' when doing things. Balance 'balances' between these two to provide enough 'umph' and enough power for the common user when on battery or power supply.

Along the left is Choose what the POWER BUTTONS do, this is key for you. You would select what you want the buttons to do, as I said your description (using the power button to get the computer out of 'sleep') sounds more like your buttons were said to 'hibernate' then to sleep. You can confirm and setup the buttons as to your preference. Personally I use Hibernation or Power Off, and rarely use Sleep (note the power used up I said above when in sleep). I also set the 'Close Lid' to do 'nothing' personally. Select Save Changes when done here

Next click Change when the computer sleep, and again set these preferences then click Save Changes when done.


Now based on these SELECTED OPTIONS will affect how the computer responds for Power On, Hibernation, Sleep mode and Power off (I know some people that set Power Button to NOT turn off and instead just Hibernate the computer). As for the actual 'keyboard combos', on most laptops you will need to go BACK to the manufacturer's website, look up under SUPPORT for your model computer, and download NEWER applications / drivers for Windows 7 then you had for Vista. Sometimes it is just that simple, in some cases, they have no 'support' for W7/8 because they dont' support that computer model anymore and your at a dead end (had this happen with older HP laptops and the Sound Buttons, etc. at the top software that makes it work was not compatible with W7).