Almost instant boot up time

If you want your desktop to be ready to use in almost an instant (compared to usual full boot time) you can use the hibernate feature, which is a form of stand by (like seen in Win98) but Hibernation fully powers off and all data is saved on the hard drive like data and do not get cleared when there is no power to the computer. This allows you to do a full power off. With stand by there is still power that runs RAM etc to store your data.

Some believe that doing so doesn't allow your computer to get refreshed and boot settings from scratch. In my experience I have used hibernation with not much problems but i do believe that if you over rely on hibernation you can get sluggish performance.

My routine is usually 2-3 boots before i do a proper shut down, if i just go on the net I can hibernate, if i install a program or do something major i will do a proper shut down just so everything works out (some actions such as installing new software or updates require actions to be taken during your first start up after installation)

If you find you get problems then don't use the method, i know sometimes my graphics card doesn't get woken up for some reason and i have to reboot.

By default hibernation is hidden behind the face of Stand By so to choose hibernation,
Click Start > Turn Off Computer > Hold Shift and click where Stand By is which should now be Hibernate when you press Shift.

If hibernation is disabled then contact your admin of the comouter, if your the admin account then you can enable it by:
Control Panel > Power Options Properties > Hibernate > Check enable Hibernation (provided your control panel is set out in classic view and not category view.