How do I stop my laptop sleeping?

Q I use a Windows 7 laptop as my main computer at home and I often need to download very large files. To save my monthly broadband allowance and to avoid slowing down the internet too much during the day, I try to do all of these downloads overnight.

Unfortunately, I have a cat who likes to jump on the laptop and I often find that my downloads are interrupted. How can I set up my computer so I can shut the lid without it going to sleep, so my cat can jump on the PC to its heart’s content?
Alison Goss

A It is often useful to have Windows go to sleep when you shut the lid of your laptop, but, as you have discovered, there are times when the opposite is true.

Fortunately, it is possible to ensure that your computer stays on until you manually shut it down or put it into Sleep mode manually. To do this in Windows 7, click Start followed by Control Panel and then click Hardware and Sound, followed by Power Options.

Then, in the left-hand pane click the link labelled ‘Choose what closing the lid does’ and then, under the ‘Plugged in’ heading, select ‘Do nothing’ from the ‘When I close the lid’ dropdown menu before clicking the Save changes button at the bottom of the window.