Power button on my Dell 1420 not working

[Syringer]

I'm running XP and under my power options, the power button is supposed to put my laptop into hibernation mode, but when I press it it doesn't respond it all.

I'm afraid there might be something wrong with it, so if I were to force a manual shutdown or hibernation, pressing it might not turn it back on at all..

Anyone know what could be the issue here, or if it's possible that since the power button is not responding right now that it might not respond after my computer is shut down? Right now I'm just leaving it on 24/7..

 

[Matt1970]

The Bios will have control of your power button untill windows loads, so if your PC is shut off, the power button will alway turn it back on.