Setting Battery Alarm Parameters

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On ACPI-compliant battery-powered systems or battery-powered systems with APM enabled, Windows 2000 can display an alarm and take certain actions when your remaining battery power falls below specified thresholds. To specify the parameters governing these actions:

1. Open the Start menu and choose Settings, Control Panel, Power Options.
2. Click the Alarms tab.

Figure 26-6 shows the default alarm settings.

Figure 26-6. Windows 2000 can sound the alarm and take appropriate action when battery power falls to dangerous depths.

As the figure shows, you can set two different alarm thresholds. At each threshold the system, by default, produces an audible alarm and displays warning text but takes no further action. To change these defaults for either of the two alarm thresholds, click the associated Alarm Action button. Figure 26-7 shows the ensuing dialog box.

Figure 26-7. You can customize how your computer responds to a low battery condition.

To eliminate the sound or text warning, clear the associated box. To put your computer on standby, make it hibernate, or shut it down when the alarm goes off, select the When The Alarm Goes Off, The Computer Will check box and choose an option from the list. If you select this check box, an additional check box becomes available: Force Standby Or Shutdown Even If A Program Stops Responding. Selecting this option forces the desired action to occur even if a program isn't responding (and hence cannot be shut down without potential loss of data).

SEE ALSO

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For more information about scheduled tasks, see "Running Programs on Schedule."

If you need to have a program run automatically when the battery hits one of your alarm thresholds, select the When The Alarm Occurs Run This Program check box, and then click the Configure Program button. The dialog box that appears next lets you specify which program you want to run, and this program then takes its place among your other scheduled tasks.