Lesson 2:Configuring Power Management | 70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional (MCSE/MCSA Guides)

Windows XP Professional contains a number of features that allow the operating system to manage the use of power by your computer and the hardware devices attached to it. Power management features included in Windows XP Professional include System Power Management, Device Power Management, Processor Power Management, System Events, and Battery Management.

After this lesson, you will be able to

Use Control Panel to configure Power Options

Estimated lesson time: 40 minutes

Configuring Power Options

Power Options allows you to configure Windows XP Professional to turn off the power to your monitor and your hard disk or put the computer in hibernate mode. To configure Power Options, in Control Panel, click Performance And Maintenance, and then click Power Options. The Power Options Properties dialog box allows you to configure Power Options (see Figure 10.5).

Figure 10.5 Power Schemes tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box

Your hardware must support powering off the monitor and hard disk for you to configure power schemes.

Selecting a Power Scheme

Power schemes allow you to configure Windows XP Professional to turn off the power to your monitor and your hard disk, conserving energy. In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Power Schemes tab. Windows XP Professional provides the following six built-in power schemes:

Home/Office Desk. This power scheme is designed for a desktop computer. After 20 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off.
Portable/Laptop. This power scheme is optimized for portable computers that will be running on batteries. After 15 minutes of inactivity the monitor is turned off, and after 30 minutes of inactivity the hard disks are turned off.
Presentation. This power scheme is designed for use with presentations for which the computer display is always to remain on. The monitor and the hard disks are never turned off.
Always On. This power scheme is designed for use with personal servers. After 20 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off.
Minimal Power Management. This power scheme disables some power management features such as timed hibernation. After 15 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off.
Max Battery. This power scheme is designed to conserve as much battery power as possible. After 15 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off.

To select a power scheme, you can perform the following steps:

Ensure that you are logged on with a user account that is a member of the Administrators group.
Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance And Maintenance.
Click Power Options.
Windows XP Professional displays the Power Options Properties dialog box with the Power Schemes tab active.
Click the arrow at the end of the Power Schemes box to display the pull-down menu listing the available power schemes. Click the power scheme you want to use.
Click OK to close the Power Options Properties dialog box.

If none of these power schemes is appropriate for your computer environment, you can modify one of the built-in power schemes or configure a new power scheme. To modify a power scheme or to create a new power scheme, perform the following steps:

Ensure that you are logged on with a user account that is a member of the Administrators group.
Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance And Maintenance.
Click Power Options.
Windows XP Professional displays the Power Options Properties dialog box with the Power Schemes tab active.
Click the arrow at the end of the Power Schemes box to display the pull-down menu listing the available power schemes. Click the power scheme you want to use.
In the Settings For Power_Scheme_Name Power Scheme text box, modify the amount of inactive time before the monitor or hard drives are turned off.
Do one of the following:
- Click OK to modify the existing power scheme and close the Power Options Properties dialog box.
- Click Save As to create a new power scheme.

Configuring Advanced Power Options

To configure your computer to use advanced power options, use the Power Options Properties dialog box and click the Advanced tab. There are two options in the Advanced tab. If you want an icon for quick access to Power Management to appear on the taskbar, select the Always Show Icon On The Taskbar check box. The second check box in the Advanced tab is Prompt For Password When Computer Resumes From Standby. Selecting this check box causes you to be prompted for your Windows password when your computer comes out of standby mode.

On older systems, the Prompt For Password When Computer Resumes From Standby box might not be displayed unless the system is set to hibernate.

Enabling Hibernate Mode

When your computer hibernates, it saves the current system state to your hard disk, and then your computer shuts down. When you start the computer after it has been hibernating, it returns to its previous state. Restarting to the previous state includes automatically restarting any programs that were running when it went into hibernate mode, and it even restores any network connections that were active at the time. To configure your computer to use hibernate mode, use the Power Options Properties dialog box. Click Hibernate and select the Enable Hibernation check box. If the Hibernate tab is unavailable, your computer does not support this mode.

Configuring Advanced Power Management

Windows XP Professional supports Advanced Power Management (APM), which helps reduce the power consumption of your system. To configure your computer to use APM, use the Power Options Properties dialog box. Click the APM tab and select the Enable Advanced Power Management Support check box. If the APM tab is unavailable, your computer is compliant with Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), which automatically enables Advanced Power Management Support and disables the APM tab. You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to configure APM.

If your computer does not have an APM BIOS installed, Windows XP Professional does not install APM, so there will not be an APM tab in the Power Options Properties dialog box. However, your computer can still function as an ACPI computer if it has an ACPI-based BIOS, which takes over system configuration and power management from the Plug and Play BIOS.

If your laptop has an ACPI-based BIOS, you can insert and remove PC cards on the fly and Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures them without requiring you to restart your machine. This is known as dynamic configuration of PC cards. There are two other important features for mobile computers that rely on dynamic Plug and Play: hot and warm docking/undocking and hot swapping of Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) and floppy devices. Hot and warm docking/undocking means you can dock and undock from the Windows XP Professional Start menu without turning off your computer. Windows XP Professional automatically creates two hardware profiles for laptop computers: one for the docked state and one for the undocked state. (For more information about hardware profiles see Chapter 11, "Installing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers.") Hot swapping of IDE and floppy devices means that you can remove and swap devices such as floppy drives, DVD/CD drives, and hard drives without shutting down your system or restarting your system; Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures these devices.

Configuring an Uninterruptible Power Supply

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device connected between a computer or another piece of electronic equipment and a power source, such as an electrical outlet. The UPS ensures that the electrical flow to the computer is not interrupted because of a blackout and, in most cases, protects the computer against potentially damaging events such as power surges and brownouts. Different UPS models offer different levels of protection. To configure your UPS, click the UPS tab in the Power Options Properties dialog box. The UPS tab shows the current power source, the estimated UPS run time, the estimated UPS capacity, and the battery condition. In the UPS tab, click Details to display the UPS Selection dialog box. It displays a list of manufacturers so that you can select the manufacturer of your UPS.

Check the Windows XP Professional Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to make sure the UPS you are considering is compatible with Windows XP Professional before you purchase it.

If you want to configure a custom simple-signaling UPS, in the Select Manufacturer list box select Generic. In the Select Model list box, click Generic and then click Next. You can configure the conditions that trigger the UPS device to send a signal in the UPS Interface Configuration dialog box (see Figure 10.6). These conditions include power failures, a low battery, and the UPS shutting down. You should select Positive if your UPS sends a signal with positive polarity when the power fails and the UPS is running on battery. Select Negative if your UPS sends a signal with negative polarity.

Be sure to check your UPS documentation before you configure signal polarity.

Figure 10.6 UPS Interface Configuration dialog box

After you have configured the UPS service for your computer, you should test the configuration to ensure that your computer is protected from power failures. Disconnect the main power supply to simulate a power failure. During your test the computer and the devices connected to the computer should remain operational. You should let the test run long enough for the UPS battery to reach a low level so that you can verify that an orderly shutdown occurs.

Do not test your UPS on a production computer. You could lose valuable data. Use a spare computer for the test.

Practice: Configuring Power Options

In this practice you use Control Panel to configure Power Options.

To configure Power Options

Ensure that you are logged on as Fred or with a user account that is a member of the Administrators group.
Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance And Maintenance.
Click Power Options.
Windows XP Professional displays the Power Options Properties dialog box with the Power Schemes tab active.
In the Power Schemes list, select Portable/Laptop.
In the Turn Off Monitor box, select After 10 Minutes.
In the Turn Off Hard Disks box, select After 20 Minutes.
Click Save As, and then in the Save Scheme text box, type Airplane.
Click OK.
You have just created a new power scheme. If you click the arrow at the end of the Power Scheme box, Airplane is now included in the list of available power schemes. If you want to use this power scheme, click Apply.
Click the Advanced tab and select the Always Show Icon In The Taskbar check box.
Click the Hibernate tab.
If the Enable Hibernate Support check box is not selected, select it and then click Apply.
Click the APM tab.
If the Enable Advanced Power Management Support check box is not selected, select it and then click Apply.
To apply these changes you would click OK; click Cancel.
Windows XP Professional closes the Power Options Properties dialog box.
Close all open windows.

Lesson Review

The following questions will help you determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next lesson. If you have difficulty answering these questions, review the material in this lesson before beginning the next lesson. The answers are in Appendix A, "Questions and Answers."

What is a power scheme and why would you use one?
Which of the following statements about Windows XP Professional power schemes are true? (Choose all answers that are correct.)
1. Windows XP Professional ships with six built-in power schemes.
2. Windows XP Professional allows you to create your own power schemes.
3. Windows XP Professional allows you to modify existing power schemes, but you cannot create new ones.
4. Windows XP Professional does not ship with any built-in power schemes.
A _____________________________ is a device that connects between a computer and a power source to ensure that the electrical flow to the computer is not abruptly stopped because of a blackout.
What does hibernate mode do?
______________________ means that you can remove or exchange devices such as floppy drives, DVD/CD drives, and hard drives without shutting down your system or restarting your system. Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures these devices.

Lesson Summary

Power Options allows you to configure Windows XP Professional to turn off the power to your monitor and your hard disk or put the computer in hibernate mode.
To configure Power Options, in Control Panel, click Performance And Maintenance and then click Power Options.
The advanced power management options allow you to add an icon for quick access to Power Management to the taskbar and choose to be prompted for your Windows password when your computer comes out of standby mode.
When your computer hibernates, it saves the current system state to your hard disk, and then your computer shuts down. When you start the computer after it has been hibernating, it returns to its previous state.
ACPI automatically enables Advanced Power Management Support and removes the APM tab.
A UPS is a device that ensures that the electrical flow to a computer is not interrupted because of power loss.