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How to Manage Windows 7 Power Settings
There's some stuff to like in Windows 7 if you're a green geek. Take, for starters, the fact that power management options are enabled by default in the beta (read this article on installing the Windows 7 beta if you want to try it out). There's also a plethora of power options available for the obsessive tweaker and eco-techie (sometimes one and the same).
First, it helps to get acquainted with Windows 7 Power settings. It's easy to reach the Power Options control panel, just hit the Start Button and select Control Panel in the second, shaded column on the right.
Now select All Control Panel Items...
...and make your way down to Power Options and click. (Alternately, select System and Security, then Power Options.)
Indulge me in a little rant before we proceed.
Given these eco-conscious times we live in, Microsoft had an opportunity to put power management front and center by placing the Power Options widget on the first control panel screen along with System and Security, Network and Internet and so forth. On the flip side, its current placement might discourage casual users from disabling it completely, so there's some merit to that way of thinking. Plus it would deviate from Microsoft's desire to group like functionality, so there seems to be some UI/design considerations.
Rant over, onward!
After clicking on the Power Options icon, you're asked to Select a Power Plan.
There are two options that are immediately available: Balanced (the default) and Power saver. Balanced turns off the display after 10 minutes of inactivity and puts your computer into sleep mode after 30 minutes. Power saver halves those times to 5 minutes and 15 minutes respectively.
More proof that Microsoft is making you work at disabling power management options, users will have to open Show additional plans to display a third, High performance profile that shuts off the display after 15 minutes but never enters sleep mode.
Apart from that, you can create your own custom power plan by selecting the link on the left or editing an existing plan and tweaking the advanced settings to your liking, including whether to prompt for a password when your computer wakes and assign a power setting (like sleep or shutdown) to the power button.
For me, Balanced works well right off the bat. After 10 minutes of no input, the screen goes predictably dark, and after 30 minutes, there's no hard drive activity. After a good shake of the mouse, my system (an aging 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 with 2 GB of memory) wakes from sleep in less than 5 seconds, plus an extra couple of seconds to reestablish my network connection.
Very workable.
On an unrelated note: be sure to download the latest Windows 7 update to avoid MP3 corruption!
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I'm not sure where you were going with your 'rant'. Is it bad of Microsoft to have buried the power settings, or is it okay for them to have organized things together?
Regardless - you missed an important addition to Windows 7 in regard to power management. Windows 7 will now reduce the power going to the screen after a few minutes to save on power. It doesn't completely turn it off, but rather simply fades the amount of light a bit. This is a nice, smart move to save energy. This might only work on mobile devices. I need to check that .
Brad!
I was railing on the fact that they buried it a bit, though I can appreciate why.
Interesting find on the screen deal, must investigate...
Thanks!
this is usefull at soo many levels, especially the fact that W7 can hold my Lenovo for 4.2 Hours. Vista = 3.2H. Disgusting!
Leverage the Win7 Start Menu's Search bar. Just type the word:
power
And by the time you have typed "po" voila, the Power Options CPL link is front and center. Arrow down and hit ENTER/mouseclick and you're there.
What bugs me about the whole power management options is that they seem to reset to the default after shutting down your computer. I've had to reset my power options several times.
I'm a graphics artist when I'm not doing other things, and I often like to set my computer up to render fractals (about an hour and a half per) and then go do other things. It is incredibly frustrating to come back and see that everything is shut off, when I know I set it to always be on the day before. Then I turn everything back on and find that only a small part of the render has completed.
I mean, what am I saving? The work is going to be done either way, but this way takes a hell of a lot longer.