2. In XP you probably already know how to manage
the power settings for your system on a laptop
or desktop. Today we take you through how to
manage power settings and create custom plans
in Windows 7.
There are new power management options that
you can set up in Windows 7 compared to XP.
You might want to change plans to save battery
power on your laptop, or reduce energy
consumption on a desktop at home or the office.
Here we will look at how to manage and tweak
the power plans, and how to create custom plans
as well.
3. Power Settings
To access power plan options
To change any one of the predefined
power plans
4. To access power plan options
To access power
plan options, type
power settings into
the search bar in the
Start Menu and hit
Enter.
5. The Power Options screen opens and
from here you can select from three
predefined plans–Balanced, Power
saver, or High performance.
6. Click on Choose what the
power button does and you
can tweak several options
such as Requiring a
password on wakeup and
what the power button on the
computer does. If you set
When I press the power
button to Do nothing, you
won’t have a problem with
the PC shutting down when
you accidently hit the power
button.
To change any one of the
predefined power plans
click on Change plan
settings.
7. Then you can change the amount of
inactive time before the monitor is
turned off or the computer goes into
Sleep mode.
If you want to revert back to the
default settings, simply click on
Restore default settings for this plan.
8. To change any one of the
predefined power plans
To create a custom plan,
click on Create a power
plan from the Power
Options section.
In the Create a power plan
window a predetermined
plan that is closest to what
you want, and give the plan
a name.
9. In the next screen
select the sleep and
display settings you
want to use and click
the Create button.
After your plan is
created you’ll see it
under the preferred
plans list.
10. If you click on Change advanced power settings,
there are several options you can tweak. These
settings should only be used by advanced users,
as if you turn off the wrong thing, your computer
may not function correctly. Choosing between the
predetermined settings should be adequate for
most users.