Most users are not serious about power settings. In vain.
This point also deserves special attention.
Let's take as an example power configuration for a desktop computer and for laptops or netbooks. There is a noticeable difference between them. For example, almost no one pays attention to setting up the power supply on a stationary PC.
A computer
No one pays attention to the power supply configuration on a stationary PC, since there are no prerequisites for this. Since it works directly from the outlet, there is no point in saving electricity when working with it.
But even though this setting is rarely used on it, it is still there. To find the setup menu, do the following.
Click on the "start" button and go to the control panel.
As indicated in the picture, there is an item "Power"
Select this item and the setup menu will appear.
PC can be customized different options. Let's consider two options.
- Maximum performance;
- Minimum energy consumption.
Maximum performance
When choosing this power scheme, your PC works at full capacity. That is: maximum power consumption in exchange for maximum performance.
To select this power plan, you must select the "High performance" item. For detailed settings, select "Power plan settings".
You will see the following:
Click on the drop-down list located opposite the "Turn off the display" item. Select the "Never" option. The steps for "Put the computer to sleep" are identical.
In addition to these points, in theory, nothing needs to be configured. However, you can make more detailed settings for the selected power plan. Select "Change advanced power settings".
After that, you will see a lot of different options in front of you:
This menu has many different changeable options. In theory, a certain power supply scheme is already configured, so there is no point in changing something.
Customize the necessary items for yourself, and save. Your computer is now running at peak performance. If before that you had a different power scheme selected, then you can check what the difference is. For example: if some games were running “with brakes” on the initially selected power supply scheme, then after choosing this power supply scheme, these games can run faster. In other words, the performance gain will be noticeable.
Minimum energy consumption
The minimum power consumption mode is configured identically to the “maximum performance”, only in this item it is necessary to select the “Energy saving” mode.
We see that in this case both items are configured differently. The display will turn off after 5 minutes of computer inactivity. And it will go into sleep mode after 15 minutes. This mode is already set to save energy.
You can also make detailed settings for this power plan.
Notebook
On laptops, at the bottom of the panel (near the clock) there is a special icon that informs the user about the remaining battery level.
When you click on this icon, you will see the following menu.
As shown in the picture, it is much easier to switch between power plans in this menu. There is no need to go to the control panel and look for the necessary items there.
Setting up power schemes on a desktop computer, laptops and netbooks is no different. However, the difference is more noticeable on laptop computers because they run on batteries.
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the brightness level of the display. For desktop computers, the screen brightness mode is constant. It is different for laptops. The brightness level can be changed through the Screen Brightness Settings menu.
In addition, on portable computers, this setting is more extensive, since laptops and netbooks can operate both from batteries and from the mains.
Everything is configured in the same way, but the configuration items themselves are now twice as large. Each mode includes a battery mode and a mains mode. There is nothing complicated in adjusting the brightness of the screen. The brightness of the screen is adjusted by the slider.
Last thing. On portable computers, when running on battery power, by choosing one or another mode, the system shows you the time that the computer will work before the battery runs out.
In this article I will tell how to optimize laptop power supply (netbook) by forces Windows without involving third-party software. Under " optimal"we will mean the maximum battery life without reducing its service life. If you follow some well-known operating rules, you can even extend the life battery your mobile friend.
And the first rule for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which are installed in all modern laptops (eng. lap- "the knees of a seated person"), such: do not fully discharge! There are still tips on the Internet how to use the registry (branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Power\User\PowerSchemes) delay the "sleep" of the computer by lowering the critical battery level down to 0%. What to do is not recommended, because. battery life can be halved, say, from 1000 to 500 charge-discharge cycles. Taking this into account, let's try to set up the laptop's power supply properly, all screenshots are from the face Windows 7 Home Extended 64x.
So, through the button Start", type in the search bar " power plan " (without quotes) → next, click on " Change the power plan" → in the settings window of the current plan (by default, "Balanced") select " Change advanced power settings". In the window that appears, first of all, we will restore the default settings through the button of the same name. With these settings, a laptop with a "dead" battery first warns that it is time for the user to "round off", after which it goes into hibernation mode, i.e. saves open applications on the hard drive and turns off.
Now let's find and expand the group " Screen ", then the nested group " Screen brightness" → reduce the default values of "Battery" from 40% to, for example, 20 % and "On the network" - from 100% to 80 % (screenshot). This will be our first tweak to the power settings, increasing the laptop's battery life away from outlets.
Let's go to the group" Battery " and expand it → sequentially expand subgroups " Low battery level", "Backup battery level" and " Nearly empty battery level". The initial values will be respectively: 10% (first notification of the user that the charge level is low) - 7% (second notification of the reserve charge level) - 5% (transition to hibernation mode).
If the laptop (battery) is new, more than enough time elapses between pop-up warnings and power off to save documents and log off the system.
Therefore, the default values \u200b\u200bcan be painlessly reduced, as an option, to 7 % (first notice) - 5 % (second notice) - 3 % (PC shutdown). Since the rest of the settings of the selected power plan are initially optimal, you can close the window using the " OK" (screenshot).
But the situation with a "dying" battery (which I wrote about in detail) is the opposite, because with the options above, you may simply not have time to save the results of your work before turning off the computer.
That's why, if the laptop (battery) is old, the balance of power will be as follows: 15 % – 7 % – 5 %.
Of course, all values are approximate and, depending on the degree of "killed" battery, they can be adjusted. At the end of the work, do not forget to confirm the changes with the " OK" and reload Windows.
Dmitry dmitry_spb Evdokimov
One of the most annoying things for users of a modern computer running on an operating Windows system , is that he from time to time trying to turn off his screen and sleep. You plan to spend the whole night uploading some files or displaying your large project, and the computer takes and turns off after half an hour independent work - this is terrible! But those who are familiar with such functionality as " Power supply", such problems do not concern, since at one time they completely customized their computer under yourself. Actually today I will try to dedicate all the ignorant in the subtleties of the "Power Options" settings modern computer, so that in the future you no such problems.
What is "Power Supply"?
If we abstract from the term itself, then "Power" This is a section in the Windows Control Panel, in which you can configure your computer in terms of its self-shutdown, or turn off the screen. This is necessary in the first place in order to save electricity that computers consume permanent basis for your work. So you moved away from your workplace, or fell asleep on it, and The system turned itself off after some time. so as not to idle and waste energy.
See also "Power" plays an important role for whole type of modern devices - laptops. These computers have one feature - they can work autonomously. For this reason, it is very important that how long can they last away from a power outlet, and to improve battery life, they require special setting, which is just produced in the section "Power supply". But to commit in it any settings, to get started you need to get into it. I already wrote about how to do this, so you can go and meet, and I will proceed to the description of the parameters.
Choosing and configuring a power plan
it the first thing you see, getting into the "Power Options" window. In this window you can quite simply and quickly choose one of the two options offered by the system, which, in principle, should be enough most users.
Balanced . This scheme is designed to make the computer remained productive, but at the moments when it will be required of him significant energy consumption, the system will strike a balance by saving it, which may affect on speed or quality of work. In other words, if you only use a set of office applications, a player, a browser, or communication programs, then this chart is for you., as it will help you to perform the desired actions as best as possible longer time, but will not create conditions under which the computer will start "to brake" or "to think long".
High performance. This scheme is mandatory for those computers, whose owners are extremely resource intensive tasks. For example, they play heavy games, edit videos, create massive projects in image editors, etc. For them, this scheme allows you to get the most out of your computer without caring how much power it consumes. In addition, when working with this scheme, laptop owners most often already connected to the mains, as the battery of their device don't live long.
"Setting the power plan"- if you click on this button, which is located opposite the name of each of the two proposed schemes, you can access detailed settings. More precisely, it becomes possible to configure computer behavior when running on mains or battery. It concerns three aspects - turn off the display, sleep mode and screen brightness. As an interval after which the computer will complete the task, it is proposed fifteen meanings- minimum one minute, maximum five hours. You can also completely disable these tasks if you need to always have a device on.
Also, if the settings for the behavior of the device itself or its display not enough, you can click on the button "Change advanced power settings" and in the window that opens, set the necessary values for other elements of the system, or software . The whole setting comes down to choosing from several options, where the emphasis is on high performance, the best autonomy, or balance between one and the other. If you need to return all settings to their original state, then you need to click on the button "Restore default settings".
Actions of the power buttons and when the lid is closed
If you press the button when going to "Power Options" "Power Button Actions" or "Action when closing the lid", then you can get to a separate menu, which, like the buttons themselves, will be available for laptop owners only. The options offered in this menu allow you to choose what the laptop should do when you close the lid, press the power button or press the sleep button. In total, there are five options for each action:
Besides, under action settings after closing the lid and pressing the buttons, you can find "Shutdown options". These default settings will not be editable, but this can be fixed by clicking on the button "Change settings that are currently unavailable", marked with a blue-yellow shield, at the top of the window. What do these settings give? By using ticking, you can choose which of the items will be displayed, when you click on the "Shutdown" button in the start menu.
Proprietary laptop software
Many laptop owners especially game models, may not be aware that in special utilities, which supplied by the manufacturer, you can choose the most suitable use of electricity consumed by the laptop. Since such devices are extremely voracious, then for them it is quite a topical issue.
I have in stock have MSI laptops that are equipped with the utility MSI Dragon Center, in which, in the section System Tuner can choose performance mode computer. This is mainly aimed at providing better performance, however, if you stop at the ECO, then the device, despite its power, will operate at a third of its potential, which will save a lot of battery power. And yes, analogues of this utility should be on every gaming laptop from well-known brands such as MSI, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Aser etc. If you do not have this utility, then visit the manufacturer's website where it should be possible to download it.
Save electricity
Very difficult any advice in this situation., since the scenario for using a computer is completely different for everyone. Someone needs autonomy, to someone performance. In any case, now you know how to customize this element of the system for yourself. And don't forget where you can change the settings turning off the display and entering sleep mode, since the default settings can cause a lot of inconvenience in the future.
Setting up the Windows 7 power options is fairly simple and very easy to get to. In this article, I'll show you how to get into "Power Options" and which settings affect what.
By the way, I’ll immediately mention that on laptops, the “Power Options” section looks a little different, but the essence remains the same and you can get there the same way. It will just be expanded: the possibility of two power settings will be added: one when the computer is running on battery power, the second - on battery power, and a screen brightness setting is also added.
Through the "Control Panel"
Click "Start" in the lower left corner of the screen and go to "Control Panel".
Find the "Power Options" section there.
How to Open Power Options Through the Start Menu
In fact, on Windows 7 you can open the power options by typing the word "Power Options" in the "Start" search bar and pressing either LMB on the "Power Options" program or "Enter".
How to set up power options in Windows 7
Before you appeared power supply modes, there are three of them.
- Energy saving- a mode that greatly reduces the upper limit of the processor speed, giving preference to saving energy. In this mode, the computer will not be able to work quickly even when it is needed, but the battery will last much longer than usual.
- Balanced- the golden mean between the cost of battery resources and PC performance. In this mode, the processor speed is not limited, but increases or decreases depending on the work currently being performed. If tasks require a really fast processor, it will work quickly. When this need is no longer needed, the processor slows down (does not waste resources in vain).
- High performance- a mode that forces the processor to always work at its limit. This mode is characterized by a short battery life and faster processor wear, however, sometimes, due to some features of the processor architecture, it is really worth enabling it, in general, the computer will work a little faster. But it is recommended to enable this mode only when it is really necessary. Before turning on, make sure that you need the computer to work faster, and not the Internet, for example. If you enable high performance, the download speed will not increase.
Now let's look at the tabs on the left. The ones highlighted in this screenshot lead to the same menu.
Here you can choose how much time of inactivity the computer will automatically turn off the display, and how long it will go into sleep mode. You can put "Never" there and there. In this case, the computer will work as usual until you turn it off yourself.
In it, you can choose what actions will be performed when you press the buttons responsible for turning the computer on and off, and also choose in which situations a password will be requested. The latter can only be performed by a user with administrator rights, and for this you must first click on "Change currently unavailable settings" (as you can see, initially the ability to change this setting is disabled).
The last item on the menu is "Create a power plan". This section allows you to select all settings related to the power supply and save them so that all settings selected in this way can be set with the touch of a button.
In the article, we have already managed to get acquainted with the basic methods of power management in Windows. Now we will look at the Power Options utility in detail. Select Start => Control Panel => Power Options.
- You can choose one of the power plans:
- Balanced - a compromise between performance and battery savings;
- High performance - no savings, only performance;
- Energy Saving - Get ready for your laptop to run at a tortoise speed, but save energy.
Opposite each plan there is a button Set up a power plan. If you need to change the plan to a minimum, for example, simply set a different time to turn off the display, you can use this button. But if you plan to completely redo the plan, then it is better to create a new meal plan based on one of the existing ones and already edit its parameters so that the standard meal plans remain unchanged.
So, click on the button Create a power plan (it is located on the left - on the action bar). Next, select the basis - the plan on the basis of which you will create a new plan, and enter the name of the new plan. Again, if you want to save money, then choose the Energy Saving plan as the basis, but if you want to get more performance, but at the same time want to save some energy, then choose the High performance plan.
Next, set the time to turn off the display and the time to enter sleep mode. For maximum power savings, you can set a shorter sleep time, such as 10 minutes. But do not overdo it - it will take a lot of energy to wake up from sleep mode, and if the laptop "falls asleep" and "wakes up" frequently, this will only drain its battery more. On the other hand, we think logically. Since you are working autonomously, you are working outdoors. And since you work outdoors, you are unlikely to want to leave your laptop for about 10-15 minutes and leave. On the contrary, you will not let go of it.
Click the Create button and you will see the Select Power Plan window. Your created plan will be active. Click the Set up power plan button. In the window that appears, click the Change advanced power settings button. To make additional power settings available, click the Change settings that are currently unavailable button.
Additional power options are described in the table.
| Parameter | Description |
| Require password on wakeup | If security is your top priority, then it's certainly better to require a password when you wake up your computer so that no one else but you can use it. But if there is nothing important in your laptop, then you can turn off the password request (value No) - this way the laptop will wake up faster and you will not have to enter the password every time |
| Hard drive, Turn off hard drive after | Allows you to set the idle time after which you want to turn off the hard drive. The default value for the Energy Saver plan (which is what we chose as the basis of our power plan) is 20 minutes (quite a reasonable value) |
| Desktop Background Options, Slide Show | If you want to achieve maximum energy savings, turn off the slide show (Set to Paused) - the less the laptop performs, the longer the battery will last |
| Wireless Network Adapter Settings, Power Saving Mode | By default, the wireless adapter is set to maximum performance, however, to save energy, you can select medium power saving (from the minimum it will be of little use, and at the maximum wireless network works very slowly) |
| Sleep, Sleep after | Specifies how many minutes the laptop should "sleep" after. The default value is 15 minutes. As we said, it can be reduced to 10 minutes |
| Sleep, hibernation after | By default, the laptop will never automatically hibernate at all. First you need to check whether the computer will be able to hibernate at all (see below), and only then set automatic hibernation using this parameter, if, of course, you need it |
| Sleep, Allow wake timers | Allows the computer to automatically wake up using scheduled events. For example, if the computer is now sleeping, but the Task Scheduler needs to execute some program, your laptop will be "woken up" for this. On the one hand, for maximum savings, you can disable wake timers. On the other hand, you may not complete scheduled tasks. I prefer to turn off the timers - it is quite possible that when performing these very scheduled tasks, the battery will run out |
| USB Settings, USB Pause Setting | Allows temporary disabling of the USB port. To save power, of course, it's better to allow USB temporary shutdown |
| Power buttons and lid, Lid closing action | You can set the action that the system takes when the laptop lid is closed, when the laptop is on AC power, and when the laptop is on battery power. By default, for both cases, Windows puts the laptop to sleep. Although if the laptop is powered by the network, then you can select the Action is not required option - if you don’t need to save anything, then why put the computer to sleep once again? |
| Power buttons and lid, Power button action | Specifies the action that Windows will take when the power button is pressed. By default (whether running on battery or plugged in), the system puts the notebook into sleep mode. Personally, I like it better when the system shuts down when this button is pressed, i.e. completely turns off the power of the laptop. However, if you have pets that can walk, run, and jump on your laptop (particularly cats), it's best to put your computer to sleep. When the cat presses the power button, the system will shut down and any unsaved changes in open documents will be lost! |
| Power buttons and lid, Sleep button action | Sets the action for the sleep button, if your laptop has one |
| Power Buttons and Lid, Start Menu Power Button | Sets the action for the start menu power button. The default value is Sleep, i.e. the system will put the laptop into sleep mode |
| PCI Express Link State Power Management | There is no need to change anything here, since the maximum energy saving is already selected |
| Processor power management | Allows you to control the processor power. The higher the specified values, the faster the processor will run. |
| Screen, Turn off screen after | Sets the time interval after which the display turns off |
| Screen, Adaptive Screen Off | Allows you to increase the timeout before turning off the screen if you turn on the screen again using the keyboard or mouse |
| Screen, Screen brightness | Sets the brightness of the screen when running on AC power and on battery power |
| Media options, When sharing media | The default setting is to prevent from idle (when the laptop is not in use) to hibernation on AC power, and to hibernate on battery power. This behavior is the most reasonable. If you allow the transition from idle to sleep on AC power, then when you watch a movie, the computer will "fall asleep" because you are not using it |
| Battery, Low Battery Action | Sets the action to be taken when the battery is completely discharged. By default, the laptop is put into Hibernation mode, but if you are low on disk space, it is better to select Shut down |
| Low battery level | Sets the charge level at which the battery is considered low. Default 10% |
| Low battery level | Sets the level of charge at which the battery is considered nearly empty. Default 5% |
| Low battery notification | Allows you to enable or disable low battery notification on AC and battery power |
| Low battery action | By default, the system does not take any action when the battery is low (10% charged) |
By changing advanced power settings, you can create your own power plan that will fully meet your needs.