Power Options
This tutorial assumes that you have set the Control panel to Classic
View. To see how to do this, click this link (opens in a new window):
Set the Control Panel to
Classic View
You can set up various power option in Windows XP. These are things
like turn off the hard drive, go in to hibernation, turn off the monitor,
and even settings for Uninterruptible Power Supply units (surge protectors).
We'll take a look at the Power Options now.
Power Schemes
Open the control panel by clicking the Start button. Select
Control Panel from the Start menu, and look for the Power
Options item. Double click this to bring up the following screen:
You can select a built-in power scheme by choosing one
from the drop down list:
When you choose an option, you'll see the settings change
for the other three drop down lists. But you can change these to anything
you like:
If you select the laptop power scheme, the settings will be as follows:
So XP will switch your monitor off after 15 minutes of inactivity.
It won't turn off your hard drive, and will go into Standby mode after
20 minutes. Again, you can set these times to any you like from the
drop down lists
From an energy point of view, or if you want to save a few pennies
off your power bills, switching off the monitor on a Home/Office PC
after a certain length of time can help.
NOTE: When XP goes in to Standby mode, it will disconnect any
internet connection you may have. When it comes out of Standby mode
(after you move the mouse, for example), it won't reconnect you to the
internet.
Power Options – Advanced
If you click the Advanced tab, you'll see this screen:
The icon for the power options looks like this (the one on the far
left):
If you see that icon near your clock, you know you have power options
set on your computer.
You can also get XP to prompt you for your password when the computer
comes out of standby. Put a tick in the box to keep prying eyes from
your PC.
The power buttons are on the PC itself (the off button, if you like),
and on the keyboard. Not all keyboards have a "sleep" button,
but setting this option can be a quick way to switch the PC off.
Power Options - Hibernate
The Hibernate option only has one tick box on it. It's a bit like standby,
but it stores a few settings in memory, so that it can return to the
previous state it was in before hibernation. At least, that's the theory!
Power Options -UPS
UPS stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply. In the UK, it's commonly
know as a surge protector. This is a device that sits between your electric
wall socket and the PC. If you get some kind of power surge or outage,
they protect your PC. They can also protect modems, and we've known
quite a few of these taken out by a storm! They can be a good investment.
Here's what the UPS screen looks like:
From this screen, you can select the make of your UPS, and configure
a few settings.
Click the Select button and choose your model from the list. If it's
not there, choose Generic. When you click OK, the Configure button should
become available.
If the UPS device detects a power failure, XP picks it up. It then
gives you warnings. In the UPS configuration screen, you can set the
number of seconds for the first warning, and subsequent warnings. You
can also set what happens when you hear the alarm going off. (Panic
is not an option!) You'll probably want XP to switch the computer off,
though.
<--Back One Page
Move on to the Next Part-->
<--Back to the
Beginner's Computing Contents Page
View all our Home Study Computer
Courses
home