Laptop Power Saving Tweaks in Windows

How to improve the battery lasting time on Windows XP OS hosting Laptop?

The major concern that Laptop users come across is how to extend the battery time during power failure or during important meetings. Windows OS provides options to increase the battery time.

The major power consuming things that are on your Laptop are the display and the hard disk.Below are few options that are available to improve the battery life by minimizing the burden on hard Disk.

A) On windows XP we have POWER SCHEME that can increase the battery life. POWER SCHEME is nothing but the settings of our system and the hardware available on the system that will control PC power management.

Windows XP has two power schemes specifically for Laptops.

1) The first one is the Portable/Laptop power scheme that reduces power usage to conserve the battery, but adjusts as per our processing needs so that the performance is not cut off
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2) The second is the Max Battery power scheme that reduces power use but does not adjust the processing demands.. Max Battery Power scheme should only be used in situations that require minimal processing, such as reading documents and taking notes in a meeting.

The following are the steps to be followed to activate a Power scheme that is designed to increase the battery life.

1) Click Start --> Control Panel.
2) In the Category view of Control Panel click on Performance and Maintenance.
3) Click on the Power Options in the Performance and Maintenance window.
4) On the Power Schemes tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the drop down box under Power schemes, and then click Max Battery.
5) Click OK.

Custom power schemes that suit our specific needs can also be created. You can create as many custom power schemes as you want.
Take advantage of low-power states

B) Windows XP standby and hibernation.

The battery time can also be increased by using the standby and hibernation options

In a standby mode the display and hard disk turn off, and all open programs and files are saved in random access memory (RAM) rather than to hard disk.Data stored in RAM is cleared when the computer turns off. So always it is advised to save all the info before switching to standby mode.
Standby is useful when Laptop is being used in regular intervals throughout the day.When shifting from one place to another for delivering a presentation making the computer to be in standby to maximize the battery life. This also allows quick access to open programs, files, and documents.

To use standby mode the below settings are required.

1) Click Start --> Control Panel.
2) In the Category view of Control Panel click on Performance and Maintenance.
3) Click on the Power Options in the Performance and Maintenance window.
4) On the Advanced tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the drop down box under Power Buttons, and then click Standby.
5) Click OK.

In hibernation, computer saves everything to hard disk and then shuts down. When we restart the computer, the desktop is restored exactly as we left it. Hibernation uses less power than the sleep state (standby), but it takes a bit longer to resume.

1) Click Start --> Control Panel.
2) In the Category view of Control Panel click on Performance and Maintenance.
3) Click on the Power Options in the Performance and Maintenance window.
4) Click on Hibernate Tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box, check the Enable Hibernation check box.
5) Click OK.

Using one of the above options based on your requirements will help you in maximizing the battery life of your Laptop.

I will discuss regarding the power saving techniques by minimizing the power consumed by the display in my next articles.