Tag Archives: power plan

Comparing Power Saver, Balanced & High Performance Plans In Windows

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Windows comes with three built-in power modes: Power Saver, Balanced, and High Performance. 'Balanced' is selected by default, and most people never even bother to change it (they don’t even have to, either). Those who do like getting the best out of their system are usually not sure about the exact difference between the three modes. In this post, we’ll clarify the differences between these three power modes so that you actually know what effect they have on your system, and what happens when you switch between them. Read More

Switch Between Up To Seven Default & Custom Power Plans From Windows System Tray

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As PCs became more powerful, so are power hungry, and today, we have machines (mostly gaming PCs) that eat plenty of watts. While our desktops are always connected to an AC outlet, making us less concerned of power outage or anything, the story is a bit different when you are working on a Notebook, as proper power optimization is required to make the battery last longer, when we are not near an AC line. Luckily, Windows 7 comes with a power scheme switcher option containing three plans by default (High Performance, Balanced and Power Saver), which makes it easier to to optimize system performance. The downside however, is that it only allows you to switch between two power plans from its notification icon. This can be a major hindrance for people who continually find the need to switch between all three. Applications like previously reviewed Power Plan Assistant have pretty much taken care of this nuisance. However, various third-party solutions keep on adding new features to the mix. What such solution is Easy Power Plan Switcher, another similar, open source program that is extremely light and sits in the Windows system tray for easy access to all default battery power schemes. The twist here is that enlists a few custom schemes as well. This small utility definitely does a big job for laptop users looking for a way to manage battery life. More to follow. Read More

Sleep Preventer Disables Sleep, Hibernate, Dimmed Display & Screensaver

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Many people prefer a Windows power plan which may ensure prolonged Laptop battery life. For this reason, a system is often set to hibernate or go into sleep mode, after a period of inactivity. However, keeping such a power plan can often be disruptive when your computer goes into any of the aforementioned modes before the completion of an important task. For example, it can be quite annoying when your system goes into hibernation due to apparent inactivity while a download or backup process is running. Sleep Preventer is a portable application which keeps the system awake and prevents it from going into to sleep mode or hibernation. It also prevents other features which may disrupt work, such as, dimming of display or activation of a screensaver. It has similar features to the formerly reviewed Mac application known as Caffeine. Read More

Coffee Keeps Your System Awake During Downloads

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Windows Power Options provide few customization features to stop your system from going into standby or sleep mode due to inactivity. However, many a times one might prefer keeping a power plan which allows the system to go into standby or sleep mode, to conserver battery power.  Having said that, it can be quite annoying to continually switch between power plans to keep the system awake during important downloading tasks. I certainty get quite annoyed when I leave a download running and find the system in sleep mode when I return after a few minutes, (because I forgot to change the power plan). A solution to this problem can be to use opensource Coffee. It works pretty much like the coffee we drink to stay awake, i.e, it prevents your system from going to sleep when important downloads are running. Read More

Set Time Or Day Based Windows Power Plans On Your PC With SetPower

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In many organizations and homes, a computer requires being turned on throughout the day. For some it can be a business requirement, whereas in other cases, one may require synchronizing data from office to a home computer. Even home users may wish to keep their system on so that numerous members of the family may be able to use it periodically. This, however, also means that the machine will be kept on for an extended period of time and will consume energy even when it is not in use. One way of reducing energy consumption is to set a power plan, but in the common Windows Power Plan options, one cannot set day and time specific power plan. Read More

Show All Power Plans In Windows 7

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Windows 7, by default, includes three power plans in the Power Options inside Control Panel; High Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver. But it only displays two power plans in the system tray with no option to increase the number. This can be a nuisance for those who move a lot and need to switch between power plans frequently.

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Windows 7 Advanced Power Management

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Looking for a laptop battery power manager that can efficiently manage the power plans and allows you to tweak the power profiles? Meet Power Plan Assistant. It is a free Power Management tool developed for Windows 7. Instead of changing the basic power management feature, it adds additional features which enhances the overall power of your laptop/netbook running Windows 7. So is it a Battery booster? No, but it helps increase the overall life of the battery. With this tool you can automatically switch between Windows default power plans – High Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver. Read More