Change Windows Vista Power Management Plans

Is your desktop feeling a bit sluggish? What about your laptops battery dieing after only a short amount of time? Windows Vista has some nice power saving/power using options that help different types of machines and users accomplish what they need to in a better way.

Click the Windows icon, open “Control Panel”, and make sure you are set on “Control Panel Home.”

Next click the “System and Maintenance” headline at the top.

Now most likely the fifth heading down is “Power Options”, click it.

Now it’s time for a brief explanation of each of the three power plans provided by Windows Vista:

Balanced- This plan is for users who have a lower end desktop or a laptop user that has there laptop almost always charging. This plan delivers both energy savings and performance in a middle class of the power options.

Power saver- A plan designed for laptops that are generally used away from the charger and the need a good amount of time using only the battery. Although, some people use this with there desktops as a way to save energy usage in there home, this doesn’t deliver the performance that most desktop users would want.

High performance- For mid-high end desktop systems and users that don’t mind the slightly higher electricity bill. This plan is all about performance not leaving out any speed that the user may need. This is a great plan for use with laptops that are plugged in as well, although the battery charges slower, you get more speed than when using the Power saver plan.

When choosing a power plan, you have the option to change the plans settings as well. You don’t have to leave the set time for your computer to sleep or turn off the display, its customizable on all three plans!

Don’t forget to always hit that “Save changes” button in the bottom right corner of the window. There is a more advanced way of changing the power plans in a more professional way that I will cover in a later topic. However, until then you can mess around with what you just learned.