Windows 7 offers a variety of power settings to manage. You can choose to have the computer turn off when it’s idle, turn on when you start the computer, or turn on automatically when certain conditions are met. To manage power settings in Windows 7, open the Control Panel and click on the Power button. In the window that pops up, you’ll see a list of devices that are connected to your computer. The devices that are listed in this window will be turned off if they’re not connected to your computer. If you want your computer to turn off when it’s idle, you need to connect one of the devices listed in this window to your computer. To do this, click on the device and then click on the Properties button. Under General tab, you’ll see a setting called “Turn Off When Idle.” Change this setting to “On.” If you want your computer to turn on when you start the computer, you need to connect one of the devices listed in this window to your computer. To do this, click on the device and then click on Start Computer. In the Start screen’s properties dialog box, under System Properties, change “Start Computer” to “Turn On When Idle.” Change “Turn On When Idle” back to “On.” If you want your computer to turn off automatically when certain conditions are met, you need to connect one of the devices listed in this window (or create an alias for one) and set a condition for it. To do this,click on one of these devices and then set a condition for it: For example, if you want your computer to turn off after five minutes have passed without being used (or after 30 minutes have passed if there’s no user activity), set condition=“5 minutes have passed”.
There are new power management options that you can set up in Windows 7 compared to XP. You might want to change plans to save battery power on your laptop, or reduce energy consumption on a desktop at home or the office. Here we will look at how to manage and tweak the power plans, and how to create custom plans as well.
Power Settings
To access power plan options, type power settings into the search bar in the Start Menu and hit Enter.
The Power Options screen opens and from here you can select from three predefined plans–Balanced, Power saver, or High performance.
Click on Choose what the power button does and you can tweak several options such as Requiring a password on wakeup and what the power button on the computer does. If you set When I press the power button to Do nothing, you won’t have a problem with the PC shutting down when you accidently hit the power button.
To change any one of the predefined power plans click on Change plan settings.
Then you can change the amount of inactive time before the monitor is turned off or the computer goes into Sleep mode.
If you want to revert back to the default settings, simply click on Restore default settings for this plan.
Custom Power Plan
To create a custom plan, click on Create a power plan from the Power Options section.
In the Create a power plan window a predetermined plan that is closest to what you want, and give the plan a name.
In the next screen select the sleep and display settings you want to use and click the Create button.
After your plan is created you’ll see it under the preferred plans list.
If you click on Change advanced power settings, there are several options you can tweak. These settings should only be used by advanced users, as if you turn off the wrong thing, your computer may not function correctly. Choosing between the predetermined settings should be adequate for most users.
If you are having issues where your laptop is draining too much battery power, or you want to check the overall efficiency of power usage on your computer, check out our article Use PowerCfg in Windows 7 to Evaluate Power Efficiency.
Conclusion
Windows 7 makes it easy to manage power settings for different computing situations. If you find your computer mysteriously shutting down or going into sleep mode, this should also help you determine why it is happening.
We also have a few other articles related to power management in Windows you might be interested in:
Disable Power Management On Windows 7 or Vista
Create a Shortcut or Hotkey to Switch Power Plans
Change the Windows 7 or Vista Power Buttons to Shutdown/Sleep/Hibernate
