Adjust Windows XP Power Options

The adjustable power options within Windows XP are designed to help conserve energy. However, a user might want to change the default Windows XP power management settings. In the following, I will attempt to answer a few common problems related to the setting of these options.

Opening Power Options Properties

To get started we need to open the Windows XP Power Options Properties:

  1. Click Start-> Control Panel and select Power Options from the Control Panel Window. (if you don't see the Power Options select switch to classic view option from the control panel sidebar)

You should end up with something like this:
Windows XP Power Options Screenshot

Windows Power Management Problems and Solutions:

Problem: My Monitor keeps shutting off!

(By default the "Turn off Monitor" setting is typically set to shut the monitor off within 20 minutes)

Fix: Adjust the "Turn off Monitor" setting from the drop down list and then click apply to save the changes.

Problem: My computer will not hibernate!

(Hibernation allows Windows to save the current status of your machine and then shut itself down until the user returns to use the machine. Windows then restores the desktop environment to the last saved state)

Fix: Click the "Hibernate tab" from the Power Options Properties Window. Select the option to "Enable Hibernation" and click apply.

Return to the "Power Schemes tab" and adjust the "System Hibernates time" from the drop down list then click apply to save the changes.