powercfg – Save power when using battery

A not-very-popular tool to adjust power configurations in command mode. Run “powercfg /?”

C:\Documents and Settings\mathie>powercfg /?

<br /> POWERCFG [/LIST | /QUERY [name] | /CREATE name | /DELETE name |<br /> /SETACTIVE name | /CHANGE name settings |<br /> /HIBERNATE {ON|OFF} | /EXPORT name [/FILE filename] |<br /> /IMPORT name [/FILE filename] | /GLOBALPOWERFLAG {ON|OFF} /OPTION flag |<br /> /BATTERYALARM {LOW|CRITICAL} [settings] |<br /> /DEVICEQUERY queryflags | /DEVICEENABLEWAKE devicename |<br /> /DEVICEDISABLEWAKE devicename | /?]</p> <p>Description:<br /> This command line tool enables an administrator to control<br /> the power settings on a system.</p> <p>Parameter List:<br /> /LIST, /L Lists the names of existing power schemes.<br /> /QUERY, /Q Displays the configuration of the specified power scheme.<br /> If no name is specified, the configuration of the currently<br /> active power scheme is displayed.<br /> /CREATE, /C Creates a power scheme with the specified name. The new<br /> scheme is created with the properties of the currently<br /> active scheme.<br /> /DELETE, /D Deletes the power scheme with the specified name.<br /> /SETACTIVE, /S Makes the power scheme with the specified name active.<br /> /CHANGE, /X Changes settings of the specified power scheme. Additional<br /> switches specify the changes as follows:<br /> /monitor-timeout-ac <minutes><br /> /monitor-timeout-dc <minutes><br /> /disk-timeout-ac <minutes><br /> /disk-timeout-dc <minutes><br /> /standby-timeout-ac <minutes><br /> /standby-timeout-dc <minutes><br /> /hibernate-timeout-ac <minutes><br /> /hibernate-timeout-dc <minutes><br /> /processor-throttle-ac <throttle> /processor-throttle-dc <throttle> AC settings are used when the system is on AC power.<br /> DC settings are used when the system is on battery power.<br /> Setting a timeout to zero will disable the corresponding<br /> timeout feature. Supported throttle settings are NONE<br /> CONSTANT, DEGRADE, and ADAPTIVE.<br /> /EXPORT, /E Exports the power scheme with the specified name to a<br /> file. If no filename is specified, the default is<br /> SCHEME.POW. This additional parameter is supported:<br /> /FILE <filename><br /> /IMPORT, /I Imports the power scheme from a file under the specified<br /> name. If no filename is specified, the default is<br /> SCHEME.POW. If a scheme with that name already exists, it<br /> is replaced with the new one. This additional parameter<br /> is supported:<br /> /FILE <filename><br /> /HIBERNATE, /H {ON|OFF} Enables/Disables the hibernate feature. Hibernate<br /> timeout is not supported on all systems.<br /> /NUMERICAL, /N Allows the power scheme to be operated upon to be specified<br /> using a numerical identifier. When using this switch, in<br /> place of the name of the power scheme on the command line,<br /> specify its numerical identifier. This switch may be used<br /> in combination with the /QUERY, /DELETE, /SETACTIVE,<br /> /CHANGE, /EXPORT, and /IMPORT commands.<br /> /GLOBALPOWERFLAG, /G {ON|OFF} Turns one of the global power flags on/off.<br /> Valid flags (to be used after “/OPTION “) are:<br /> BATTERYICON: Turns the battery meter icon in the<br /> system tray on/off.<br /> MULTIBATTERY: Turns on/off multiple battery display<br /> in system Power Meter.<br /> RESUMEPASSWORD: Prompt for password on resuming the<br /> system.<br /> WAKEONRING: Turn on/off wake on ring support.<br /> VIDEODIM: Turn on/off support for dimming video<br /> display on battery power.<br /> /AVAILABLESLEEPSTATES, /A Reports the sleep states available on the<br /> system. Attempts to report reasons why sleep states are<br /> unavailable.<br /> /BATTERYALARM, /B {LOW|CRITICAL} Configures the battery alarm. The<br /> following switches can be specified:<br /> /activate <on|off><br /> Enables or disables the alarm.<br /> /level <percentage (0 - 100)> The alarm will be activated when the power level<br /> reaches this percentage.<br /> /text <on|off><br /> Turns the text notification on or off.<br /> /sound <on|off><br /> Turns the audible notification on or off.<br /> /action <none|shutdown|hibernate|standby><br /> Specifies the action to take when this alarm goes<br /> off. Not all actions are always available.<br /> /forceaction <on|off><br /> Force stand by or shutdown even if a program stops<br /> responding.<br /> /program <on|off><br /> Specifies a program to run. schtasks.exe /change<br /> may be used to configure the program.<br /> /DEVICEQUERY <queryflags> will return a list of devices that meet the<br /> criteria specified in <queryflags>. Possible values<br /> for <queryflags> are:<br /> wake_from_S1_supported – return all devices that support<br /> waking the system from a light sleep state.<br /> wake_from_S2_supported – return all devices that support<br /> waking the system from a deeper sleep state.<br /> wake_from_S3_supported – return all devices that support<br /> waking from the deepest sleep state.<br /> wake_from_any – return all devices that support waking<br /> from any sleep state.<br /> S1_supported – list devices supporting light sleep states.<br /> S2_supported – list devices supporting deeper sleep.<br /> S3_supported – list devices supporting deepest sleep.<br /> S4_supported – list devices supporting system hibernation.<br /> wake_programmable – list devices that are user-configurable<br /> to wake the system from a sleep state.<br /> wake_armed – list devices that are currently configured to<br /> wake the system from any sleep state.<br /> all_devices – return all devices present in the system.<br /> all_devices_verbose – return verbose list of devices.<br /> /DEVICEENABLEWAKE <devicename> enable the device to wake the system from a<br /> sleep state. <devicename> is a device retrieved using<br /> the ‘/DEVICEQUERY wake_programmable’ parameter.<br /> /DEVICEDISABLEWAKE <devicename> disable the device from waking the system<br /> from a sleep state. <devicename> is a device retrieved<br /> using the ‘/DEVICEQUERY wake_armed’ parameter.<br /> /HELP, /? Displays information on command-line parameters.</p> <p>Examples:<br /> POWERCFG /LIST<br /> POWERCFG /QUERY scheme<br /> POWERCFG /QUERY<br /> POWERCFG /CREATE scheme<br /> POWERCFG /DELETE scheme<br /> POWERCFG /SETACTIVE scheme<br /> POWERCFG /CHANGE scheme /monitor-timeout-dc 15<br /> POWERCFG /CHANGE scheme /monitor-timeout-dc 0<br /> POWERCFG /HIBERNATE on<br /> POWERCFG /EXPORT scheme /file file<br /> POWERCFG /QUERY number /NUMERICAL<br /> POWERCFG /GLOBALPOWERFLAG on /OPTION BATTERYICON<br /> POWERCFG /AVAILABLESLEEPSTATES<br /> POWERCFG /BATTERYALARM low<br /> POWERCFG /BATTERYALARM critical /ACTIVATE on /LEVEL 6 /ACTION hibernate<br /> POWERCFG /DEVICEQUERY wake_armed<br /> POWERCFG /DEVICEENABLEWAKE “Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Explorer”<br />