Using the System Utilities
Power Management
- Power management is becoming a major concern for corporate and personal owners of computers. Hardware manufacturers have started to address this concern by focusing on reduced power consumption in their new products. However, a computer and monitor can still easily consume over 100 watts of power while they are running.
- Minimizing power usage is driven by both cost and environmental factors. To address power management concerns Windows 7 has a power management structure that was introduced in Windows Vista.
- Windows 7 relies on power management capabilities built into a computer to perform power management.
- Computers must meet the specifications of the Advanced Configuration and
Power Interface (ACPI) standard to be managed by Windows 7. All current computers meet this
standard.
The ACPI standard defines power states for global power management and individual devices. Power states define which devices are drawing power in the system. Power states can be implemented at different times based on the power plan you have conf gured. For multimedia computers, away mode provides a way to have instant power-on, similar to other consumer electronics such as a television.
Read more about the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standard at:
www.acpi.info.