Other sources of power management on a Windows XP machine?

Question

I have Windows XP (SP3) running a tablet PC. The PC is configured via the 'Display Properties' ( 'Screen Saver'-> 'Power') to the 'Always On' power scheme.

The issue I am having is that even when the tablet is plugged in the Screen goes blank after 15 minutes, and the entire system goes into standby mode after a hour or so.

Is there some other settings (i.e. group policy) that could be controlling the power behind the scenes?

Answer 1

Check for hardware-level power saving settings in your BIOS.

Since it's a "tablet PC", you also may want to check for manufacturer's power saving control utilities. I've dealt with a dozen or so XP Tablet Ed. generation Acer tablets, and they are covered in Acer utilities for controlling the chassis (media keys, tablet surface buttons, hinge location detection, etc.) and batteries. Most of these can be disabled/enabled (for testing) via MSConfig.

XP power settings are notoriously hard to control via group policy, and the local policies tend to be reflected in the UI; but you can always run rsop.msc (Resultant Set of Policy) and get an idea of current policy settings.

Hope that helps...