Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (
More info?)
"Malke" <invalid@not-real.com> wrote in message
news:OsgsbEAtFHA.236@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> JMF wrote:
>
> > So, now I have had a chance to test what I wrote below, and now it
> > does indeed seem to work. So, in the spirit of this group where you're
> > supposed to pass on what you've learned, here is a summary:
> >
> > I found that my laptop seemed to ignore the power option settings, no
> > matter what they were, and would go into standby mode after 20 minutes
> > or so.
> >
> > Several possible causes were mentioned in the thread, including faulty
> > communication of battery levels to the software.
> >
> > One prominent cause is when the computer itself has its own power
> > management that ends up overriding the WinXP facilities. This happened
> > to my brother on an IBM laptop. And in fact it happened to me a few
> > years ago on another laptop. Often you will find such facilities in
> > the "setup" that you get when booting the computer, usually when
> > pressing F2. (That's the way it was on my old laptop)
> >
> > But this time I found no such OEM facility - and so it appears not to
> > have been the cause.
> >
> > However, I noticed at one point that system standby was coinciding
> > with the expiration of the screensaver. So I turned off the
> > screensaver. From then onwards, power management seems to have
> > functioned correctly - I am now relatively sure of this.
> >
> > Of course, the fact that the screensaver would throw the system into
> > standby makes no sense -- it certainly shouldn't. But it seems to have
> > been the culprit in my case, and so if you find your power management
> > functions aren't responding, then you know that after looking for an
> > OEM facility overriding it you should turn off all screensaver
> > activity as your next move.
> >
> > Thanks to all for your responses,
>
> Thanks for the beautifully detailed solution. It's great that you took
> the time to post this because it will indeed help others in the future.
> It's odd that Sharp doesn't provide laptop-specific software, but then
> I must confess I had never heard of a Sharp laptop before (although I
> have a Sharp TV).
Yes, indeed Sharp isn't well known in the laptop arena. I came upon them by
chance in a store several years ago and somehow the salesman convinced me to
buy one. And I have stayed with them ever since. This is my third one, in
fact. Like all Sharp products, their strategy seems to be to offer the same
functionality, and even a little more, as the competition, at a lower price.
So I get hooked every time. As you might imagine, where they really shine is
on the screen, given their expertise in the TV/LCD world. Their
thin/subnotebook models (the ones I get) are really astonishing - the last
one I had must have been the thinnest one ever made. If there's a
disadvantage, it's exactly what you mentioned: their presence in the laptop
world is so small that it can be tough to get assistance -- whereas with
IBM, Sony, Dell, ... whatever, there's a much bigger network available. But
I carry on loyally despite it all .. let's hope mine continues to behave.
> I Googled and they really don't have much in the way of drivers and/or
> software for their machines. They do have the Speed Step utility and if
> you don't have that installed, it would be a good thing to get. My IBM
> X31 will run at full speed when plugged in but drop down to a much
> lower speed on battery because of that processor throttling. That's
> useful for extending operation when on battery.
Yes, I believe they do have that facility, in fact with a hardware switch on
the computer. Thanks for the heads up, I'll start using it.
My brother has the IBM X31 and he's pretty happy with it.
> Thanks again for your excellent summation.
And thanks for your many interventions on this group.
John
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