Implementation resources for enterprises

There are lots of ways to activate sleep settings across entire networks of computers.

Open source solutions

These solutions utilize free software tools, and/or tools that you may already have at your disposal. There are essentially two steps involved:

1. Activate sleep settings. You can accomplish this one of several different ways:
   1. Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system provides a way to centrally manage monitor and computer power management features. See the Microsoft Environment Website and TechNet's Conserving Energy with Group Policy and Sleep or Hibernate? for more information.
   2. EZ GPO allows a network administrator to centrally control computer power management and monitor power management settings using Group Policy Objects.
   3. If you replicate hard drives from a template image when you upgrade operating systems and/or roll out new hardware, enabling sleep settings in the template image will ensure that all computers receive these settings.
   4. Powerconfig.exe can be used in a logon script to configure power management settings in Windows XP and Vista. This method requires enhancing registry rights, which can be configured through Group Policy.
   5. Windows Task Scheduler can be used to put PCs into standby or hibernate mode.
   6. EZ Wizard is a simple software tool that automatically activates sleep settings on individual PCs. Because it can be launched from a website, EZ Wizard is an ideal solution for diverse computing environments like colleges and universities.
   7. Microsoft promotes a free power management tool, Edison, developed by Verdiem. It allows individual users to power manage their PCs and estimate their savings.
2. Ensure that sleep settings do not interfere with the distribution of administrative software updates (such as Windows security patches and antivirus definitions). This may be accomplished in several ways:
   1. Configure client computers to apply software patches and updates as soon as computers become available on the network.
   2. Windows Task Scheduler can wake up sleeping computers for updates. Scripts distributed via Active Directory allow one to centrally manage these “scheduled tasks.”
   3. With Wake-on-LAN activated, a network administrator can wake up sleeping computers at any time in order to perform on-demand software patches or updates.

Commercial software solutions

A number of commercial software packages offer more feature-rich solutions and may deliver more energy savings, but they involve fees.

Technical assistance for network administrators

EPA contractors can answer technical questions about deploying these settings — and about the various options for keeping sleeping PCs up to date with security and other software patches. A quick conference call can save you time researching various solutions, and arm you with lessons learned from dozens of large and small IT departments. To schedule a technical assistance call, send an email to powermanagement@cadmusgroup.com.