Energy Saving Power Plans or Schemes on Windows Computers

A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your computer uses power. Power plans available on Windows computers can help you save energy, maximize system performance, or achieve a balance between the two. To see your current power setting go to "Power Options" found in your systems control panel.

On Vista computers you can change settings for any of your “Power Plans”, including the three default plans—Balanced, Power saver, and High performance. In the older OS’s Windows 2000 and XP, you are given a choice of several different “Power Schemes”. The default plans/schemes meet most people's computing needs. If these plans/schemes don't suit your needs, you can easily create your own plan/scheme by using one of the default plans/schemes as a starting point.

“Power Plans available on Vista OS’s”

Power Schemes Settings are available on Windows 2000 and XP OS’s”

** Because hardware configurations vary on different computers, your computer may not support some of the power management settings that are available with your version of Windows.

Last Modified: February 22, 2008
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One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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