Dell Inspiron 1521 constantly reverts to default power settings

[Marc B.]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 running WinXP SP3 (and the latest BIOS from Dell)
that is connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse (the screen
remains closed and the display output is set to external monitor only via FN
keys). For whatever reason, over the past several weeks, the power settings
on the machine keep getting reset and reverting back to the standard
portable/laptop configuration, including causing the machine to go into
standby every night (which is not what I want because I have Norton Ghost set
up to backup the machine every night to a network drive). This never used to
happen before, but I can't figure out what has changed. I had previously set
up a customized power scheme (named Customized #1) that told the machine to
never go into standby, and when I set it to this, it seems to hold for a few
days, and then even though it still displays as being on Customized #1 power
scheme, the actual settings revert (such as 20 mins for standby instead of
Never).

Anyone have any suggestions on what I can try to prevent this, as it is
becoming extremely annoying! Thanks!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 running WinXP SP3 (and the latest BIOS
from Dell) that is connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and
mouse (the screen remains closed and the display output is set to
external monitor only via FN keys). For whatever reason, over the
past several weeks, the power settings on the machine keep getting
reset and reverting back to the standard portable/laptop
configuration, including causing the machine to go into standby
every night (which is not what I want because I have Norton Ghost
set up to backup the machine every night to a network drive). This
never used to happen before, but I can't figure out what has
changed. I had previously set up a customized power scheme (named
Customized #1) that told the machine to never go into standby, and
when I set it to this, it seems to hold for a few days, and then
even though it still displays as being on Customized #1 power
scheme, the actual settings revert (such as 20 mins for standby
instead of Never).

Anyone have any suggestions on what I can try to prevent this, as
it is becoming extremely annoying! Thanks!

As annoying as finding your post in multiple newsgroups - multiposted
instead of cross-posted - saving not only those who might answer your query
the annoyance of seeing it 'unread' multiple times, but it would have also
saved you effort, time and in the end gotten you the same audience but more
spreading of the knowledge as it would be ONE post across several forums and
answered in all at one time.

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

Check your drivers.
Check your BIOS settings.
Check for malware.

 

[Tim Meddick]

Just a suggestion, but, I had a similar problem but when I used the [in-built] XP
console application - "powercfg.exe" - what I set with it seemed to "stick" whereas
with the Control Panel extension it did not.

Open a CMD window and type : powercfg.exe /?
....for syntax instructions and examples of it's usage.

For instance, type :

powercfg.exe /QUERY

....to display all the current power settings including current power scheme "name"...

....And to set never go into "Standby" mode, type :

powercfg.exe /CHANGE "My Scheme" /standby-timeout-dc 0
powercfg.exe /CHANGE "My Scheme" /standby-timeout-ac 0

(*NB - In the above example you must type the correct scheme-name where I have put
"My Scheme", to find the name of the current scheme type : "powercfg.exe /QUERY" )

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[mydragoon]

Just a suggestion, but, I had a similar problem but when I used the [in-built] XP
console application - "powercfg.exe" - what I set with it seemed to "stick" whereas
with the Control Panel extension it did not.

Open a CMD window and type : powercfg.exe /?
....for syntax instructions and examples of it's usage.

For instance, type :

powercfg.exe /QUERY

....to display all the current power settings including current power scheme "name"...

....And to set never go into "Standby" mode, type :

powercfg.exe /CHANGE "My Scheme" /standby-timeout-dc 0
powercfg.exe /CHANGE "My Scheme" /standby-timeout-ac 0

(*NB - In the above example you must type the correct scheme-name where I have put
"My Scheme", to find the name of the current scheme type : "powercfg.exe /QUERY" )

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

interesting... i started having this problem recently and when i checked the settings using powercfg.exe /query, i noticed its different from the Power options in Control Panel. can i assume the in-built XP console is the accurate one?

any idea why this happened and how it can be 'fixed'?