Customized Power Options keeps changing back to default

Anonymous
2009-12-11T04:55:38+00:00

Hi all,

I am running Windows Vista currently.

Have been trying to customised my own Power Options...

I changed the parameters & saved under another name.

Somehow after a few days or after reboot... when I turn on my laptop, it will turn back to the default settings & my customised plan is NOT there anymore! Only the 3 default ones (Balanced, Power Saver, High performance) is present.

It has been a frustating 2mths... doing it all over again & again...

Cant seem to find any solutions... pls help! =P

Regards,

Soya Ng

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2009-12-12T03:58:57+00:00

Hi SoyaNg

Thank you for using Microsoft Answers Forums!

You can follow these steps to Customize your Power Options.

How to create a power plan

To create a power plan, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, type Power Options in the Start Search box, and then click Power Options in the Programs list.
  2. On the Select a power plan page, click Create a power plan in the task pane. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
  3. On the Create a power plan page, select the plan that is closest to the type of plan that you want to create. For example, if you want the plan to conserve energy, select the Power saver plan.
  4. In the Plan name box, type a name for the plan, and then click Next.
  5. In Change settings, select the display settings and the sleep settings that you want the computer to use when it is running on battery power and when it is plugged in, and then click Create.

If you are using a mobile PC, your plan appears under Plans on the battery meter. If you are using a desktop computer, your plan appears under Preferred plans.

Note The plan that you created automatically becomes the active plan. To put a different plan into effect, select that plan on the Power Options page.

How to customize a power plan

To customize a power plan, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, type Power Options in the Start Search box, and then click Power Options in the Programs list.
  2. Click Change plan settings under the plan.
  3. On the Change settings for the plan page, select the display settings and the sleep settings that you want your computer to use, or click Change advanced power settings to change additional settings.
  4. Click OK, or click Save changes to save the changes.

Make sure that the power plan that you want the computer to use is selected on the Power Options page.

How to use the Powercfg.exe tool to set the active power plan

You can use the Powercfg.exe tool to control power settings and to configure computers to use the hibernate feature or the sleep feature. The Powercfg.exe tool is installed with Windows Vista and with Windows 7.

To set the active power plan by using the Powercfg.exe tool, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
  2. Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
  3. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

Powercfg -setactiveScheme_GUID

NoteScheme_GUID represents the scheme GUID. To determine the GUID for all existing power schemes, type Powercfg /List at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

How to use the registry to set the preferred power plan

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

To change the preferred power plan, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then click regedit.exe in the Programs list. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
  2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}

  1. Right-click PreferredPlan, and then click Modify.
  2. In the Value data box, enter one of the following:
    • Type 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e to use the Balanced plan.
    • Type a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a to use the Power saver plan.
    • Type 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c to use the High performance plan.

You can also type the power scheme GUID for a custom power plan that you have created. To determine the GUID for all existing power schemes, type Powercfg /List at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

  1. Click OK, and then exit Registry Editor.

You can refer to this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935799

Hope this information was helpful.

Let me know if this worked.

All the best!

Thanks and Regards,

Uma R   

  • Microsoft Support.

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47 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-13T06:13:26+00:00

    I too have been frustrated with this situation, which I've yet to find the root issue.

    No, I don't have extra preloaded power management software.

    No, it's not at Windows startup.  I can catch it happening sometimes, as my screen all of a sudden goes bright, as the laptop is switching to the reset High Performance power management profile, which has a higher screen brightness setting than my other power profiles.  I can switch it back to a customized Balanced power profile, but it would just randomly go back to High Performance with reset settings on its own.  The most annoying part is that it would change what it does when I close the lid, so I would grab my laptop some hours later, thinking it was sleeping, only to find it's been actively on the whole time.

    Here's a workaround, assuming you have Windows Professional and up, and admin access:

    1. Hit the Start Menu, and type "gpedit.msc" in the search box.  This starts Local Group Policy Editor.
    2. Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Power Management.

    In my case, I only changed the Button Settings -> Select the Lid Switch Action (Plugged In) and Select the Lid Switch Action (On Battery) settings, but if you want to lock a certain Power Profile, lock it in with "Select an Active Power Plan" or "Specify a Custom Active Power Plan".  If you specify a custom power plan, you'll have to enter its GUID, which is available with the cmd.exe interface by entering the "powercfg -l" command.

    Good luck!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-02-13T14:58:40+00:00

    I have had this problem too and have been following this thread for quite some time.  Unless this is a personal hobby of yours, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME.  This is a B-U-G that Microsoft refuses to acknowledge or fix.  Think about it.  Making a setting, "stay selected."  How hard can this be, in the scheme of things, for a professional software engineer (like the ones who work full time FOR MICROSOFT) to figure out and correct?  This is not the "rocket science" part of maintaining the ten gazillion lines of code that make up an operating system.  Look at the "Zaki J" solution below, NOBODY should have to undertake that kind of "surgery" to their packaged software to keep the power setting set.

    THIS FEATURE IS BROKEN and NEEDS  TO BE FIXED >>> BY MICROSOFT <<<, not by users, not forum moderators, but by Microsoft.

    I would strongly urge all of you to stop wasting YOUR TIME and start demanding that the people at  Microsoft start investing some of THEIR TIME and do the right thing.  Its time to start being a VERY UNHAPPY CUSTOMER and making your thoughts known.

    Sorry to be so negative, but enough is enough.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-03-27T23:33:33+00:00

    Clown did not actually answer the question.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-18T16:42:09+00:00

    Hi, I am pretty sure my reply wouldn't help you anymore since it has been more than 7 years. 

    But I finnaly found the ultimate solution for this problem, just in case anyone else search for the same problem.

    Solution:

    Set the power plans from Group Policyinstead of control panel. Since you set the power plan from GP, it will be fixed, even with administration account cannot change it.

    Steps (Sorry that I am using a Chinese system, so the english translation may not be accurate):

    1. win + R.
    2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
    3. go for computer setting -- manage template -- system -- power management
    4. Change settings from here

    Hope this would helpful for someone suffered from the same issue.

    Hi, I am pretty sure my reply wouldn't help you anymore since it has been more than 7 years. 

    But I finnaly found the ultimate solution for this problem, just in case anyone else search for the same problem.

    Solution:

    Set the power plans from Group Policyinstead of control panel. Since you set the power plan from GP, it will be fixed, even with administration account cannot change it.

    Steps (Sorry that I am using a Chinese system, so the english translation may not be accurate):

    1. win + R.
    2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
    3. go for computer setting -- manage template -- system -- power management
    4. Change settings from here

    Hope this would helpful for someone suffered from the same issue.

    this is what i did, thank you for your help

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