See all 3 power plans on system tray

Anonymous
2009-10-01T03:29:27+00:00

Windows 7 is better than Vista in so many ways, but it's actually a lot worse in some others. Take, for example, choosing power plans from the system tray.

In Windows Vista, you could click on the battery meter and choose between the 3 plans: High Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver.

Now, for some idiotic reason, Microsft decided to limit our choices to only TWO plans from the system tray: your current plan + Balanced (if balanced is selected I believe it defaults to Power Saver for the 2nd one). To change it to the 3rd one I have to actually click on "More Power Options" and then select the plan.

Microsoft is requiring you to take extra steps for doing something that was easier before. I thought Windows 7's mantra was "do things faster" (i.e. Jumplists, Aero Peek, Accelerators, etc.) Who was the moron who made this decision, and how can I get my Vista-style Power tray back?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-10-03T17:27:31+00:00

Um maybe if you read my original post (or if use Windows 7 itself), Balanced is ALWAYS shown, even if it wasn't your 'old' plan. So you can't flip-flop between Power Saver and High Performance, which is what I want.

What if I deleted the Balanced power plan? Is there a way to delete the default plans?

Yes, there is a way.

FlyoutAutoPowerScheme: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749282(WS.10).aspx

Rating posts helps other usersMark L. Ferguson MS-MVP

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

46 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-04-08T22:03:09+00:00

    Or instead of hacking the registry or playing around with xml files you could go and download this;

    http://powerschemeswitcher.codeplex.com/

    It's a very simple app that gives you a new icon on your taskbar. Right clicking on it gives you a list of all your power plans. You can also configure it to auto change plans depending the power supply type and battery percentage.

    Now why couldn't MS have something like this?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-03-04T15:11:40+00:00

    I just renamed the power plan and changed the settings.

    Type this in cmd.exe

    powercfg -changename "a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a" "Balanced"

    powercfg -changename "381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e" "Power Saver"

    now what I see is the power saver option and High performance. Balanced is hidden and that's what I want because I don't need it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-03-03T19:43:55+00:00

    The Solution is so easy & i have it's a gadget you can change power planes within on touch

     http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=e0040b09-c1c8-4ad0-b2a4-a3efc8fa850f&bt=1&pl=1

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2010-12-19T09:37:42+00:00

    Finally found a solution.  Get it here .  Its called Powerplan Assistant 7.  It is free [donationware] and it fixes this stupid problem.  I just installed it and think it will do the trick.

    I know installing another program to fix something Microsoft never should have done in the first place blows but until they fix it... this is all I could find.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments