Energy Star Utilities for PC and Mac
Power management is one of the easiest ways to conserve energy. You can activate power management either manually, or for Windows 2000 and XP, use the free EZ Wizard application found below.
The following links will jump you to the section of this page appropriate for your needs:
- EZ Wizard (for PCs Running Windows 2000 or XP)
- Power Management by Manual Activation
- for Windows XP
- for Windows Vista
- for Windows 2000
- for Mac
EZ Wizard for PCs running Windows 2000 and XP
EZ Wizard is a free program that will help you enable power management features on your monitor and computer in just a few minutes. Click here to run the EZ Wizard application.
Note: EZ Wizard is currently only available for computers that use a Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system. To activate power management features in a Windows Vista operating system please use the manual instructions below. To activate power management for a Mac, use the manual instructions below.
Manual Activation, all operating systems
Manually activating power management in Windows XP
To configure Power Management on Windows XP click on Start, Run and then Control Panel.
Control Panel has two views. If you are in Theme View double click on "Performance and Maintenance"…
…and then on Power Options.
If you are in Classic View, simply double click on "Power Options".
The Power Options Properties dialog box should now be displayed with the Power Schemes tab selected. Here you can set timeouts for your monitor, system standby, and hibernate. Notebook computer users can specify an alternative power scheme that will take effect when the PC is running on battery power.
EPA recommends setting computers to enter system standby or hibernate after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity. To save even more, set monitors to enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. The lower the setting, the more energy you save. The "Turn off hard disks" setting does not save much power, and can be ignored.
If you are not able to select a hibernate timeout, you may need to enable the hibernate feature. To do so select the Hibernate tab in Power Options Properties, check "Enable hibernation" and click "Apply" or "OK".
Situations That Cause Windows XP to Not Sleep
You may find that your PC doesn't go to sleep after the allotted time. PCs may not enter sleep mode when they have a file open over the network. Additionally, certain software applications may be preventing the computer from sleeping. (Software applications can tell Windows not to enter sleep modes.) Graphics-intensive screen savers can prevent PCs from entering sleep mode as well, and should be disabled.
If System Standby is not available under Power Options, make sure you have the latest video driver from your monitor manufacturer. The default Windows driver may not support System Standby.
Manually activating power management in Windows Vista
To configure Power Management on Windows Vista click on Start, Run and then Control Panel.
Control Panel has two views. If you are in Theme View double click on "System and Maintenance"…
…and then on Power Options.
If you are in Classic View simply double click on "Power Options".
Once you are in Power Options you can choose a pre-configured plan, customize one of the pre-configured plans, or create a new plan.
The initial screen for editing a plan allows you to change the monitor and sleep timeout settings.
To change more settings click on "Change advanced power settings". Here you will be able to enable or set values for a variety of Power Management options.
EPA recommends setting computers to enter system standby or hibernate after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity. To save even more, set monitors to enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. The lower the setting, the more energy you save. The "Turn off hard disks" setting does not save much power, and can be ignored.
Situations That Cause Vista to Not Sleep
PCs may not enter sleep mode when they have a file open over the network. Graphics-intensive screen savers can prevent PCs from entering sleep mode as well, and should be disabled.
Otherwise Vista should not allow software applications to stop it from going to sleep. However, it is possible for a network administrator to change this default, allowing applications to "veto" sleep when they are busy. The default can be changed using Group Policy, but cannot be set through the Power Options applet in the Control Panel.
Manually activating power management in Windows 2000
To view Power Management settings in Windows 2000, click on Start, Run and then Control Panel. In Control Panel double click Power Options. Here you can set timeouts for your monitor, system standby, and hibernate. Notebook computer users can specify an alternative power scheme that will take effect when the PC is running on battery power.
EPA recommends setting computers to enter system standby or hibernate after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity. To save even more, set monitors to enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. The lower the setting, the more energy you save. The "Turn off hard disks" setting does not save much power, and can be ignored.
If you are not able to select a hibernate timeout, you may first need to enable the hibernate feature. To do so select the Hibernate tab in Power Options Properties, check "Enable hibernate support" and click "Apply" or "OK".
Situations That Cause Windows 2000 to Not Sleep
You may find that your PC does not go to sleep after the allotted time. PCs may not enter sleep mode when they have a file open over the network. Additionally, certain software applications may be preventing the computer from sleeping. (Software applications can tell Windows not to enter sleep modes.) Graphics-intensive screen savers can prevent PCs from entering sleep mode as well, and should be disabled.
If System Standby is not available under Power Options, make sure you have the latest video driver from your monitor manufacturer. The default Windows driver may not support System Standby.
Manually activating power management on Macs
Follow the instructions below for Mac OS X Version 10.5, nicknamed "Leopard". Steps for activating sleep settings in other versions of OS X will be very similar.
- Click on the apple symbol (Apple Menu) in the upper left of your screen.
- Go to "System Preferences"
- Click "Show All" (if necessary)
- Select "Energy Saver" from the "Hardware" row
- If the computer is a laptop, make sure you are adjusting settings for "Power Adapter"
- Set "Put the computer to sleep when it is inactive for" to 30 minutes using the slider
- Set "Put the Display to Sleep when the computer is inactive for" to 5 minutes using the slider
EPA recommends setting computers to enter system standby or hibernate after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity. To save even more, set monitors (displays) to enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. The lower the setting, the more energy you save. The "Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible" setting does not save much power, and can be ignored.
