Windows 7 / Getting Started

New Power Policies in Windows 7

New Power Policies in Windows 7 for the Default (Balanced) Power Plan.

NameGuideDescriptionDefault (Balanced )
ACDC
Unattended sleep time-out7bc4a2f9-d8fc- 4469-b07b- 33eb785aaca0Determines the amount of inactivity time before the system automatically sleeps if the computer resumed without a user present2 minutes2 minutes
System cooling policy94d3a615-a899- 4ac5-ae2b-e4d- 8f634367fDetermines whether active or passive cooling should be favored for thermal zonesActiveActive
Reserve battery levelf3c5027d-cd16- 4930-aa6b- 90db844a8f00Configures the percentage of battery capacity remaining before displaying the reserve battery warningN/A7%
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) link power mode0b2d69d7-a2a1- 449c-9680- f91c70521c60Configures AHCI link power modes (HIPM, DIPM) and link power states (Partial, Slumber, Active)HIPM, PartialHIPM, Slumber
Allow System Required Policya4b195f5-8225- 47d8-8012- 9d41369786e2Enable applications to prevent the system from idling to sleepEnabledEnabled
Dim Display After17aaa29b-8b43- 4b94-aafe- 35f64daaf1eeDetermines the amount of inactivity time before the system automatically reduces the brightness of the display on a mobile PC5 minutes2 minutes

Another new feature of Windows 7 that improves energy efficiency is a unified architecture that drives the scheduling of both services and scheduled tasks and enables triggerstarting of services. For more information on this new unified architecture and on Trigger Start services, see the section titled "Understanding Services" later in this tutorial.

Windows 7 also allows you to run power efficiency diagnostics using the new /energy option of the Powercfg.exe command on a system to detect common energy efficiency problems. This command can detect power efficiency issues such as inefficient power policy settings, platform firmware problems, battery capacity issues, USB device selective suspend, and other problems. Enterprise system builders and OEMs can use this command option to validate the energy efficiency of Windows 7 computers prior to imaging them for deployment rollout. The command is also executed automatically when a Windows 7 system is idle and the data collected is uploaded to the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) at Microsoft. For information on how to use this new command option, see the section titled "Configuring Power Management Settings Using the PowerCfg Utility" later in this tutorial.

Other new energy efficiency features in Windows 7 include:

  • Wake timers are now disabled by default on Windows 7 mobile computers to prevent spurious wake events, such as a system waking up in a laptop bag due to an application request. Wake timers will continue to be enabled by default, however, on desktop systems.
  • You can now configure the percentage of battery capacity remaining that triggers the reserve power mode. This energy efficiency feature is also configurable by Group Policy; see the section titled "Configuring Power Management Settings Using Group Policy" later in this tutorial for more information.
  • Adaptive Display Brightness can dim the display on a mobile computer automatically after a period of user inactivity. Adaptive Display Brightness is an intelligent policy whose time-out value automatically adjusts with user input and does not interfere with presentations, such as full-screen media playback. This energy efficiency feature is also configurable by Group Policy; see the section titled "Configuring Power Management Settings Using Group Policy" later in this tutorial for more information.
  • Wired LAN run-time idle detection, whereby network interface cards can enter lowpower D3 (device sleep) state automatically when media is disconnected and return to D0 (working) state when it is reconnected.
  • Wake on LAN (WoL), which is turned off by default in Windows Vista, is turned on by default in Windows 7. This feature uses a revised set of wake patterns to prevent spurious transitions from sleep.
  • Support for the latest Intel HD Audio low-power specifications.
  • Support for USB audio class selective suspend.
  • Bluetooth radio now enters selective suspend when connections are in sniff mode.
  • Updates to the core performance state algorithm.
  • Core parking on supported hardware.
  • Refined optical drive spin-down mechanism.
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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Devices and Services
  2. Understanding Device Installation and Management
  3. Device Enhancements in Windows 7
  4. Display Enhancements in Windows 7
  5. Understanding Device Installation
  6. Driver Store and Driver Packaging
  7. Driver Staging vs Installation
  8. Driver Staging and Installation Process
  9. Detailed Installation Process
  10. Managing Driver Packages
  11. Using PnPutil.exe
  12. Using Dism.exe
  13. Driver Signing
  14. Driver Ranking
  15. Installing and Using Devices
  16. Enhancements to the Device Installation Experience in Windows 7
  17. Scenario 1: Driver found in Driver Store
  18. Scenario 2: Driver found on Windows Update
  19. Scenario 3: Driver in Driver Store, But Better Driver on Windows Update
  20. Scenario 5: No Driver Can Be Found for the device
  21. Scenario 6: Vendor -supplied media is available
  22. Scenario 7: Additional Device Software is Available For Download from vendor
  23. Configuring Device Installation Settings
  24. Using the Devices And Printers Folder
  25. Understanding Device Stage
  26. Understanding the Device Experience Architecture
  27. Device Containers
  28. Device display object
  29. Device Metadata System
  30. Managing Device Installation Using Group Policy
  31. Managing Device Installation Behavior
  32. Managing Driver Installation Behavior
  33. Blocking Installation of Removable Devices
  34. Managing Device Redirection Behavior
  35. Troubleshooting Device Installation
  36. Using Windows Error Reporting
  37. Using the SetupAPI Log File
  38. Using Driver INF Files
  39. Using Device Manager Error Codes
  40. Using Driver Verifier
  41. Repairing Driver Store Corruption
  42. Repairing Index File Corruption
  43. Understanding Power Management
  44. Power Management Enhancements in Windows 7
  45. New Power Policies in Windows 7
  46. Configuring Power Management Settings
  47. Configuring Power Management Settings Using the Power Options Utility in Control Panel
  48. Configuring Power Management Settings Using Group Policy
  49. Configuring Power Management Settings Using the Powercfg Utility
  50. Understanding Services
  51. Service Enhancements in Windows 7
  52. Managing Services
  53. Managing Services Using Task Manager
  54. Managing Services Using the Sc.exe Command