You automatically conserve battery power each time you attach your
computer to an electrical outlet. When the AC adapter is attached,
the battery is charged while the computer uses AC power. Your
battery's life expectancy is largely determined by the number of times
it is charged, so use an AC power source to run the computer if one is
available.
When the computer is using battery power, remove PC Cards that you
are not using.
When possible, attach your computer to an electrical outlet when you
play CDs and DVDs. Playing a CD or DVD uses a lot of battery power.
Place the computer in standby mode or hibernate mode when you
leave the computer unattended for long periods of time. See "Power
Conservation Modes" for more information.
If you are going to connect your computer to a port replicator, click
None when you program the display-close option on the Advanced tab
in the Power Options Properties window.
To resume computer operation from a conservation mode, press the
power button.
Standby mode conserves power by turning off the display and the hard drive
after a predetermined period of inactivity (a time-out). When your
computer exits standby mode, the desktop is restored to the same state that
it was in before the computer entered standby mode.
To activate standby mode:
Click the Start button, click Shutdown, click Standby, and then click
OK.
or
Press the power button or the power conservation key combination,
<Fn><Suspend>, that you programmed (via the Advanced tab).
HINT: You can use the
Advanced tab to program
the display-close option,
the power button, and the
power conservation key
combination to activate
standby mode.
For more information on activating standby mode, see the instructions for
your operating system in "Turning Your Computer On and Off" in
Chapter 1 of the Dell Solutions Guide. To exit standby mode, press the
power button.
NOTICE: If your computer loses AC and battery power while in standby
mode, you may lose data.
Hibernate mode conserves power by copying system data to a reserved area
on the hard drive and then completely turning off the computer. When the
computer exits hibernate mode, the programs and files that were open
before you activated hibernate mode are still open.
Your computer enters hibernate mode if the battery charge level becomes
critically low, or if either the power button, the power conservation key
combination, <Fn><Suspend>, or the display-close option are
programmed to activate hibernate mode in the Advanced tab of the Power
Options Properties window.
HINT: Some PC Cards
may not operate correctly
after resuming operation
from hibernate mode. If
you encounter problems
with a PC Card, see the
Tell Me How help file for
instructions on removing
and replacing the card, or
simply restart (reboot)
your computer.
To exit hibernate mode, press the power button. The computer may take a
short time to return to its normal operating state.
HINT: Pressing a key or
touching the touch pad
will not bring the
computer out of hibernate
mode.
To access the Microsoft® Windows® Power Options Properties window:
Click the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
Double-click the Power Options icon.
The Power schemes pull-down menu displays the selected preset power
scheme:
Portable/Laptop (default)
Home/Office
Always On
Presentation (Windows 2000 only)
Minimal Power Management (Windows 2000 only)
Max Battery (Windows 2000 only)
HINT: Dell recommends
that you continue to use
the Portable/Laptop
power scheme to
maximize battery power
conservation.
Each preset power scheme has different time-out settings for putting the
computer into standby mode, turning off the display, and turning off the
hard drive.
HINT: To enable audible
alarms, click each Alarm
Action button and select
Sound alarm.
The Low battery alarm and Critical battery alarm settings alert you with a
message when the battery charge falls below a certain percentage. When
you receive your computer, the Low battery alarm and Critical battery
alarm check boxes are selected. Dell recommends that you continue to use
these defaults.
Activate standby mode (the default when you close the display).
Activate hibernate mode (the default for the power button).
Shut down Windows and turn off the computer.
No action (None).
HINT: If you are going to
connect your computer to
a port replicator, click
None when you program
the display-close option.
This setting ensures that
your computer does not
enter standby mode or
hibernate mode when you
close (lower) the display.
To program these functions, click an option from the corresponding pull-
down menu, and then click OK.
