Manuals

Back to Contents Page

Power Conservation: Dell™ Inspiron™ 3700 System Reference

	Experimenting With Power Conservation		Standby Mode
	Using Key Combinations		Power Management Properties for Microsoft Windows 98
	Closing the Display		Power Management Properties for Microsoft Windows NT
	Suspend Mode		Save-to-Disk Suspend Mode

To evaluate the way that different settings affect how long you can operate the computer on battery power versus the relative efficiency of how the software performs, experiment as follows:

• Use the computer with all the options set at their default values.
  
  
• Use the computer with all the options disabled or set to Off.
  
  
• Use the computer with all the options set to their minimum or maximum values.

NOTE: For Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)-compliant systems, power management settings are controlled from the Power Management Properties window in the Control Panel. In other systems, power management settings are controlled from the System Setup program.

---

Using Key Combinations

Table 1 identifies the power management key combinations.

NOTE: To use key combinations on an external keyboard, enable the External Hot Key option in the System Setup program, and press <Scroll Lock> instead of <Fn>.

Table 1. Key Combinations to Activate/Deactivate Features

* These key combinations may not function with the ACPI if the settings have not been activated with the Power Management Properties window in the Control Panel.

Closing the Display

One way to conserve power on the computer is to close the display when the computer is not in use. When you close the display and an external monitor is not connected, the computer's liquid crystal display (LCD) shuts off automatically. If you set the Display Close option in System Setup to Standby, the computer enters the standby mode when the display is closed. If you set the Display Option to Active, the display shuts off when it is closed and does not enter the standby mode.

NOTE: If an external monitor is connected when you close the display, the computer does not activate standby mode. You can still use the external monitor.

If the computer detects a wakeup alarm or receives a modem call while the display is closed, the computer handles the alarm or answers the call. After such input/output (I/O) activity ceases, the computer waits 1 minute before reactivating standby mode.

To resume work, open the display. (The computer may take several seconds to resume operation.)

NOTE: With systems running under ACPI, settings for these features are controlled from the Power Management Properties window in the Control Panel. To conserve power, use the sleep mode. Activate the sleep mode by selecting Sleep from the Power Management Properties window.

Suspend Mode

If your computer is running the Microsoft Windows NT� operating system, suspend mode stops almost all computer activity, but leaves the computer ready to resume operations immediately in about 20 to 30 seconds. Use suspend mode whenever you leave the computer unattended.

Suspend mode conserves battery power by turning off the microprocessor clock; the display; the hard-disk drive; the CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or LS-120 drive module (if installed); the external monitor connector; the external keyboard (if attached); the parallel port; the serial port; the touch pad; and the diskette drive.

You can activate suspend mode immediately by pressing <Fn><Esc> (or <Scroll Lock><Esc> on an external keyboard if the External Hot Key option is enabled in the System Setup program).

NOTE: With systems running under ACPI, settings for power management features, such as key combinations, External Hot Key, and sleep mode are controlled from the Power Management Properties window in the Control Panel. To activate sleep mode, make sure that you have configured the appropriate key combinations from the Power Management Properties window.

When your system is in suspend mode, the power indicator is not lit.

Resume from suspend mode by pressing the power button. The computer may take several seconds to return to normal operation.

NOTES: On resumption from suspend mode, if a password is set, the system displays the password prompt screen. At the password prompt screen, if you do not enter a password within 2 minutes, the system returns to suspend mode. Suspend mode is known as standby mode under the Microsoft Windows 98 operating system. For systems with ACPI compliance, hibernate mode is known as sleep mode.

---

Standby Mode

If your computer is running the Microsoft Windows 98 operating system, standby mode turns off the display, stops the hard-disk drive, and turns off other internal devices so that the computer uses less battery power. When the computer resumes operation from standby mode, the desktop is restored exactly as it was before entering standby mode.

You can activate standby mode by pressing <Fn><Esc>. To resume operation from standby mode, press the power button.

NOTE: With systems running under ACPI, settings for power management features, such as key combinations, External Hot Key, and sleep mode are controlled from the Power Management Properties window in the Control Panel. To activate sleep mode, make sure that you have configured the appropriate key combinations from the Power Management Properties window.

Power Management Properties for Microsoft® Windows® 98

Windows 98 with Advanced Power Management (APM) provides the Power Management Properties window for setting power conservation features.

To access the Power Management Properties window and set the power management features, perform the following steps in Windows 98:

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
   
   
2. Double-click the Power Management Properties icon.

The Power Management Properties window contains the following tabs:

• Power Scheme — Allows you to select one of three power mode settings.
  
  

  NOTE: With systems running ACPI, select the Notebook/Portable setting as the Power Scheme to conserve battery life while the system is in standby mode. If the Always On setting is selected, the battery life may be much shorter when in standby mode.

• Alarms — Allows you to set the Low Battery and Critical Battery alarms to alert you when the computer battery charge falls below a certain percentage. When you received your computer, the Low Battery and Critical Battery alarms check boxes were not checked. Dell recommends that you do not select these options.
  
  
• Power Meter — Allows you to view the percentage of battery operating time remaining when your computer is operating on battery power. If your computer is operating on AC power, the computer displays a message.
  
  
• Advanced — Allows you to display the Power Meter on the Windows 98 taskbar and to display a password prompt when the computer resumes from standby mode.
  
  
• Hibernate (ACPI only) — Allows you to enable the hibernate feature.

Power Management Properties for Microsoft Windows NT®

Save-to-Disk Suspend Mode

Save-to-disk suspend (S2D) mode copies all system data to a reserved area—the S2D partition—on the hard-disk drive and then turns off all power to the computer. When you resume normal operation, the same programs will be running and the same files will be open that were loaded before you activated this mode.

Place the computer in S2D mode if you intend to store the computer for longer than 40 days. S2D mode preserves the configuration information stored in nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM). Typically, the reserve battery maintains this information, but it may run out of energy after 40 days.

NOTE: S2D mode helps preserve system data by saving it to the hard-disk drive if you are about to run out of battery power.

To activate S2D, press <Fn><a> (or <Scroll Lock><a> on an external keyboard if the External Hot Key option is enabled in the System Setup program). On a French keyboard, press <Fn><q> or <Scroll Lock><q>.

NOTE: With systems running under ACPI, settings for power management features, such as key combinations, External Hot Key, and S2D mode are controlled from the Power Management Properties window in the Control Panel. The key combinations of <Fn><a> or <Scroll Lock><a> may not function with ACPI if the settings have not been activated from the Power Management Properties window. The S2D mode is referred to as the hibernate mode for systems running ACPI. To activate the hibernate mode, make sure that you have configured the appropriate key combinations from the Power Management Properties window.

Resume from S2D mode by pressing the power button.

If you connect or remove devices while the computer is in S2D mode, the computer automatically recognizes the newly connected devices when it resumes normal operation.

NOTE: With systems running ACPI, you cannot remove devices or undock your computer while in the S2D (hibernate) mode.

Some PC Cards may not operate correctly after resuming from S2D mode. If you encounter problems with a card, remove and reinsert the card.

NOTE: Dell creates an appropriately sized S2D partition before shipping the computer to you. Use the S2D utility to remove the file, to increase the size of the file, or to add the S2D file if you removed it. For more information about altering or creating an S2D file, see the readme.S2D file, which can be found in the Dell Utilities folder on your hard-disk drive or on the S2D diskette that came with your computer.

Save-to-Disk Suspend Utility

The S2D utility allows you to manage the S2D partition in your file system as your computing needs change. For instance, you can remove the S2D partition if you need the space on the hard-disk drive for other purposes, or you can use the S2D utility to create the partition if you have removed it.

Removing the S2D Partition

If you want to use the S2D partition on your hard-disk drive for another purpose (for instance, if you are running out of file space), perform the following steps to remove the partition:

1. At an MS-DOS� prompt, type cd c:\dell\util and press <Enter> to change to the directory on your hard-disk drive that contains the S2D utility files.

If you are using an operating system that is not compatible with MS-DOS, see the readme.s2d file for instructions.

2. Type rms2d and press <Enter>.

Status messages appear on the display as the removal process progresses. When the S2D partition has been removed, the following message appears:

The S2D partition was successfully removed.

NOTE: After you remove the S2D partition, the computer cannot activate S2D mode until you recreate the partition. If you try to activate S2D mode and receive the message No Save-To-Disk Suspend partition available, you must create an S2D partition.

Creating the S2D Partition

The mks2d.exe file creates the S2D partition the computer uses to store the system data that is saved when you put the computer in S2D mode. Use the mks2d.exe file to create a new S2D partition in the following cases:

• If Dell did not install MS-DOS on your hard-disk drive
  
  
• If you increase the amount of system memory by adding a memory module
  
  
• If you used the rms2d.exe file to remove the original S2D partition and now want to recreate the partition
  
  
• If your hard-disk drive becomes corrupted
  
  
• If you install a new hard-disk drive
  
  
• If you received the system utilities separately on diskette or CD or if you deleted the S2D utility from your hard-disk drive

To create an S2D partition, perform the following steps.

NOTE: If you are creating the partition on a new hard-disk drive, if Dell did not install MS-DOS on your hard-disk drive, or if you are using an operating system that is not compatible with MS-DOS, read the readme.s2d file before performing the following procedure.

1. At an MS-DOS prompt, type CD c:\dell\util and press <Enter> to change to the directory on your hard-disk drive that contains the S2D utility files.
   
   
2. Type mks2d and press <Enter>.

As the utility builds the partition, status messages appear on the display. If an error message appears, it provides information about which steps to take to continue building the partition.

When the S2D partition has been built and verified, the following message appears:

The S2D partition was successfully created.

Back to Contents Page