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Power Conservation: Dell™ Inspiron™ 7500

	How to Conserve Battery Power		Experimenting with Power Conservation
	Using Microsoft Windows 98 to Conserve Battery Power		Standby Mode
	Using Windows NT to Conserve Battery Power		Save-to-Disk Suspend Mode

How to Conserve Battery Power

• You automatically conserve battery power each time you attach your computer to an electrical outlet. When the AC adapter is attached, the battery is being charged while the computer uses AC power. The life expectancy of your battery is determined largely by the number of charges it receives, so use an AC power source to run the computer if one is available.
  
  
• To adjust the way the computer uses battery power, use the Windows 98 Power Management Properties window or the Windows NT Power Management Control window.
  
  
• When the computer is using battery power, remove PC Cards that you are not using.
  
  
• When possible, play CDs and DVDs when the computer is attached to an electrical outlet. Playing a CD or DVD uses a lot of battery power.
  
  
• Experiment with power conservation features to achieve the optimum power conservation for your work environment.
  
  
• Place the computer into standby mode when you leave the computer unattended for long periods of time.

Using Microsoft® Windows® 98 to Conserve Battery Power

To access the Power Management Properties window (see Figure 1) and set the power management features in Windows 98, perform the following steps:

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.
  
  
• Alarms allows you to set the Low battery and Critical battery alarms to alert you when the system battery 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 life remaining when your system is operating on battery power. When your computer is not operating on battery power, it displays a message indicating that your computer is operating on AC power.
  
  
• 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.

Figure 1. Power Management Properties Window

Using Windows NT to Conserve Battery Power

To access the Power Management Control window (see Figure 2) and set the power management features in Windows NT, perform the following steps:

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

The Softex Power Management Control window contains the following tabs:

• Power Status tells you if the computer is using battery power or AC power, the percent of battery charge remaining, and how much battery operating time remains.
  
  
• Power Control allows you to put the computer into save-to-disk suspend mode.
  
  
• Settings allows you to select one of three power mode settings—Advanced, Standard, and Off. This tab also allows you to enable the low-battery warning and to place the Power Management icon on or remove it from the taskbar.

Click Advanced to let the operating system and basic input/output system (BIOS) work together for maximum power savings. You can use the Windows NT Power Management Control window or the Power menu of the Setup program to change power management settings.

Click Standard to allow the BIOS to control all power management settings. You must use the Power menu of the Setup program to change power management settings.

Click Off to disable power management features when you want the maximum performance from the computer.

Figure 2. Softex Power Management Control Window

Experimenting With Power Conservation

In general, the lower the value you set for each time-out option, the longer your battery's charge lasts. On the other hand, setting high time-out values tends to optimize the computer's performance. For best results, experiment as follows:

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

Evaluate the way that the different time-out settings affect how long you can operate the computer on battery power versus the relative efficiency of how your software performs.

Standby Mode

Standby 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 the computer entered standby mode.

Windows 98

Activate standby mode by pressing . You can also activate standby mode by clicking Standby from the Shut Down Windows window. To resume operation from standby mode, press the power button.

Windows NT

Activate standby mode by pressing . You can also activate standby mode through the Power Management Control window. To resume operation from standby mode, press the power button.

Save-to-Disk Suspend Mode

NOTES: Save-to-disk suspend mode helps preserve system data by quickly saving it to the hard-disk drive if you are about to run out of battery power. Place the computer in save-to-disk suspend mode if you do not intend to store the computer for longer than 40 days. Save-to-disk suspend mode preserves the configuration information stored in nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM). The reserve battery maintains this information, but may run out of energy after 40 days.

To activate save-to-disk suspend mode immediately, press (or on the French keyboard).

Save-to-disk suspend mode copies all system data to a reserved area 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 open before you activated this mode.

To resume using the computer after activating save-to-disk suspend mode, press the power button. It may take a few seconds for the computer to return to its previous state.

Some PC Cards may not operate correctly after exiting from save-to-disk suspend mode. If you encounter problems with a card, remove and replace it.

NOTE: Save-to-disk suspend mode requires a special file on your hard-disk drive that sets aside enough disk space to store the contents of the computer's memory. Dell creates an appropriately sized save-to-disk suspend file before shipping the computer to you. If you remove the file or add memory to the computer, or if your hard-disk drive becomes corrupted, you must recreate the file before you can again use save-to-disk suspend mode.

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