5-17LESSON 2 CONFIGURING POWER OPTIONSCONFIGURATION AND POWER INTERFACE (ACPI), WHICH AUTOMATICALLY ENABLES ADVANCEDPOWER MANAGEMENT SUPPORT AND DISABLES THE APM TAB

5-17Lesson 2 Configuring Power Options

Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), which automatically enables Advanced

Power Management Support and disables the APM tab. You must be logged on as a

member of the Administrators group to configure APM.

If your computer does not have an APM BIOS installed, Windows XP Professional does

not install APM, so there will not be an APM tab in the Power Options Properties dialog

box. However, your computer can still function as an ACPI computer if it has an ACPI-

based BIOS, which takes over system configuration and power management from the

Plug and Play BIOS.

Note If your laptop has an ACPI-based BIOS, you can insert and remove PC cards on the fly,

and Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures them without requiring

you to restart your machine. This is known as dynamic configuration of PC cards. There are

two other important features for mobile computers that rely on dynamic Plug and Play: hot

and warm docking/undocking and hot swapping of Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) and

floppy devices. Hot and warm docking/undocking means you can dock and undock from the

Windows XP Professional Start menu without turning off your computer. Windows XP Profes-

sional automatically creates two hardware profiles for laptop computers: one for the docked

state and one for the undocked state. (For more information about hardware profiles see

Chapter 6, “Installing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers.”) Hot

swapping of IDE and floppy devices means that you can remove and swap devices such as

floppy drives, DVD/CD drives, and hard drives without shutting down your system or restarting

your system. Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures these devices.

How to Configure an Uninterruptible Power Supply

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device connected between a computer

or another piece of electronic equipment and a power source, such as an electrical out-

let. The UPS ensures that the electrical flow to the computer is not interrupted because

of a power outage and, in most cases, protects the computer against potentially dam-

aging events such as power surges and brownouts. When a power outage occurs, the

UPS provides a limited amount of time for you to save documents, exit applications,

and turn off the computer. Different UPS models offer different levels of protection.

To configure your UPS, click the UPS tab in the Power Options Properties dialog box.

The UPS tab shows the current power source, the estimated UPS run time, the esti-

mated UPS capacity, and the battery condition. In the UPS tab, click Configure to dis-

play the UPS Selection dialog box. It displays a list of manufacturers from which you

can select the manufacturer of your UPS.

Note Check the Windows Catalog to make sure that the UPS you are considering is compat-

ible with Windows XP Professional before you purchase it.

If you want to configure a custom simple-signaling UPS, in the Select Manufacturer list

box, click Generic. In the Select Model list box, click Generic, and then click Next. You

can configure the conditions that trigger the UPS device to send a signal in the UPS

Interface Configuration dialog box (see Figure 5-6). These conditions include power

failures, a low battery, and the UPS shutting down.

F05us06.bmp

Figure 5-6

Configure the UPS by using the UPS Configuration dialog box.

After you have configured the UPS service for your computer, you should test the con-

figuration to ensure that your computer is protected from power failures. Disconnect

the main power supply to simulate a power failure. During your test, the computer and

the devices connected to the computer should remain operational. You should let the

test run long enough for the UPS battery to reach a low level so that you can verify that

an orderly shutdown occurs.

Off the Record Although Windows XP Professional provides some level of support for

UPSs, a good UPS usually comes with software of its own. The manufacturer’s software is

often better than Windows XP Professional at determining battery levels and estimated run

time. In addition, some software includes extra features such as the capability to automati-

cally save documents, exit programs, and shut down the computer (or even to send the

computer into hibernation) when a power outage occurs.

Practice: Configuring Power Options

In this practice, you use Control Panel to configure Power Options.