I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 running WinXP SP3 (and the latest BIOS from Dell)
that is connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse (the screen
remains closed and the display output is set to external monitor only via FN
keys). For whatever reason, over the past several weeks, the power settings
on the machine keep getting reset and reverting back to the standard
portable/laptop configuration, including causing the machine to go into
standby every night (which is not what I want because I have Norton Ghost set
up to backup the machine every night to a network drive). This never used to
happen before, but I can't figure out what has changed. I had previously set
up a customized power scheme (named Customized #1) that told the machine to
never go into standby, and when I set it to this, it seems to hold for a few
days, and then even though it still displays as being on Customized #1 power
scheme, the actual settings revert (such as 20 mins for standby instead of
Never).

Anyone have any suggestions on what I can try to prevent this, as it is
becoming extremely annoying! Thanks!
--
- marc
http://www.marcbressman.com
http://www.falconcc.com

Marc B. wrote:
> I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 running WinXP SP3 (and the latest BIOS
> from Dell) that is connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and
> mouse (the screen remains closed and the display output is set to
> external monitor only via FN keys). For whatever reason, over the
> past several weeks, the power settings on the machine keep getting
> reset and reverting back to the standard portable/laptop
> configuration, including causing the machine to go into standby
> every night (which is not what I want because I have Norton Ghost
> set up to backup the machine every night to a network drive). This
> never used to happen before, but I can't figure out what has
> changed. I had previously set up a customized power scheme (named
> Customized #1) that told the machine to never go into standby, and
> when I set it to this, it seems to hold for a few days, and then
> even though it still displays as being on Customized #1 power
> scheme, the actual settings revert (such as 20 mins for standby
> instead of Never).
>
> Anyone have any suggestions on what I can try to prevent this, as
> it is becoming extremely annoying! Thanks!

As annoying as finding your post in multiple newsgroups - multiposted
instead of cross-posted - saving not only those who might answer your query
the annoyance of seeing it 'unread' multiple times, but it would have also
saved you effort, time and in the end gotten you the same audience but more
spreading of the knowledge as it would be ONE post across several forums and
answered in all at one time.

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

Check your drivers.
Check your BIOS settings.
Check for malware.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html