Admin unable to change monitor timeout

On a machine running XP Pro, used by a single user and not normally
connected to a domain or file server: when logged in as administrator,
an attempt to change the monitor timeout brings up a message box on
clicking Apply or OK:

Window title: Power policy manager unable to set active policy

Message in window: More data is available

There is an OK button only; nothing is displayed on clicking OK. The
timeout setting is not changed.

The machine has been restored from tape after a disc failure, and there
are some problems. After restoring, it was initially possible to change
the timeout.

I'd be grateful for any information on this.

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem

Michael Salem wrote:
> On a machine running XP Pro, used by a single user and not normally
> connected to a domain or file server: when logged in as administrator,
> an attempt to change the monitor timeout brings up a message box on
> clicking Apply or OK:
>
> Window title: Power policy manager unable to set active policy
>
> Message in window: More data is available
>
> There is an OK button only; nothing is displayed on clicking OK. The
> timeout setting is not changed.
>
> The machine has been restored from tape after a disc failure, and
> there are some problems. After restoring, it was initially possible
> to change the timeout.
>
> I'd be grateful for any information on this.
>
> Best wishes,

Michael

This could be a problem with the saved custom power schemes. Try deleting
any custom schemes, set the options and save as a new scheme with a unique
name.

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org

I asked:

> > On a machine running XP Pro, used by a single user and not normally
> > connected to a domain or file server: when logged in as administrator,
> > an attempt to change the monitor timeout brings up a message box on
> > clicking Apply or OK:
> >
> > Window title: Power policy manager unable to set active policy
> >
> > Message in window: More data is available
> >

ronv@mvps.org responded:

> This could be a problem with the saved custom power schemes. Try deleting
> any custom schemes, set the options and save as a new scheme with a unique
> name.

I tried deleting one scheme, which made no difference. As I can't apply
any changes made, I can't save any setting as a custom scheme, nor
select the scheme to use: I can easily get stuck with an unsuitable
scheme if I delete schemes. Is it possible to delete all schemes? What
power settings are used in this case? I would expect always on, but
don't want to risk being caught out.

Is this known to solve this problem in some cases, or is it just a
sensible thing to try?

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem

Michael Salem wrote:
> I tried deleting one scheme, which made no difference. As I can't
> apply
> any changes made, I can't save any setting as a custom scheme, nor
> select the scheme to use: I can easily get stuck with an unsuitable
> scheme if I delete schemes. Is it possible to delete all schemes? What
> power settings are used in this case? I would expect always on, but
> don't want to risk being caught out.
>
> Is this known to solve this problem in some cases, or is it just a
> sensible thing to try?
>
> Best wishes,

Michael

It's possible that the power schemes have been corrupted in the registry. Go
to MVP Kelly's website at the following URL and scroll down to Line 204,
right side. Click the "Restore power schemes/Configurations" link to
download the file. Double click the file to merge in the registry. This will
restore all of the default power schemes.

Troubleshooting Windows XP, Tweaks and Fixes for Windows XP:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Make sure you are logged on as Administrator and log off/log on immediately
after applying the fix.

If this does not take care of the problem, let me know.
--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org

I wrote about inability to save changes to the power scheme, though
administrator.

Thanks for responses. In particular, ronv@mvps.org wrote:

> It's possible that the power schemes have been corrupted in the registry. Go
> to MVP Kelly's website at the following URL and scroll down to Line 204,
> right side. Click the "Restore power schemes/Configurations" link to
> download the file. Double click the file to merge in the registry. This will
> restore all of the default power schemes.

This made the problem slightly worse, if anything: it is still not
possible to save changes ("Power policy manager unable to set active
policy", "More data is available" [but not displayed], as before). The
power scheme I am now stuck with tries to switch the monitor off after 5
minutes, rather than the 20' I had before. In practice, the monitor
doesn't actually get switched of, regardless of the setting.

I downloaded the .REG file, executed it (as administrator), logged off,
logged back in as administrator. Also rebooted, to be quite sure.

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem

Michael Salem wrote:
> I wrote about inability to save changes to the power scheme, though
> administrator.
>
> Thanks for responses. In particular, ronv@mvps.org wrote:
>
>> It's possible that the power schemes have been corrupted in the
>> registry. Go to MVP Kelly's website at the following URL and scroll
>> down to Line 204, right side. Click the "Restore power
>> schemes/Configurations" link to download the file. Double click the
>> file to merge in the registry. This will restore all of the default
>> power schemes.
>
> This made the problem slightly worse, if anything: it is still not
> possible to save changes ("Power policy manager unable to set active
> policy", "More data is available" [but not displayed], as before). The
> power scheme I am now stuck with tries to switch the monitor off
> after 5 minutes, rather than the 20' I had before. In practice, the
> monitor
> doesn't actually get switched of, regardless of the setting.
>
> I downloaded the .REG file, executed it (as administrator), logged
> off, logged back in as administrator. Also rebooted, to be quite sure.
>
> Best wishes

Michael

OK, you will need to look in the registry to see what is happening.

The problem is likely to come from the way the power schemes are numbered in
the registry by an out of sequence numbering pattern.


Go to Start/Run and type: regedit and press OK. This will open the
registry editor. Maximize the window. Navigating in the registry editor is
similar to Windows Explorer except the Folders are called Keys. Clicking the
"+" signs, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies

Click the + sign next to PowerPolicies. There should only be keys numbered 0
to 5 in that list. If there are any other keys, you will need to delete
them. Right click the keys that are not in the range of 0 to 5 and select
Delete from the pop up menu.

After this is done, check to see if this same key exists in the following
key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies

If this key is present, perform the same instructions on this key.

Exit the registry editor and reboot the computer. Try the Power Schemes
again.

Let me know.
--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org

> > I wrote about inability to save changes to the power scheme, though
> > administrator.
> >
There have been a number of suggestions which I have followed up, to no
avail (see previous postings for details).

Thanks again to ronv@mvps.org (edited):

> The problem is likely to come from the way the power schemes are numbered in
> the registry by an out of sequence numbering pattern.
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies
> and
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies
>
> There should only be keys numbered 0 to 5.
> If there are any other keys, you will need to delete them.

I have checked all occurrences of \PowerCfg\PowerPolicies in the
registry, including of course the two you specify. In all cases (about 6
occurrences) there are keys numbered 0 to 5, with none missing, and none
added.

While working on this problem, I discover that System Restore is not
working. System Restore is not disabled on any drive. I remember having
restore points, but when I checked yesterday there were done. I assumed
that I must have inadvertently deleted them in the recent past, so
explicitly created a restore point, and checked that it had, indeed,
been created. Today I looked at system restore, before fiddling around
with PowerCfg settings, and discover that there are no restore points.

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem