Power Options Indicates two revision levels are incompa- cannot save settings

[Terry Pinnell]

My Power Options facility on this XP Home (SP1) PC seems to be broken.
It won't save any new settings. Next time I open the dialog that new
name is not available.

Also, some combinations of Apply/OK/Save give this message window:
'Power Policy Manager unable to set policy'
Indicates two revision levels are incompatible'.

Note that, having changed the setting, say to Monitor = 1 min by way
of a test (and the other two boxes 'Never'), my monitor *does* power
off after 1 min. I just cannot save settings. And I actually deleted
one I already had, so now I'm down to just 'Home/Office Desktop' and
'Portable/Laptop'. Presumably if I deleted those, I'd have *nothing*
in the drop-down box!

Anyone able to help me fix this please? (Short of installing SP2,
which caused me many problems last time I tried it a year or so ago.)

 

[Nepatsfan]

In

My Power Options facility on this XP Home (SP1) PC seems to
be broken.
It won't save any new settings. Next time I open the dialog
that new
name is not available.

Also, some combinations of Apply/OK/Save give this message
window:
'Power Policy Manager unable to set policy'
Indicates two revision levels are incompatible'.

Note that, having changed the setting, say to Monitor = 1 min
by way
of a test (and the other two boxes 'Never'), my monitor
*does* power
off after 1 min. I just cannot save settings. And I actually
deleted
one I already had, so now I'm down to just 'Home/Office
Desktop' and
'Portable/Laptop'. Presumably if I deleted those, I'd have
*nothing*
in the drop-down box!

Anyone able to help me fix this please? (Short of installing
SP2,
which caused me many problems last time I tried it a year or
so ago.)

How comfortable are you with editing the registry? I've been
able to fix this problem by deleting the registry keys for user
created power schemes.

First, go to Start -> Run and enter regedit in the Open box.
Click OK.
This should open the registry editor.
Navigate to this location.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies

Normally, within this key there are the 6 default schemes
contained in subkeys numbered from 0 to 5. If you see any
others, that could be the source of your problem.
First, back up the entire PowerPolicies key by right clicking
on it in the left hand pane and selecting Export from the menu.
Name the .reg file PowerPolicies and save it to a handy
location such as your Desktop.
Next, look under PowerPolicies and right click any subkey
numbered greater than 5.
Select Delete from the menu.
Continue until the only subkeys left are 0 through 5.

You may have to log off and back on before testing to see if
Power Options works properly.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Terry Pinnell]

In

How comfortable are you with editing the registry? I've been
able to fix this problem by deleting the registry keys for user
created power schemes.

First, go to Start -> Run and enter regedit in the Open box.
Click OK.
This should open the registry editor.
Navigate to this location.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies

Normally, within this key there are the 6 default schemes
contained in subkeys numbered from 0 to 5. If you see any
others, that could be the source of your problem.
First, back up the entire PowerPolicies key by right clicking
on it in the left hand pane and selecting Export from the menu.
Name the .reg file PowerPolicies and save it to a handy
location such as your Desktop.
Next, look under PowerPolicies and right click any subkey
numbered greater than 5.
Select Delete from the menu.
Continue until the only subkeys left are 0 through 5.

You may have to log off and back on before testing to see if
Power Options works properly.

Good luck

Thanks Nepatsfan, that's pretty well exactly what I did, successfully,
after finding this article
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/Articl...7716/47716.html
However, although it looked promising, it didn't work for me without
further action. I'll include the details, although they largely echo
your succinct summary, in case it helps anyone else.

I downloaded and applied the registry fix that article specifies, XP
PowerCfg Fix.reg, made by downloading XP PowerCfg Fix.txt. On
re-booting, the power scheme default was Presentation (i.e. Never
power-off anything). There were only 3 'standard' options offered, not
the 6 expected. I saved a new one called 'Test 1 min', closed Control
Panel. On returning to the dialog, that new option was not present,
and default was again Presentation.

I was however still getting whatever setting I enter against Monitor
for the Home/Office Desktop option that I used. IOW, it *does* power
off after 1 minute if I change the normal setting of 20 seconds to 1.

The breakthrough came a little later. After the failed fix, I was
surprised to find the registry entries under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies
still contained ancient names (with numbers like 28, 30, etc) mixed up
with the 'standard' 6 (numbered 0 to 5). I expected the fix to have
removed all but the standards. Anyway, I manually deleted these old
(but non-accessible) entries, and rebooted. BTW, I had done a similar
exercise earlier, before applying the fix, and it had not resolved the
problem then. However, happy to find that I now had all 6 entries. And
furthermore, I was able to save a new one of my own, and it was still
there on offer after closing and re-opening the dialog. FWIW, it
appears under that registry key like this:
PowerPolicies
-0
-1
-2
-3
-32 <---- My new one 'Test-1min'
-4
-5

 

[Nepatsfan]

In

Thanks Nepatsfan, that's pretty well exactly what I did,
successfully,
after finding this article
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/Articl...7716/47716.html
However, although it looked promising, it didn't work for me
without
further action. I'll include the details, although they
largely echo
your succinct summary, in case it helps anyone else.

I downloaded and applied the registry fix that article
specifies, XP
PowerCfg Fix.reg, made by downloading XP PowerCfg Fix.txt. On
re-booting, the power scheme default was Presentation (i.e.
Never
power-off anything). There were only 3 'standard' options
offered, not
the 6 expected. I saved a new one called 'Test 1 min', closed
Control
Panel. On returning to the dialog, that new option was not
present,
and default was again Presentation.

I was however still getting whatever setting I enter against
Monitor
for the Home/Office Desktop option that I used. IOW, it
*does* power
off after 1 minute if I change the normal setting of 20
seconds to 1.

The breakthrough came a little later. After the failed fix, I
was
surprised to find the registry entries under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies
still contained ancient names (with numbers like 28, 30, etc)
mixed up
with the 'standard' 6 (numbered 0 to 5). I expected the fix
to have
removed all but the standards. Anyway, I manually deleted
these old
(but non-accessible) entries, and rebooted. BTW, I had done a
similar
exercise earlier, before applying the fix, and it had not
resolved the
problem then. However, happy to find that I now had all 6
entries. And
furthermore, I was able to save a new one of my own, and it
was still
there on offer after closing and re-opening the dialog. FWIW,
it
appears under that registry key like this:
PowerPolicies
-0
-1
-2
-3
-32 <---- My new one 'Test-1min'
-4
-5

Glad to hear you were able to repair Power Options. Thanks for
taking the time to post back with your solution.

Nepatsfan