Can't set alarms in Power Options

[Stan Brown]

Windows XP, SP2

I normally run as limited user, and in Power Options the "Alarms" tab
settings are all greyed out. (They are normal when I run as
administrator, but the settings I make there don't carry over to my
limited account.)

I googled for setting alarms with power options, but everything I
found just says to set the Alarms tab; nothing deals with the
possibility that the alarms might be greyed out. So how do I un-grey
them?

Even better: is there some way to set all power options once, as
administrator, and then have those settings apply to all users?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Stan,

If you have administrator privileges, set the limited user account to an
Admin account, make the changes and set it back to a user account. The
setting should stick.

 

[Stan Brown]

If you have administrator privileges, set the limited user account to an
Admin account, make the changes and set it back to a user account. The
setting should stick.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think about doing that. (It's my
computer, so I do have an admin account.)

I don't blame the messenger, but that seems awfully rigmarolish. Is
it just me, or was this a bad design decision. I've seen other
instances where limited users can't change per-user settings, in
TweakUI for instance.

Also, to repeat my other question, is there any way to set power
options (including alarm) once, presumably from admin account, and
have them apply to all users?

 

[Stan Brown]

If you have administrator privileges, set the limited user account to an
Admin account, make the changes and set it back to a user account. The
setting should stick.

First attempt at the above, which failed:
I tried that. The settings on the Alarm tab stick, but on "power
schemes" drop-down on the first tab I lost four of my six schemes,
including the one I had previously selected. I had five that came
with Windows and one custom one I created months ago. Now the custom
one is gone and three of the Windows-supplied ones are gone, leaving
only "Maximum Performance" and "Entertainment".
More weirdness: As limited user, I can change the times for
turn-off shown on the first tab. But when I click Apply I get "unable
to set active policy".
I'm not asking why this one failed. Quite possibly without
realizing it I boogered something up -- anyway see next paragraph.

Second attempt, which seems to have succeeded:
I did a System Restore, then made "Stan" an admin user, set
"Stan's" power options and did Save As under a brand-new name, then
set "Stan" back to limited user. That does seem to stick, at least
through the logout/logon procedure. (I haven't rebooted yet.)

Musings and questions:
I'm all confused by the Power Options business. Each user
apparently has its own set of power options,(*) but limited users
can't set them. Something seems wrong there! I just can't wrap my
head around the idea of a policy that applies to only one user but
can't be set or changed by that user.

I'd like to educate myself. Do you know of an explanation somewhere
for Power Options that goes into the kind of depth you do with System
Restore?


(*) Here's why I think that. Under my admin user I created a new
power scheme and did a Save As, then logged off. logged on to
limited user "Stan" and opened Power Options -- the scheme I had just
created wasn't listed in the drop-down.

 

[Bert Kinney]

See if this helps Stan.

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...lic.windowsxp.*&rnum=4&hl=en#d956b5720b59f1d4

 

[Stan Brown]

See if this helps Stan.

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...lic.windowsxp.*&rnum=4&hl=en#d956b5720b59f1d4

Thanks Bert. I've done just a quick read, but it seems the responder
never actually answered the question how to create one system-wide
setting. I'll come back and read it more carefully later.

At this point, though, I think I'm interested more in an overview of
the philosophy. How does Microsoft intend Power Options to be used? I
keep banging my head against the wall, and I suspect that's because
I'm trying to use it in a way different from the intended way and I
need a "paradigm shift".

If Windows ships without the ability for limited users to change
Power Options, then the intent must be for the administrator(s) to
set power options for all users, no?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Are you running Home or Pro?

 

[Stan Brown]

Are you running Home or Pro?

Pro.