Power Settings: Okay on Admin, Can't Change on User Accounts, Multiple Computers

[Sam Fertel]

My daughter and I both have Dell notebooks. Hers is a Inspiron B130
with XP Home, mine a Latitude D510 with XP Pro. Both have the same
problem. In the admin profile I can change the power settings. On
battery for instance, turn off the monitor after 3 minutes and
hibernate after 20 min. When I go to a User (Restricted) profile, the
settings are not changed. I can change the power settings, but when I
try to save them, the User account, of course, does not have the
proper permissions. The two different power settings do really work in
the Administrator account, and the stated but incorrect, really do
work on the User accounts.

On my daughter's computer the settings are:

Admin profile:

Plugged in:

Turn off Monitor: after 10 min
Turn off hard disks: never
System standby: after 15
System hibernates: never

Batteries:

Turn off Monitor: after 5 minutes
Turn off hard disks: after 15
System standby: after 10 min
System hibernates: after 20 min


User profile:

Plugged in:

Turn off Monitor: Never
Turn off hard disks: after 20
System standby: after 25
System hibernates: blank

Batteries:

Turn off Monitor: Never
Turn off hard disks: after 30
System standby: after 1 hour
System hibernates: blank

I have read about similar (but not the same) problems in this group.
Does anyone have a solution or a suggestion?

Thank you!

Bill

 

[Jim Henley]

Sam Fertel used his keyboard to write :

My daughter and I both have Dell notebooks. Hers is a Inspiron B130
with XP Home, mine a Latitude D510 with XP Pro. Both have the same
problem. In the admin profile I can change the power settings. On
battery for instance, turn off the monitor after 3 minutes and
hibernate after 20 min. When I go to a User (Restricted) profile, the
settings are not changed. I can change the power settings, but when I
try to save them, the User account, of course, does not have the
proper permissions. The two different power settings do really work in
the Administrator account, and the stated but incorrect, really do
work on the User accounts.

On my daughter's computer the settings are:

Admin profile:

Plugged in:

Turn off Monitor: after 10 min
Turn off hard disks: never
System standby: after 15
System hibernates: never

Batteries:

Turn off Monitor: after 5 minutes
Turn off hard disks: after 15
System standby: after 10 min
System hibernates: after 20 min


User profile:

Plugged in:

Turn off Monitor: Never
Turn off hard disks: after 20
System standby: after 25
System hibernates: blank

Batteries:

Turn off Monitor: Never
Turn off hard disks: after 30
System standby: after 1 hour
System hibernates: blank

I have read about similar (but not the same) problems in this group.
Does anyone have a solution or a suggestion?

Thank you!

Bill

The simple way is to change your accounts to administrator (log in as
administrator) by using the control panel and opening the "User
Accounts" dialog. Set the "Users must enter a user name...." click box
and then select the user to change. Click "Properties" and go to Group
Membership. You can set the user to Standard and they should be able to
change the settings for power.

After the settings are set for that user you can always log back in as
Administrator and change the Group settings back to restricted if you
want your daughter not to be able to install some programs.

 

[Sam Fertel]

Jim;

Thank you for responding. I had thought of this solution already. Can
this action be by design in WinXP? It seems like this is a programming
oversight on the part of the XP design crew. An admin should be able
to change those two settings globally without changing the User ID to
Admin and then back again. I've seen other settings in the past that
required changing the User to Admin, changing the settings, and then
switching the User back again.

Thanks again for your reply.

Bill

 

[Jim Henley]

Sam Fertel used his keyboard to write :

Jim;

Thank you for responding. I had thought of this solution already. Can
this action be by design in WinXP? It seems like this is a programming
oversight on the part of the XP design crew. An admin should be able
to change those two settings globally without changing the User ID to
Admin and then back again. I've seen other settings in the past that
required changing the User to Admin, changing the settings, and then
switching the User back again.

Thanks again for your reply.

Bill

I don't think it is an oversight. A newly installed system creates the
original user as "Administrator". Someone must add users and select
which kind of user they are to be. Most use the "Standard User" because
that will let the person change most of their individual settings but
doesn't allow them to change system files. You could even delete that
user with no effect on the other user accounts. Hope this helps.