Problem with custom power plans

[PrimeSoup]

I maintain two notebook computers at my home. They are different models,
different makes, and use different hardware. Basically, the only things they
have in common is that they're both notebooks and they both use Windows Vista
Home Premium, 32 bit, for an operating system. I am having the same problem
with each one regarding the power plans they use:

Whenever I create a customized power plan for either notebook to use, some
of the settings I specify never get utilized. In fact, if I look at the plan
settings after the ones in question fail, I find that some of the features of
the power plan are changed to settings I never specified. To be clear, for
the settings that end up changing inexplicably, these are the settings I
initially choose for such power plans:

Hard disk:
Turn off hard disk after...
On battery: 20 minutes
Plugged in: 40 minutes

Sleep:
Sleep after...
On battery: Never
Plugged in: Never
Allow hybrid sleep:
On battery: Off
Plugged in: Off
Hibernate after...
On battery: 30 minutes
Plugged in: 60 minutes

Display:
Turn off display after...
On battery: 10 minutes
Plugged in: 20 minutes
Adaptive display:
On battery: Off
Plugged in: On
Display brightness:
On battery: 100%
Plugged in: 100%

Battery:
Critical battery action:
On battery: Hibernate
Plugged in: Do nothing
Low battery level:
On battery: 10%
Plugged in: 10%
Critical battery level:
On battery: 5%
Plugged in: 5%
Low battery notification:
On battery: On
Plugged in: Off
Low battery action:
On battery: Do nothing
Plugged in: Do nothing

Now, I'm not sure when or how this occurs, but these are the settings that
appear when I look at the same custom plan after the features in question
fail to behave like I instructed them:

Hard disk:
Turn off hard disk after...
On battery: 30 minutes
Plugged in: Never

Sleep:
Sleep after...
On battery: Never
Plugged in: Never
Allow hybrid sleep:
On battery: Off
Plugged in: Off
Hibernate after...
On battery: Never
Plugged in: Never

Display:
Turn off display after...
On battery: 15 minutes
Plugged in: 20 minutes
Adaptive display:
On battery: Off
Plugged in: On
Display brightness:
On battery: 100%
Plugged in: 100%

Battery:
Critical battery action:
On battery: Hibernate
Plugged in: Hibernate
Low battery level:
On battery: 10%
Plugged in: 10%
Critical battery level:
On battery: 5%
Plugged in: 5%
Low battery notification:
On battery: On
Plugged in: On
Low battery action:
On battery: Do nothing
Plugged in: Do nothing

What is going on to cause Windows to change these features specifically, and
always to the same settings? No matter which of my notebooks is in question,
the result is always the same: If I try to change them back the way I want,
the same thing happens again. If I delete the affected custom plans and make
new ones, the same thing happens to those, too. This seems to happen to any
custom plan I make, but only affects the features described above. The plans
customize other features, but those work the way I want them; they don't get
nerfed by Vista the way the ones in question do. I can't imagine what I'm
doing wrong with both notebooks, but whether the problem is with Vista or
with the way I'm using it, if there is anything I can do to fix this, I'd be
grateful to know.

 

[PrimeSoup]

Update to my own issue:

I believe this problem has recently resolved itself. For those reading who
have had similar difficulties but found no solutions, the problem disappeared
once I had installed the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 into each notebook's
operating system.

For one of the notebooks, though, doing this was difficult; the Windows
Update feature failed each of multiple times to install the service pack into
the operating system. For that machine, I had to download the service pack
as a stand-alone installer and integrate it manually that way. If anyone
else faces that issue, too, the primary stand-alone installer can be obtained
at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6D-5EBB-413B-89C9-CB3D06D12674&displaylang=en

Hopefully, those facing similar problems with the Windows Vista power plans
will find the solution similarly simple.