One of the great frustrations with power management in Windows is the inconsistency in plan adjustment when you switch between docking and roaming.
Windows maintains different screen brightness settings depending on whether it’s plugged in or running off of battery, but it won’t switch you between the Balanced and Power Saver power profiles automatically.
Some laptop manufacturers ship power plan switching software with their systems. If you weren’t so lucky, never fear: Power Plan Assistant for Windows 7 fills this gap in the Windows 7 feature set.
It installs into your system tray, where it serves as a substitute for the Power Options system tray icon.
The real action, as with most system tray icons, is in the context menu. Right click on PPA’s black-box numeric icon to see the full panoply of options available with this tool.
Select the On plugging in, automatically switch to and On unplugging, automatically switch to options to tell PPA that you want the laptop to switch to Power Saver when it’s unplugged, and back to Balanced when the plug’s back in.
You’ll never waste battery life again because you forgot to switch profiles.
PPA features a few other interesting options. One feature enables turning off the display when you put your mouse in the upper left corner.
This lets you save immediately on battery if you’re listening to music or audio books on your laptop. Don’t panic the screen re-activates the minute you move your mouse! You can also instruct PPA to lock your computer when the screen shuts off.
There’s even a menu command to open the Windows Power Options dialog; if you like PPA, you can de-activate the Windows Power Options icon in the system tray and make PPA your one-stop shop for all your power management tasks.
Power Plan Assistant is donationware. Unless you make a small donation to its author, you’ll have to uninstall and re-install the application once a week.
If you want a free alternative, you can try either Aerofoil or Vista Battery Saver. Having tried all three, I can say that Power Plan Assistant 7 is worth the $5 to $10 you’ll spend on the license key.
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