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Computer help

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Power settings

I do not want to start an entire thread on this so I thought I would post it here.

My Dell PC keeps on losing its power settings such as the screensaver and when I tell the HD to go to sleep. If I go back in and reset the time and click on Apply, it will save the settings for a few days but then they will not activate when they are supposed to. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts. Thanks!
 
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My Dell PC keeps on losing its power settings such as the screensaver and when I tell the HD to go to sleep. If I go back in and reset the time and click on Apply, it will save the settings for a few days but then they will not activate when they are supposed to. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts. Thanks!
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Odd that its only affecting those settings, but I would guess that the CMOS battery is dying? That doesnt even sound right to me, but dont know what else would cause it, unless you have some program running in the background that tried to override the windows settings.
 
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BrutusMaximus;1224487; said:
Odd that its only affecting those settings, but I would guess that the CMOS battery is dying? That doesnt even sound right to me, but dont know what else would cause it, unless you have some program running in the background that tried to override the windows settings.
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A dying CMOS will do weird shit, but I've never heard of one doing that without it affecting a lot of other things. Have you tried updating your bios? That doesn't sound right either though.
 
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LitlBuck;1224454; said:
I do not want to start an entire thread on this so I thought I would post it here.

My Dell PC keeps on losing its power settings such as the screensaver and when I tell the HD to go to sleep. If I go back in and reset the time and click on Apply, it will save the settings for a few days but then they will not activate when they are supposed to. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I think this is the appropriate forum for such questions.

What Op Sys are you using? Do you have a 3rd-party screensaver installed? Try uninstalling it and using one of the windows default screen savers to see what happens. It's possible that the third party product is taking over your power settings when it runs.
 
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mrmozambique;1224641; said:
I think this is the appropriate forum for such questions.

What Op Sys are you using? Do you have a 3rd-party screensaver installed? Try uninstalling it and using one of the windows default screen savers to see what happens. It's possible that the third party product is taking over your power settings when it runs.
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Yeah, either that or a Dell system tool that overrides the power settings. If this exists it would be accessible through A Dell or Dell Control menu in your program list.
 
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Thanks to all of you for your help. I do not have a third-party screensaver running. I am just using one of those that came with the machine. The screensaver not coming on doesn't bother me as much as the HD not Turning off. What is strange is that it just started happening in the past couple months and I have had this PC for about two years.
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I cannot find a Dell Control Menu in my program list. Where would that be located? I am not very hardware literate but know my way around if I am told where something is located.

I do have live updates on what I have always have had them on so I can't understand why it would just start happening in the past couple months.

If a battery is low when other things would it affect?
 
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Deety;1225384; said:
Here's an article on CMOS batteries that might be useful.

At the bottom of the page, it mentions a bad power supply as another possible issue. Maybe try ruling out some unlikely but easy stuff first - check the power connections to make sure they're good, or see if the settings still change if you shut off the screensaver.
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I think you might be onto something because my ISP started to drop a couple days ago and I would have to unplug the modem but that didn't satisfy matters. Anyhow when the cable tech guy came out, he did say that there were some power issues so I guess I will have to look into that. I will also disable the screensaver.
 
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BrutusMaximus;1225427; said:
Another possibility I just thought of would be the computer acting as if it's a laptop, that would cause it to operate in a power saving mode.
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Not understanding what you are trying to stay here. I do not get any other errors or have any other problems (except user related) but the HD will not shut down. I guess my next question is am I just better to leave it on all the time or manually shut it down. Appreciate all of the help and suggestions. I probably would have to call someone if I wanted to have the battery changed but I am not getting the errors that a low battery usually gives.
 
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Right like I said, a dying cmos battery would usually cause more problems than just that. But what I was talking about was the power saving mode in windows. It's under the same place as the screen saver, but I believe there is a power settings button or something at the bottom. You can set things such as when your monitor goes off, hard drives spin down, etc. There is a profile you can choose in there that basically effects everything.
 
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I don't know maybe I am all screwed up. I have my monitor to shut off at 25 minutes and my HD to shut off after 1 hour. My monitor is shutting off and gets no signal input. Does that mean my HD has also turned off. My monitor does not turn off all of the time and that's what I have to go back and "Apply" the time for my HD to shut off. I hope I am not confusing you and I really do appreciate your help.

I cannot find the area which you're referring to.
 
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BrutusMaximus;1226940; said:
I believe that is the area I am talking about. So you are saying those settings just keep resetting themself?
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Actually, I have my monitor set to turn off after 25 minutes and my HD to shut off after 1 hour. It used to do that but just quit. I went back and selected the exact same times and clicked on "Apply" and they would work for a couple days then quit. I could go back and select the exact same times again and click on "Apply" again but now it seems to only hold for one night. I have turned off my screen saver because that was not coming on either but that is no big deal. If I cannot get this problem resolved would I be best off shutting the system down when I am done for the day or should I leave it on 24/7. The problems above do the only thing wrong with this PC. I get no other errors or have no other problems. Thank you for your help.
 
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To be honest I am a believer in shutting them down at night/when you're done with it for the day. Have you had it running for many days straight? Cause if you havent rebooted, sometimes that can help it with settings like that as well. I would assume you have tried that though. Mine gets turned on in the morning, then shut down at night. Always believed that is better for them. Shutting them on and off too much is bad for the power supply, but leaving them on too much can cause problems with heat as well.
 
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