Ask Me Help Desk - How do I keep internet screen active longer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tma48

How do I keep internet screen active longer?

Here's the problem. I have a small internet business, and it seems that every time I'm away from my computer for two minutes (actually it is several) the screen goes inactive, the screensaver (Pipes) comes on, and I have to hit a key to get the active screen back. That was annoying enough, but last week, I guess due to some AOL automatic upgrading, when the active internet screen goes down, it is now a 2-step process to bring it back. I hit any key as I did before, but now, after that, I get the blue start-up screen, so I have to point the arrow at the icon to get the internet screen back again. I'm now performing this 2-step process many times a day. Is there some way to change the timing so that the screen stays active longer while I am not actively working the keys? Or to get the screen to just stay active until I log the heck off?

Even if you don’t know the answer to this--thanks anyway for your time! -- Tom

If you are using Windows XP home edition, go to CONTROL PANEL, click on POWER OPTIONS, here's exactly what to do:
Power Options overviewUsing Power Options in Control Panel, you can reduce the power consumption of any number of your computer devices or of your entire system. You do this by choosing a power scheme, which is a collection of settings that manages the power usage by your computer. You can create your own power schemes or use the ones provided with Windows.

You can also adjust the individual settings in a power scheme. For example, depending on your hardware, you can:

Turn off your monitor and hard disks automatically to save power.
Put the computer on standby when it is idle. While on standby, your entire computer switches to a low-power state where devices, such as the monitor and hard disks, turn off and your computer uses less power. When you want to use the computer again, it comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. Standby is particularly useful for conserving battery power in portable computers. Because Standby does not save your desktop state to disk, a power failure while on Standby can cause you to lose unsaved information.
Put your computer in hibernation. The hibernate feature saves everything in memory on disk, turns off your monitor and hard disk, and then turns off your computer. When you restart your computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. It takes longer to bring your computer out of hibernation than out of standby.
Typically, you turn off your monitor or hard disk for a short period to conserve power. If you plan to be away from your computer for a while, you put your computer on standby, which puts your entire system in a low-power state.

Put your computer in hibernation when you will be away from the computer for an extended time or overnight. When you restart the computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it.

To use Windows Power Options, you must have a computer that is set up by the manufacturer to support these features. For more information, see the documentation that came with your computer.