 | | Welcome to Windows 7 Forums. Our forum is dedicated to helping you find solutions with any problems, errors or issues you are experiencing with Windows 7. The Windows 7 forum also covers news and updates and has an extensive Windows 7 tutorial section that covers a wide range of tips and tricks. | Windows 7 - Power Plan - Create Shortcut to Change Power Plan
Power Plan - Create Shortcut to Change Power Plan How to Create a Shortcut to Change Power Plans in Windows 7
Published by Brink
08-23-2009
| Power Plan - Create Shortcut to Change Power Plan How to Create a Shortcut to Change Power Plans in Windows 7  Information This will show you how to create or download shortcuts that will allow you to change or switch to the High Performance, Balanced, Power Saver, or a custom power plan instantly without having to go through Power Options in the Control Panel.  Note  Tip You can also add a shortcut key to be used to run these shortcuts when you like. EXAMPLE: Power Plans NOTE: These shortcuts will allow you to toggle between your power plans here automatically.  OPTION ONE
To Download Shortcuts to Change Default Power Plan
NOTE: If you would like to have a shorcut to change to a custom power plan, then you will need to manually create one for it in OPTION TWO below. 1. Shortcut to Change to the High Performance Power PlanA) Click on the download button below to download the file below.High_Performance_Power_Plan.zip 
2. Shortcut to Change to the Balanced Power PlanA) Click on the download button below to download the file below.Balanced_Power_Plan.zip 
3. Shortcut to Change to the Power Saver Power PlanA) Click on the download button below to download the file below.Power_Saver_Power_Plan.zip 
4. Click on Save, and save the .zip file to the desktop. 5. Open the .zip file and extract the power plan shortcut to the desktop. 6. Right click on the power plan shortcut, and click on Properties, General tab, and on the Unblock button. (See screenshot below) NOTE: If you do not have a Unblock button under the General tab, then the shortcut is already unblocked and you can continue on to step 7. 7. Move the shortcut(s) to where you like for easy use. 8. When done, you can delete the downloaded .zip file on the desktop if you like, or save it to use again. OPTION TWO
To Manually Create the Shortcuts to Change Default Power Plan
1. Open a command prompt, then type powercfg -list at the prompt and press enter. (See screenshots below) 2. Make note of the GUID number for the power plan (name at far right) that you want to create a shortcut for. (See screenshots above) NOTE: You will need to enter this GUID number in step 4 below. You can Copy to Clipboard the GUID number from within the command prompt for step 4 to make this easier for a custom power plan. 3. Right click on a empty area on desktop, and click on New and Shortcut. 4. Type powercfg.exe /setactive GUID number into the location area, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below) NOTE: Substitute GUID number in the command with the actual GUID number displayed from step 2 above for a custom power plan. You can copy the complete command in bold below for the default power plans to make this easy. - High Performance
Code: powercfg.exe /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c - Balanced
Code: powercfg.exe /setactive 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e - Power Saver
Code: powercfg.exe /setactive a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a
5. Type the power plan name (ex: High Performance), and click on the Finish button. (See screenshot below) NOTE: You can name this shortcut anything you would like though. 6. Right click on the new power plan shortcut on the Desktop and click on Properties. 7. Click on the Shortcut tab, and click on the Change Icon button. (See screenshot below) 8. Click on OK. (See screenshot below) 9. In the line under "Look for icons in this file", type in the location below and press Enter. (See screenshot below)%SystemRoot%\System32\powercpl.dll 10. Select the Power Options icon highlighted in blue above and click on OK. (See screenshot above) 11. Click on Apply, then to the right of Run, click on the drop down menu and select Minimized and click on OK. (See screenshot below) NOTE: This is so the command window will not be seen flashing quickly open and closed when you use the power plan shortcut to change power plans. If you would like to see the command prompt flash to help see that the shortcut was used, then you can leave this set to Normal window. 12. Move the shortcut(s) to where you like for easy use. That's it,
Shawn |  Published by | | Administrator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 34,826 | |
 Tutorial Tools | | | | | | | | | |
08-23-2009
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#1 | | Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, MS XP Mode, VBox, VMLite Workstation, VM Player 4.0 |
Another good one threre! Shawn That's far more direct then simply creating a shortcut to the power options by itself! | My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, MS XP Mode, VBox, VMLite Workstation, VM Player 4.0 CPU AMD Phenom II X4 Deneb 3.4 Motherboard Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4 Memory Mushkin Enhanced DDR3 1600 8gb 1.5v-1.7v Graphics Card MSI Radeon 5750 1gb Sound Card Creative Labs X-Fi XtremeGamer Monitor(s) Displays 2 x Acer P191W 19" widesscreen Screen Resolution 1440x900 native Keyboard Microsoft Recusa Razor Mouse MS Trackball Explorer PSU Corsair 750TX Case Antec 900-2 - SSD compatible Cooling Zalman CNPS9900A Hard Drives WD Black Edition 1tb Sata 6.0 = 2
WD Black Edition 1tb Sata 3.0 = 2
WD 1tb Green Power sata = 2 1 external
usb flash drives = 8 Internet Speed 12mbps boost |
08-23-2009
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#2 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |
Hello Night Hawk,
Yeah, I was noticing a few posts out there for people wanting to be able to easily toggle between their power plans. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self built custom OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Intel i7-980X 3.3 Ghz (3.48 Ghz OC'd) Motherboard ASUS P6X58D Premium Memory 12 GB (2GBx6) DDR3 PC3-16000 2000 MHz Kingston HyperX Graphics Card Sapphire HD5870 Eyefinity 6 2GB Sound Card Realtek HD Audio ALC889 Integrated Chip Monitor(s) Displays 3x 27" Asus VE278Q Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution PSU OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W Case Corsair Obsidian 800D Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper CPU heat sink w/120 MM Hard Drives 160GB OCZ RevoDrive X2
** 2 x 1TB Samsung HDD HD154UI SATA Internet Speed 50 Mb/s Download and 2 Mb/s Upload Other Info Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
** Lite-On iHBS212 12x BD Writer
** Samsung CLX-3175FW Printer
** Netgear WNDR3800 Router
** Motorola SBG6580 Cable Modem
** 2x APC Back-UPS XS 1500 |
08-23-2009
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#3 | | Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, MS XP Mode, VBox, VMLite Workstation, VM Player 4.0 |
That will be a help here since each system restart seems to reset the settings for the plan selected even when that's a custom plan. Having the display set to never it ends up being reset to 20 minutes even for a quick restart.
Note the only place this is seen is on the 64bit RC not the 32bit. Each time I startup for the first time or reboot the system these will be a large help for this rather then going through the settings over and over!
I certainly have room for them on the second taskbar here where they will come in handy!
Last edited by Night Hawk; 08-23-2009 at 06:43 PM..
Reason: screenshot added
| My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, MS XP Mode, VBox, VMLite Workstation, VM Player 4.0 CPU AMD Phenom II X4 Deneb 3.4 Motherboard Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4 Memory Mushkin Enhanced DDR3 1600 8gb 1.5v-1.7v Graphics Card MSI Radeon 5750 1gb Sound Card Creative Labs X-Fi XtremeGamer Monitor(s) Displays 2 x Acer P191W 19" widesscreen Screen Resolution 1440x900 native Keyboard Microsoft Recusa Razor Mouse MS Trackball Explorer PSU Corsair 750TX Case Antec 900-2 - SSD compatible Cooling Zalman CNPS9900A Hard Drives WD Black Edition 1tb Sata 6.0 = 2
WD Black Edition 1tb Sata 3.0 = 2
WD 1tb Green Power sata = 2 1 external
usb flash drives = 8 Internet Speed 12mbps boost |
09-10-2009
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#4 | | Windows 7 Home Premium [x64] |
That's awesome! I have 2 power plans which I switch very often, and this is definitely a solution! I'd rep ya, but it says I gotta spread around some rep before giving it to you! LOL! | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Multirama PC Expert [Bulgaria] OS Windows 7 Home Premium [x64] CPU Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33 GHz Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2C Memory 4094 MB Graphics Card GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6970 (2 GB VRAM) Sound Card Realtek ALC883 @ Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Monitor(s) Displays Samsung SyncMaster BX2235 [21.5" LCD with LED Backlight] Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard A4 Tech X7 G800 (Gaming Keyboard) Mouse Razer Lachesis (4000 DPI, Blue Version) PSU Cooler Master GX750 - 750W Case Multirama (black) Cooling Two Aditional Cooler Master Fans Hard Drives Hitachi HDT721075SLA360 - 750 GB Internet Speed Spectrum Net "Start" [15 Mbps] Other Info Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch S (Graphics Design Tablet) |
09-10-2009
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#5 | | |
Yeah, cool. Athough there exists an alternative solution. Yesterday I found a small program which shows all powerplans in list and also changes the tray icon color like R-G-B on changing to power saver - balanced - high performance. I got it at http://www.techspot.com/downloads/48...windows-7.html
But what I like most of all: this Power Plan Assistant puts my laptop to high performance on plugging in and lets me to standby the monitor with a mouse click. Overall neat, although I'd like it as well to put my lappie back to balanced on plugging out. | My System Specs | | |
09-10-2009
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#6 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |

Quote: Originally Posted by WinSmith Yeah, cool. Athough there exists an alternative solution. Yesterday I found a small program which shows all powerplans in list and also changes the tray icon color like R-G-B on changing to power saver - balanced - high performance. I got it at Power Plan Assistant for Windows 7 - TechSpot Downloads
But what I like most of all: this Power Plan Assistant puts my laptop to high performance on plugging in and lets me to standby the monitor with a mouse click. Overall neat, although I'd like it as well to put my lappie back to balanced on plugging out. Hello WinSmith,
It's ok, but it will not have any custom power plans available to select from in that program. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self built custom OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Intel i7-980X 3.3 Ghz (3.48 Ghz OC'd) Motherboard ASUS P6X58D Premium Memory 12 GB (2GBx6) DDR3 PC3-16000 2000 MHz Kingston HyperX Graphics Card Sapphire HD5870 Eyefinity 6 2GB Sound Card Realtek HD Audio ALC889 Integrated Chip Monitor(s) Displays 3x 27" Asus VE278Q Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution PSU OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W Case Corsair Obsidian 800D Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper CPU heat sink w/120 MM Hard Drives 160GB OCZ RevoDrive X2
** 2 x 1TB Samsung HDD HD154UI SATA Internet Speed 50 Mb/s Download and 2 Mb/s Upload Other Info Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
** Lite-On iHBS212 12x BD Writer
** Samsung CLX-3175FW Printer
** Netgear WNDR3800 Router
** Motorola SBG6580 Cable Modem
** 2x APC Back-UPS XS 1500 |
09-10-2009
|
#7 | | Windows 7 Home Premium [x64] |

Quote: Originally Posted by Brink ...but it will not have any custom power plans available to select... Exactly the benefits of your solution!
I have a power plan that I use when I leave my computer for working at night. It makes the computer go to sleep only 3 minutes after it has finished it's work. Machines need a rest too, you know. So I configured it like this: | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Multirama PC Expert [Bulgaria] OS Windows 7 Home Premium [x64] CPU Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33 GHz Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2C Memory 4094 MB Graphics Card GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6970 (2 GB VRAM) Sound Card Realtek ALC883 @ Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Monitor(s) Displays Samsung SyncMaster BX2235 [21.5" LCD with LED Backlight] Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard A4 Tech X7 G800 (Gaming Keyboard) Mouse Razer Lachesis (4000 DPI, Blue Version) PSU Cooler Master GX750 - 750W Case Multirama (black) Cooling Two Aditional Cooler Master Fans Hard Drives Hitachi HDT721075SLA360 - 750 GB Internet Speed Spectrum Net "Start" [15 Mbps] Other Info Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch S (Graphics Design Tablet) |
09-10-2009
|
#8 | | |
I wrote an application that works with Windows 7 that lets you schedule when particular power plans should be used. I have a fairly regular schedule it automatically sets my computer so it can fall asleep during evening hours, but will always remain awake during the day.
If interested check it out at http://www.setpowersoftware.com/Free.aspx
Even better it doesn't consume any system resources except for when the plans are actually being switched. | My System Specs | | |
09-10-2009
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#9 | | Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, MS XP Mode, VBox, VMLite Workstation, VM Player 4.0 |

Quote: Originally Posted by bbalmer I wrote an application that works with Windows 7 that lets you schedule when particular power plans should be used. I have a fairly regular schedule it automatically sets my computer so it can fall asleep during evening hours, but will always remain awake during the day.
If interested check it out at SetPower - Free Edition
Even better it doesn't consume any system resources except for when the plans are actually being switched. Welcome to the sevenforums! bbalmer I'll be giving this one a good lookover while still running the 7 RCs for the time being until 7 is out.
Upon each first startup of the day or when simply rebooting the system the settings for never turn off the display are always reset to the default 20 minutes for some unknown reason on the 64bit RC. We'll have to see if this is a solution for that one! | My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, MS XP Mode, VBox, VMLite Workstation, VM Player 4.0 CPU AMD Phenom II X4 Deneb 3.4 Motherboard Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4 Memory Mushkin Enhanced DDR3 1600 8gb 1.5v-1.7v Graphics Card MSI Radeon 5750 1gb Sound Card Creative Labs X-Fi XtremeGamer Monitor(s) Displays 2 x Acer P191W 19" widesscreen Screen Resolution 1440x900 native Keyboard Microsoft Recusa Razor Mouse MS Trackball Explorer PSU Corsair 750TX Case Antec 900-2 - SSD compatible Cooling Zalman CNPS9900A Hard Drives WD Black Edition 1tb Sata 6.0 = 2
WD Black Edition 1tb Sata 3.0 = 2
WD 1tb Green Power sata = 2 1 external
usb flash drives = 8 Internet Speed 12mbps boost Power Plan - Create Shortcut to Change Power Plan problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:15 AM. |  |