Is APC PowerChute necessary with Win7?

tony22 · Dec 11, 2011

I know Win7 does not have the UPS Utility that was available in earlier versions of Windows, but what are the limits (compared to PowerChute) if I use the Power Profile capability in Win7 for my USB connected SmartUPS 1000? I'd rather not have to install the APC software (Agent, Server, Console) if I don't have to, but if others can weigh in on whether that's really needed I'd appreciate it.

Brink · Dec 11, 2011

Hello Tony,

The answer is yes and no. It just depends on if you wanted to use the features specific to the UPS battery that are included in the PowerChute software or not.

When you do not have PowerChute installed, the advanced power plan settings included in Windows 7 does have settings that you could set for when the computer is running on battery power and when the computer is plugged in.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

tony22 · Dec 11, 2011

Thanks Brink. I read through all your advice and I think I can get by with the Power Profile Advanced features in Win7. The only things I'd be missing are the APC alert notification (email or text) if the power goes out, and the monitoring capabilities (power history etc). While those would be nice, I'm not sure it's worth the added bloatware.

Not Myself · Dec 11, 2011

PowerChute will place your computer into Hibernation if the battery in the UPS is about to be depleted due to utility power failure, thus saving any open documents, etc.

Brink · Dec 11, 2011

What "Not Myself" posted above would be the biggest advantage of having PowerChute installed. Windows 7 will not know how much time is left on the battery without PowerChute.

tony22 · Dec 11, 2011

Not Myself said:
PowerChute will place your computer into Hibernation if the battery in the UPS is about to be depleted due to utility power failure, thus saving any open documents, etc.

So if the APC is detected by Win7 and the driver installed, the OS still doesn't get any information reported to it by the UPS? If so, this is a very good point. If I decide to go with PowerChute, what should I do with the Advanced Battery settings under Power Profile? Set them all to Not Used or Never?

Brink · Dec 12, 2011

After you install PowerChute, the "Battery" options in your Advanced Power Plan settings will no longer be there. If you were to uninstall PowerChute in the future, the "Battery" options will return.

bobtran · Dec 12, 2011

I fail to see how PowerChute can be considered bloatware if you are running an APC battery power supply....maybe if you don't run a backup power supply.

PowerChute personal is meant for controlling your apc power supply and monitoring both your house power as well as the backup power supply and it's health.

I have used it for many years and can't really say that I have ever seen a downside to the use of this product.....using the windows power settings is just trying to imitate what PowerChute is designed for and it is really just a pale substitue....can't really see any reason to go there. Do you also avoid using the print drivers for your printer if you can jury rig Windows to print or avoid Burner software just because Windows can do it....it seems that you are forgoing some of the benefits of third party software for some reason....why do it the hard way.

tony22 · Dec 12, 2011

Bob, I try to run a relatively lightweight instance of Win7. Since I knew Win XP had an actual UPS utility (which I had used), I was hoping the capability in Win7 would be as useful. I found the utility in XP to be sufficient for my APC UPS. If Win7 has an embedded capability to do something well enough, then for me the tradeoff in using a manufacturer's software usually comes down to asking if I really need to do whatever else it does. Maybe "bloatware" was too strong a term, but I wasn't sure what to think when I saw three separate installations from a 100+ MB file to control a UPS (server, agent, console). Since it looked like the Advanced Power Profile Battery options had the ability to act on Low and Critical notifications, I was hoping that meant there was enough bidirectional communication so that Windows would be getting this info from the SmartUPS. I guess that was assuming too much.

And yes, I do now use WMP12 to burn disks. Not hard at all, reliable, and free. The days of using Nero have since passed in that department.

sygnus21 · Dec 12, 2011

As one who is using Powerchute I've had no issues, it doesn't take up "space", isn't a burden. It just sits quietly and does what it does. As Brink said, you can just use the basics of your Power Plan Windows 7 provides if you don't want, or trust Powerchute. But as you'll see in my screenshot, Powerchute provides a host of info Windows 7's power plan wouldn't.

And I too fail to see where this is "bloatware" - unless you consider any software not associated with Windows to be bloatware - which would include such software as Office or other mainstream software like Adobe Flash, 3rd party browsers, etc.

Screenshot of the latest version (3.0.0.1).....

Info on the software - http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SRAJ-8L89HL_R0_EN.pdf

APC forum - APC Discussion Forums : UPS Management & PowerChute Software

Good luck.

tony22 · Dec 12, 2011

If someone can confirm that the Battery Low and Critical Threshold parameters in the Win7 Power Profile are not driven by the status as supplied by the UPS then that would be enough for me to give it a try.

sygnus21 · Dec 12, 2011

I'm not sure I know (understand) what it is you're looking for? I did however provide you links on the software to look through though.

tony22 · Dec 12, 2011

sygnus21, take a look at the Win7 Advanced Power Panel here. It shows that the Win7 UPS control can take action on a configurable threshold (I expanded the Critical Threshold option in this image). So the thing I'm wondering about is: how does Windows know when the UPS is at 10% battery remaining versus 15% versus whatever the value is? Doesn't that mean that the UPS must be signaling its status to the OS?

sygnus21 · Dec 12, 2011

Hmmm.... I don't see those options. Perhaps it's because I'm actually using Power Cute instead.

Here's mine....

Bottom half....

I guess if that's the case I would say they work the same way, but again, Power Chute has more options.

Note the energy management section of Power Chute....

tony22 · Dec 12, 2011

Interesting. I may have to give it a try.

sygnus21 · Dec 12, 2011

tony22 said:
Interesting. I may have to give it a try.

Make sure you get version 3.0.0.1. Any thing below may cause UAC prompts.

bobtran · Dec 13, 2011

tony22 said:
Bob, I try to run a relatively lightweight instance of Win7. Since I knew Win XP had an actual UPS utility (which I had used), I was hoping the capability in Win7 would be as useful. I found the utility in XP to be sufficient for my APC UPS. If Win7 has an embedded capability to do something well enough, then for me the tradeoff in using a manufacturer's software usually comes down to asking if I really need to do whatever else it does. Maybe "bloatware" was too strong a term, but I wasn't sure what to think when I saw three separate installations from a 100+ MB file to control a UPS (server, agent, console). Since it looked like the Advanced Power Profile Battery options had the ability to act on Low and Critical notifications, I was hoping that meant there was enough bidirectional communication so that Windows would be getting this info from the SmartUPS. I guess that was assuming too much.

And yes, I do now use WMP12 to burn disks. Not hard at all, reliable, and free. The days of using Nero have since passed in that department.

Fair enough.....just wondering, would suggest that you check out CDBurnerXP instead of WMP12 and Foxit reader instead of builtin PDF reader but it is up to you although with 6gb (did I read your spec correctly?) I really can't see any reason to keep the instance small but I assume that it is a personal choice. Have a nice day.

Britton30 · Dec 13, 2011

Tony22, those Win 7 battery options are for a laptop battery. Windows has no way of detecting how it is connected to power on a desktop. As has been stated, PowerChute software is good and reliable using very little space and resources. I have used various iterations of it for about 10 years.

sygnus21 · Dec 13, 2011

Britton30 said:
Tony22, those Win 7 battery options are for a laptop battery. Windows has no way of detecting how it is connected to power on a desktop. As has been stated, PowerChute software is good and reliable using very little space and resources. I have used various iterations of it for about 10 years.

I kind of thought so too but looked at his system specs and figured he was talking about his desktop PC. At any rate I've not seen those options under a desktop PC but than again I've never looked for them either.

Would be nice of him to clear that up though - PC or Desktop?

Thanks Britton

Britton30 · Dec 13, 2011

I need to correct, if the USB from the UPS is attached to the PC it gives an indication of whether you are on battery or power grid.

Is APC PowerChute necessary with Win7?

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