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1. What is MMC ?

MMC (Microsoft Management Console) is a Microsoft Framework that provides administrators with a flexible common interface to configure and monitor systems. This framework is used as the basis for the Enterprise Console in the Power Save Central Console.

2. Where do I get MMC for my operating system?

To locate MMC redistributables at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads, perform a keyword search for "MMC".

3. What is a snap-in?

A snap in refers to any program that plugs into another application to provide additional functionality. In the case of Power Save, the Central Console is designed as a snap-in to the MMC framework and allows the administration of Power Save settings on the client machines in an MMC console.

4. How do I get support for Power Save?

Please email info@powersavesoftware.com

5. Can I schedule Power Save?

 
Yes, there is a scheduling feature within the Power Save Central Console that allows you to schedule specific actions.

6. What is the difference between Standby and Hibernate?

 
A standby or sleep state is a state where the workstation enters a mode where power is reduced to various components and power is maintained so that the workstation can be powered on virtually instantly. This does however require more power than when the computer is completely powered off or hibernating.

 
A hibernation state is one where the workstation state is saved to the hard disk drive and is powered off. When brought back online the workstation will restore the state of the system from the file saved on the hard disk. While this mode will use much less power than putting the workstation to sleep it does take longer to return the system to a state where the user can use the system.

7. Why should I use Power Save when the Windows Operating System has built-in power saving features?

Faronics Power Save allows for granular management of the power management settings on client workstations, including the ability to specify what levels indicate inactivity on the system as well as providing exemptions based on what applications are running.

8. What operating systems does Power Save support?

Faronics Power Save supports Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and Windows 2003 server.

The administrative portions of Power Save require the installation of MMC3 and the .NET 2.0 Framework.

9. How will I know if Power Save is really saving energy?

Faronics Power Save features a built-in report that shows you how much money you have saved.

10. How is the client program installed?

The client software is packaged as an MSI (Microsoft Installer) Package and can be deployed manually at the workstation or by most third party remote administration packages including SMS, ZENWorks, and LANDesk.

11. I have Deep Freeze installed with a shutdown scheduled every day. Why would I use Power Save?

The Deep Freeze shutdown is a limited hard shutdown that does not take into account CPU activity, disk activity or running applications. Power Save has the ability to save energy without interfering with user productivity. If a machine that had been scheduled to shutdown by Deep Freeze was either restarted or had the shutdown cancelled, the machine would remain powered on until the next scheduled shutdown event (unless the user remembered to manually shut the machine down). Power Save prevents this by intelligently shutting the machine down based on specified inactivity definitions instead of relying solely on a scheduled time. Also there is a built-in Power Consumption report that provides estimated dollar savings.

12. When my PC goes into Standby I have to use the power button to power up again. With Windows XP I should only have to move the mouse or touch the keyboard.

If the computer is set to be put into a sleep state it may be entering a state where the USB devices are powered off. For a workstation to wake from a USB device the Power Management/Suspend Mode must be set to S3 within the BIOS.

13. When my PC goes into Standby I cannot wake it up from the Central Console or I cannot wake my computers using wake on LAN (WOL).

To properly support Wake on LAN a computer must meet the following requirements:

    * The network card must be WOL capable.

    * The power supply for the computer must supply appropriate current to the network card while the computer is in a reduced power state.

    * The drivers for the network card must support WOL.

    * The system must be configured in both the bios and operating system to allow the workstation to be powered on from a sleep state by the network card.

Additionally the local area network must be configured to allow the Wake on LAN packets to propagate through the network. If UDP broadcasts are blocked, ports are being blocked, or machines are segregated into different network segments based on their state, then Wake on LAN may not function properly in your environment.

As each hardware vendor’s implementation of Wake on LAN will be different there is no common setting that can be used to identify the settings for Wake on LAN. In general the settings will be found in the “Power Management” or “Remote Wakeup” section of the BIOS. Settings within Windows are managed in the device manager properties page for each network card.

14. I am running a non-Windows firewall on my workstations. Is this compatible with Power Save?

Power Save uses WMI to communicate between the workstation and the console and as such port 135 will need to be open on both the Console and the workstation so that incoming events can be received.

Outgoing communication uses a random port to create the connection to the remote system and provided that DCOM and WMI are allowed to make outbound connections there should be no further ports that need to be opened to allow for proper operation of the software.

15. Does the Central Console have to be open for scheduled actions to take place?

Yes.

16. When I am using a remote desktop product such as VNC or PC Anywhere to access a workstation running Power Save, the workstation shuts down even though I am using the mouse or keyboard.

Currently Power Save is unable to determine if a remotely logged in user is actively working on the system. To ensure that users are not interrupted, configure the software to only take action to blank the display on the affected workstation. Alternatively you can add applications that are commonly used such as Outlook or Word into the list of applications that will prevent Power Save from taking action on the local machine.

17. One or more of my Power Save client machines does not appear in the Central Console but is live on the network.

Go to the Control Panel on the Power Save Client Workstation (Administrative Tools/Component Services/My Computer). Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Go to the Default Properties tab and make sure Enable Distributed COM on this computer is checked.

18. What if I have Windows Updates or other Application updates scheduled to run on workstations with Power Save installations?

  
Ideally you would have updates set to run during times when the PC is not being used such as late at night or early in the morning. If your computers have hardware that allow Wake-On-LAN to function, you can schedule a Wake-On-LAN action from the Power Save Console a few minutes before the updates take place. Power Save will not shut the workstation down as long as the Client Configuration is set on the Definitions Tab to include both Disk Utilization and CPU Utilization.

 The default setting of 25% for both of these options is sufficient to prevent a shutdown while the updates are running. If your computers do not support Wake-On-LAN then it would be sufficient to allow the updates to run with Power Save configured to include both Disk Utilization and CPU Utilization as criteria to determine that the workstation is active while the updates are running.

19. When a PC is in Stand-by or Hibernate mode and is sent a Wake On LAN command why does the computer shut down almost immediately?

When a PC is in Stand-by or Hibernate mode and is woken up and there is no activity, the default Windows behavior is to put the machine back into Stand-by or Hibernate within 2 minutes. Please see the Microsoft article regarding this issue at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810719

20. When I use Windows Remote Desktop to access the Power Save Console on a WIN 2003 server, the scheduled tasks do not execute after the session is closed.

When creating a remote desktop session to a WIN 2003 Server use the following command to create a 'Console Mode' session:

mstsc -v:servername /F -console

For more information go to: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278845