Configuration Manager 2007 R3 introduced new Power Management features for gaining greater control over device power consumption. While Group Policy provides a fairly robust range of power management options, the additional capabilities 2007 R3 provided add more granularity and flexibility with respect to scheduling and dynamic level control than Group Policy settings alone.

David is an author and consultant, working for Endurance IT Services in Virginia Beach, Virginia, specializing in Microsoft enterprise systems and Business Process Automation.

Symptoms ^

Computers are not adjusting power settings in accordance with expectations

Potential Causes ^

Client doesn’t have required hotfix KB977384 installed (for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7), or KB2750782 (for Windows 8)
Minimum Operating System requirements are not met
Conflicting AD Group Policy settings
Incorrect or incompatible BIOS settings
Users power off their computer when leaving work (if WOL is not in use)
Users locking computers with CPU-intensive tasks running overnight

Suggestions ^

Verify that your clients are at least Windows XP Service Pack 3 or newer. While you can install the Client on Windows 2000 SP4 and above, Power Management features are only available starting with Windows XP SP3.

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Verify needed hotfixes and updates are installed.
Review Group Policy settings. Use GPRESULT to generate a report to help trace what policies and policy settings are being applied.
Verify that the device hardware model firmware supports Power Management features
Instruct and re-affirm company-wide policies regarding leaving computers powered on, but logged off, when leaving work each day (or whatever your standard policy happens to be). Communicate it until you’re confident every employee knows what they’re supposed to do. Those that refuse to comply can be dealt with later.
If certain users, or teams of users, are identified as commonly needing to run CPU-intensive tasks overnight, work with them to designate special computers to use and develop custom GPO settings, OU locations and Power Management policies to find a suitable compromise.