Changing the Power Configuration Policy

Windows Administrators can change the power configuration policy from the command line using the powercfg.exe ultility present on all Windows XP/2003 systems.

To list the current policies
POWERCFG /list

To change the active policy
POWERCFG /SETACTIVE \"policy_name\" (replace policy_name with a real policy name)

The following example sets the \”Home/Office Desk\” profile to the given values.
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /monitor-timeout-ac 15
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /monitor-timeout-dc 10
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /disk-timeout-ac 20
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /disk-timeout-dc 15
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /standby-timeout-ac 25
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /standby-timeout-dc 20
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /hibernate-timeout-ac 0
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /hibernate-timeout-dc 0
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /processor-throttle-ac ADAPTIVE
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"Home/Office Desk\" /processor-throttle-dc ADAPTIVE

You can also change profiles being used.
POWERCFG /SETACTIVE \"Always On\"

To create a new profile
POWERCFG /CREATE \"New Policy\"
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"New Policy\" /monitor-timeout-ac 15
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"New Policy\" /monitor-timeout-dc 10
...
...
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"New Policy\" /processor-throttle-ac ADAPTIVE
POWERCFG /CHANGE \"New Policy\" /processor-throttle-dc ADAPTIVE
POWERCFG /SETACTIVE \"New Policy\"


Links
How to use Powercfg.exe in Windows Server 2003
Powercfg Command-Line Options
Using Powerconfig.exe in a logon script to configure power management settings