Microsoft KB Archive/253764

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Overview of Power Management in Windows 2000

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Q253764

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

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SUMMARY
This article contains a brief overview of power management in Windows 2000. Windows 2000 supports both Advanced Power Management (APM) and Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) power management.

MORE INFORMATION
Windows 2000 supports ACPI-compliant BIOS versions, and also some BIOS versions based on APM and Plug and Play designs.

ACPI is an open industry specification that defines a flexible and extensible hardware interface for the motherboard. Software designers use this specification to integrate power-management features throughout a computer system, including hardware, the operating system, and programs. This integration enables Windows 2000 to determine which programs are active and handle all of the power-management resources for computer subsystems and peripherals.

APM consists of one or more layers of software that support power management in computers with power-manageable hardware. APM defines the hardware-independent software interface between hardware-specific power-management software and an operating system power-management policy driver. It masks the details of the hardware, allowing higher-level software to use APM without any knowledge of the hardware interface.

For information about which ACPI-based BIOS versions are ACPI-compliant, check the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for Windows 2000.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

"Q216573 How Windows 2000 Determines ACPI Compatibility" Or, check the ACPI BIOS lists at the following Microsoft Web site:

"http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/onnow/ACPI_lists.htm"

For more information on compatible hardware for Windows 2000, consult the Windows NT Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). This is a compilation of computers and computer hardware that have been extensively tested with Windows NT for stability and compatibility. Microsoft Product Support Services uses the HCL to determine whether or not a computer is supported for use with the Windows NT operating system. The latest HCL is available from the following Microsoft Web site:

"http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp" NOTE: To obtain the text file of the Windows 2000 HCL, click the following Microsoft FTP site:

"ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/services/whql/win2000hcl.txt" Additional query words:

Keywords : kbenv kbhw KBW2KHOME

Issue type : kbinfo

Technology : kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000Serv kbwin2000ServSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Pro kbWinAdvServSearch