Power Schemes in Windows XP

[imported_KuJaX]

In the power schemes properties in Windows XP there is a selection to turn off monitor, turn off hard disks and system standby. The turn off monitor is set to After 5 Minutes while the turn off hard disk and system standby is set to Never.

The issue that arises is that the monitors do not turn off after 5 minutes. The screen saver has also been disabled without any different outcome.

What would cause this? Is there anything I can do to test and get to the bottom of this? Would the monitors be the culprit or some type of software in Windows?

Nothing would be running, just a simple boot up into Windows, and then not touch the keyboard or mouse for much longer than 5 minutes and the monitors stay on instead of turning off like the power scheme is setup to do.

What suggestions do you have? Is there a third party software that can do the same thing to test it against?

 

[Billb2]

Do the other things turn off if set to do so?
Like, is it a monitor problem or a Windows problem?

 

[C1]

Go into the BIOS and in the Power Management Options ensure that
- VIDEO OFF Option = Suspend => Off
- VIDEO OFF METHOD option = DPMS Off

The above are usually the defaults.
If this does not work, I suppose you could try the Blank Screen or the V/H Sync+Blank option, but then I suspect that it is your video card that is not cooperating. It could be anything from a HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) to a BIOS mismatch to the VID card. Reinstall or update the present VID card's driver. Finally, try swapping in a different VID Card and if that doesnt work then return the card.