Powerchute Personal Edition for APC UPS Backup

[1landshark]

Just bought an APC battery backup ES series BE750BB and was wondering if others use the software that goes with it and if there are any opinions for using or not using. It is PowerChute Personal Edition v1.5.
Thanks for feedback

 

[arcas]

Take a look at the open source program 'apcupsd'. I use the Unix version on several machines. I know a Windows version exists but I've never used it.

 

[sharkeeper]

Windows will recognise your UPS as a battery. Make sure hibernation is enabled and you have at least as much free space on the disk that hiberfil.sys resides. If the power goes out while you're away and you even have docs and stuff open when you start your system it will come out of hibernation which is better than shutting down and losing your stuff.

 

[1landshark]

Thanks, Sharkeeper. Are you saying it will do that when PowerChute is installed or regardless if is installed? I do have hibernation enabled. Have you used PowerChute and are there any problems with it? I'm really trying to find out if the program is worth installing

 

[1landshark]

Thanks arcas. I'll look into it.

 

[sharkeeper]

If you look at your power settings you can tell if it's enabled or not. If it says on AC power and then says battery power (when you unplug the UPS) with time remaining, etc. then the UPS service is detecting the UPS correctly. Power Chute is NOT necessary for this to work. This is assuming you're running XP.

 

[rise]

i installed powerchute and i use it maybe once a month to run a self test. turn it off in services and then its just there when you need it.

you can check how much power your rig is actually drawing from the ups so i've done that a few times to see the difference between load and idle.

i'm sure its not really exact but whatever.

 

[1landshark]

Sharkeeper, Thanks. I went into Power options and configured the UPS. It was not configured even though I had plugged it in.

 

[1landshark]

Rise4310
That's what I wanted to know. I'll go ahead and install it.
Thanks for your input

 

[jimmyj68]

I've used Powerchute for over a year now. The only "problem" I have with it is the setup/adjustment window the program is supposed to put on your system (at least on my winXP home before and now pro) doesan't take. Immediately after installation, the APC screen is available when you right click on the task bar parachute. And you can set all your preferences and view status etc. But once you (I) reboot or shut the machine down, when it comes on again the APC page is gone and the default winXP power page is there. The system works so I gave up on trying to solve that issue. APC support couldn't help me. We tried a number of things but the APC page was always superseded by the winXP page.