Tuning Windows power settings

This is part of a series on fixing audio problems in Windows. You may wish to start with the main article. 

This information is provided as a quick reference. Please don't contact me for tech support, but instead use web searches to find further information. The included screenshots are from Windows 10 Professional but other recent Windows versions will have similar procedures. 

This article covers two steps:
1. Setting a power plan
2. Managing USB power settings

1. Setting a power plan

To begin optimising power settings, open Windows Settings. The easiest way is Win+I. Click on "System".

In the category "Power & sleep", click "Advanced Power Settings".

In the Power Option dialogue you might see an "Ultimate Performance" option. If not, you can turn on this hidden setting by following these directions. But only do that if your system is otherwise still unstable. For the vast majority of computers, choose "High Performance". 

Click "Change plan settings."

You can choose what you prefer for these two options, then click "Change advanced power settings".

You will now see the "Power Options" dialogue which has only the one tab. Open branches in this tree as needed to change three settings. These ensure that important devices don't sleep when they are needed.

"Wireless Adapter Settings" > "Power Saving Mode" > "Maximum Performance" 

"USB settings" > "Use selective suspend setting" > "Disabled"

"PCI Express" > "Link State Power Management" > "Off".

Now you can click OK and close the two underlying dialogue windows.

2. Managing USB power settings

Tap Win and type "Device Manager" to load that interface. Expand the tree at "Universal Serial Bus Controllers".

Right-click the first entry and select Properties, then examine the tab "Power Management". Ensure that the option "Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power" is not checked. 

Do this for every item in the USB list that has this option. 

RELATED POSTS