Hardware profiles to the rescue ... in a well managed organization (like one that would have me as a systems administrator LOL) all portable computers would be configured with at least 2 and most possibly 3 hardware profiles. As you booted the system up a list of available profiles is presented; and you chose the one pertaining to your needs at that time. The profile that you chose would automatically configure you portable machine for power management, network connectivity, and more.
“An
experienced and thoughtful systems administrator like me ... LOL”
To
create and manage hardware profiles:
1. Open System utility from Control Panel.
2. In the System utility, select the Hardware tab, then click Hardware
Profiles.
3. This opens the dialog box in which the active profile (the one currently
being used) is listed as (Current).
4. The default profile highlighted at startup is determined by the profile's
position in the Available Hardware Profiles list.
5. To set a profile as the default, select it, then click the up arrow
until the profile is at the top of the list.
6. For more customization you can also determine how long the system displays the hardware profile
menu at startup. And if you just dont want to see the hardware profile menu,
set a wait of 0 seconds.
Configuring multiple hardware profiles
If you need to work with
different hardware profiles, you'll want to simplify the creation of new
hardware profiles. So, use a copy of an existing profile and then
enable or disable devices as necessary. To create and use a new profile:
1. In Control Panel, double-click System to start the System utility.
2. Select the Hardware tab. Click Hardware Profile.
3. In the Available Hardware Profiles list, select the profile you want
to use as a template for the new profile. Click Copy.
4. In the Copy Profile dialog box, enter a name for the profile, then
click OK.
5. Select the new profile, and then click Properties. For non-mobile hardware,
be sure that the 'This Is A Portable Computer' option is not selected.
For all computers, select 'Always Include This Profile' As An Option When
Windows Starts. Click OK.
6. To create other profiles, repeat steps 3-5. Then set the hardware profile
selection options. In most cases, you'll want Windows to select a profile
automatically after a 3- to 5-second delay. That way if you don't select
a profile, the computer will start quickly using the default profile.
7. Restart the computer, then choose the profile you want to work with.
Start Device Manager, then access the Properties dialog boxes for each
device you want to enable or disable in turn. In the General tab, use
the Device Usage settings as follows:
To configure devices for additional profiles, repeat Step 7. If you want to read more on the subject, click here to go to the Microsoft site and hear it from the horse's mouth.
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