PowerProfiler(TM) for Windows(r) NT(TM)4.0
Release 2.10.03
January 29, 1997
Copyright(c) 1997 SystemSoft Corporation, All Rights Reserved
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Section Contents:
1. General Description and Installation
2. Major Release Components
3. Enhancements and New Functionality
4. Known limitations
5. Problems Addressed in this Release
6. Documentation and Collateral
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1. General Description and Installation
PowerProfiler for Windows NT provides a complete power management
solution for portable platforms running Microsoft's Windows NT
4.0 environment. PowerProfiler provides suspend/resume control,
active battery status and metering, and a wide variety of user
selectable parameters and alarms all within an easy to use Windows
application. It includes an APM 1.2 kernel driver that interfaces
with an APM BIOS. PowerProfiler for Windows NT is a generic product,
and is platform independent.
Release 2.10 (Build .03) is a maintenance release which includes support
for CardWizard for Windows NT 2.0 suspend/resume support for PC Cards,
as well as an enhanced installation, and bug fixes.
PowerProfiler resides on two diskettes. To install, run Setup.exe on Disk 1.
If you have the single file pp210gne.exe, this is a self extracting
zip file. Copy to a directory, double click to unzip, and run Setup.exe.
To create diskette images, from the DOS prompt run 'pp200gne -d [<path>]'
PowerProfiler for Windows NT has been designed and tested on a number
of different platforms with many different BIOS's. Although qualification
across these varied platforms has been successful, we recommend testing
by SystemSoft's Quality Assurance Department on specific platforms prior
to them shipping with PowerProfiler.
2. Major Release Components
Component Description
--------------- ----------------
PowerProfiler.exe User interface application
ppntapm.sys APM 1.2 Kernel Driver (Also supports APM 1.1 BIOS)
pwrpront.dll PowerProfiler DLL
apmsrv.exe PowerProfiler service application
batmeter.exe Battery Meter Faceless Application
sspwrpro.scr Low power screen saver (for display timer)
setup.pkg Installation utility components
mhgage32.ocx Battery gauge control (from Microsoft)
msacal70.ocx calendar control (from Microsoft)
Internal version numbers
apmsrv.exe 1.00.10 01/24/97
pwrpront.dll 1.00.09 01/24/97
sspwrpro.scr 1.00.05 01/07/97
ppntapm.sys 1.00.09 01/29/97
batmeter.exe 1.00.03 11/20/96
powerprofiler.exe 2.10.03 01/24/97
ppindll.dll 1.00.00 11/11/96
3. Enhancements and New Functionality since 2.00.01 release
CardWizard 2.0 integration is complete. Previous release had some support, but
full integration could not be completed until CW 2.0 was ready for release.
A new bitmap for the powerprofiler.exe splash screen has been incorporated.
PowerProfiler install utility now checks the NT version and does not allow
installation on any versions below 4.0 (e.g. 3.51).
PowerProfiler Install utility displays the new splash screen.
Low Power Screen saver processing has been changed:
If the display timer expires (screen in low power state - black) and
then the system is suspended (press suspend button while screen is black),
then on a resume, our screen saver bitmap is not displayed.
If screen saver password is enabled, the user will be kicked into
the password dialog box.
If the display timer expires (screen in low power state - black), and a
suspend is attempted (using hardware button or BIOS suspend timer)
while a PC card is inserted and CW 2.0 is installed, then the screen is
taken out of the low power state so that CardWizard suspend notification
message can be seen.
An error message is no longer displayed if you try to start PowerProfiler
when it is already running. Instead, the PowerProfiler application screen is
brought to the foreground.
A new installation utility is now available for PowerProfiler and CardWizard
for Windows NT which will install both applications selectively or together. This
The single PowerProfiler setup program will still be provided and is supported in
this release.
Defaults.ini entries for low battery and very low battery alarm settings have been improved.
The defaults for these entries have also been changed to 20% for low battery and 10% for
very low battery (previously they were 5% and 2% respectively). The OEM can of course
change the defaults.ini values to whatever they want, but it made sense to change the
alarm settings to more reasonable values as the shipping default.
4. Known Limitations
Occasionally, an error message may appear upon resume:
"System Process - Lost Delayed - Write Data. The system was
attempting to transfer file data from buffers to
\Device\Hardisk0\Partition1\$Mft. The write operation failed,
and some of the data may have been written to the file."
PowerProfiler forces a flush of all disk buffers prior to
suspend. No evidence of any lost data has been found. This
problem is still under investigation and it is recommended that
prior to suspending that data be saved. This problem has only
been observed on some platforms - others do not exhibit the problem.
The 'Very Low Battery' warning message, when suspend on very
low is enabled, cannot be cleared with the enter key. Use the
spacebar or the mouse button to clear this message.
On rare occasions we have observed following a Resume
operation that no applications can be launched, though the mouse
can be moved and the system does not appear to be hung.
This problem has only been observed on some platforms - others
do not exhibit the problem. It is recommended that prior to suspending
the user should save data.
Clicking on PowerProfiler icon very fast may result in
multiple instances of the application being run.
The "APPLY" button is not grayed out when changes have not been made.
It should be grayed until a change has been made to be consistent with
the Windows UI.
Uninstall (run via Control Panel Add/Remove Utility) does not remove the
"Suspend" option from the start menu (if it has been enabled to be placed
in the start menu). To remove from the start menu the user may run the
PowerProfiler application and uncheck the "Show suspend in start menu"
option BEFORE uninstalling PowerProfiler. If uninstall has already been
done, then it can be removed by running start/settings/taskbar, select
"start menu programs", select advanced, and delete the "Suspend" icon
from winnt\profiles\all users\start menu.
Problems occur if PowerProfiler is installed by Administrator and
uninstalled by a user. Uninstall appears to complete with no problems,
but on reboot error messages may appear, and some PowerProfiler components
are not removed. It is recommended that only the administrator
installs/uninstalls PowerProfiler to avoid any problems.
5. Problems Addressed in this Release
Many bugs have been reported and fixed between 2.00.01 and 2.10.03.
It is recommended that any problems that were observed with the
2.00.01 release be retested with this release.
6. Documentation and Collateral
Document Description Avail Format
-------- ----------- ----- ------
User's Guide Installation and Now Hardcopy and
Usage '.doc' (Microsoft
Word)
Product Brief Features and Now Hardcopy and
Benefits '.doc'
(Microsoft
Word)
Technical Interfaces and End of Hardcopy and
Reference Customizations Jan '.doc'
(Microsoft
Word)
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.