Using Powercfg to Change the Name of a Power Scheme

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated November 9, 2020)

As you may know, your computer can run under a variety of different power schemes. A power scheme is a collection of hardware and system settings that manage how your computer uses power. They are typically used the most with laptops, where it's more crucial to trade off between performance and battery preservation. Even a desktop machine can use them, though. There are three schemes that come with Windows by default. They are Balanced, High Performance, and Power Saver, and you can create others if none of these suits you.

There is a command utility in Windows called Powercfg, which provides a great deal of control over your power schemes. (You can use the GUI for much of this functionality, too, but a lot of people prefer using the command line.) Powercfg takes numerous switches to tell it what you want to do regarding your power schemes. To see all of the switches available to Powercfg, invoke it with the "-HELP" (or "-?") switch.

For this tip we want to change the name of a power scheme. First, we'll get a list of the available power schemes (covered under another tip). (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Powercfg -list.

Now let's say that I want to change the name of the "Power saver" scheme to instead have the name "Barry". You use the -CHANGENAME switch to Powercfg to do this. You follow the switch with the GUID whose name you want to change, and finally supply the new name. Here is an example: (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. Powercfg -changename.

 This tip (13482) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." ...

MORE FROM BARRY

Introduction to Regular Expressions

Regular expressions are usually the domain of computer programmers. There are times, though, when an end-user might find ...

Discover More

Using Batch Files, Part 1

This tip is part of a series that shows you how to create and use Windows batch files. It introduces a few commands and ...

Discover More

Deleting Events in Your Event Logs

You don't need to worry about event logs filling up your disk, but you still may want to clean them out eventually. This ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Finding a Device Driver's Version

Device drivers are used to allow a hardware device to communicate effectively with Windows. You might need to know a ...

Discover More

Choosing How to Use Multiple Monitors

Do you have multiple monitors (or a projector) hooked up to your system? Here's how to utilize that second display device ...

Discover More

Adjusting the Mouse for Left-Handed Users

Since Windows is so customizable, it should come as no surprise that Microsoft has made accommodations for left-handed ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 3 - 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


Newest Tips