The Power Manager just displayed an empty list of power schemes and saving a new one did not add it to the list, the new one just disappeared after saving.



Removing the software and reinstalling after a reboot did not fix the problem so I had to check the Windows Registry and found that the application had added a huge amount of power policies for unknown reason. I guess the application has problems with too many policies (overflow situation) and that causes the error message.



I deleted most of the power policies and restarted my Thinkpad.



This fixed the problem, I can now use the Thinkpad Power Manager again.



I still recommend to use Thinkpads, especially the Txx Series.


Technorati: Thinkpad

1. Nasser03/16/2007 17:23:52

Thx a lot, I was on the edge of restoring the whole system, but this page resoled my problem.

Nasser

2. Eric03/19/2007 18:09:52

I just ran into this problem myself..thanks

3. dan04/20/2007 23:42:05

many, many thanks! really! I'm adding this phrase for the sake of people googe-ling the problem (it took me a few hours to get to this link): problem with thinkvantage power manager

4. dan, again04/21/2007 01:37:29

MESSING WITH THE REGISTRY DIDN'T WORK for me.
here's the much easier and presumably safer SOLUTION:

{ Link }

you just do this:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
powercfg /RestoreDefaultPolicies

5. Christian Brandlehner04/21/2007 10:23:52
Homepage: http://chris.brandlehner.at

@4: Good Input, appreciate that.

6. darwin05/18/2007 14:41:49

thank you very much.

7. Fabio07/06/2007 11:02:49

Thank you! The solution didn't work for me, but I deleted all the involved registry keys, entered as administrator and exported the keys, then imported them as my user and it worked!

But I think it was mainly a windows problem, so the powercfg solution should work as well. Obviously, after fixing you have to reset alla the settings, but it's ok.

8. Cecchi MacNaughton08/22/2007 16:30:43
Homepage: http://www.google.com

Adding this phrase for Googlers:

Thinkpad power scheme bug.

But also, reply #4 looks like it would have been smarter ;)

9. Keith Culkin09/01/2007 23:28:48

None of these fixes have worked for me, so far.
Could anyone possibly export their PowerPolicies and copy and paste the text here?
That would be very helpful.

10. V809/12/2007 23:14:19

Thank you!

The registry fix helped me...

somewhat 300 entries were there, how the heck there were so many ? I did read the description for quite a few, and the same names appeared again and again... so the powermanager must be somewhat broken or otherwise badly done..

love the consept though and will continue using it

maybe a fix is coming for it...

11. 139409/13/2007 17:38:35

Hi

My X61s (XP) also face that problem, i had try the command:
"powercfg /RestoreDefaultPolicies" but no fix for me.

finally i exported my friend "Work" Registry. Delete all my "Fail" Registry of PowerManager and import the "Work" Registry the problem fixed!

Please backup your own Registry before you really know what's going on....

My PowerManager Version is:
Power Manager V1.16
ACPI Power Management v1.43

Step to go (i uploaded):
1) download the work Registry:
{ Link }

Delete the Registry:
1) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg
(only "PowerCfg" and below sub tree only)

2) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\PWRMGR
(only "PWRMGR" and below sub tree only)

3) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\PWRMGR
(only "PWRMGR" and below sub tree only)

Unzip thefile and click the 3 of .reg file one by one...

OK, it work for me hope work for you so....

12. mick09/26/2007 02:15:48

You're the man.

13. priit10/10/2007 08:43:23

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg -> permissions and give computer users permission to write....

14. Michael Ma11/17/2007 02:47:28

There's a lot of misinformed information about how to fix the Power Manager problem where the profile does not set, or the list is blank. I have a rock solid answer why this occurs, and how it can be addressed.

Bug #1. The list is blank. This is because the lowest numbered Profile Policy in the registry is blank. For example:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies\1]
If it doesn't contain any information, your list of profiles in the power manager will be blank. Every time the power manager is accessed, it will create approximately 4-10 additional default profiles due to a bug.

Bug #2. Newly created (or even default policies won't set). This is because when there is a background policy of power manager is running, it won't let you set policies where the number (according to the registry) is above 50. You can test this by:
Terminate the both instances of power manager, open up the windows task manager (taskmgr.exe), go to processes tab, and just to be sure that we kill the process, kill all that say rundll32.exe.

Start up a foreground instance of power manager, go to start -> all programs -> thinkvantage -> power manager. you'll notice now (by referring to the registry's profile numbers) you can now set any profile in that list, even profile policies above #50. For verification of the problem, start up the background process again by going to start-> run:
rundll32 C:\PROGRA~1\ThinkPad\UTILIT~1\PWRMGRTR.DLL,PwrMgrBkGndMonitor
and switch to any profile policy #50 or below (like number 10) which should set. then try switching back to a profile that is higher than #50 (like number 90). It will NOT set.


5 Steps in getting this problem handled once and for all.

1. Go to: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies] and delete ALL the policies.
2. (close first if its open) Open up a Power Manager. (This action will create 4 default profiles when none exist.) Don't worry about not being able to set them just yet.
3. Create any custom profiles that you want. Don't worry about not being able to set them.
4. (close first if its open, as the registry needs to reload), Open up the registry (regedit.exe) and go to: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies]
5. Renumber these (the profile numbers on the left panel) starting from 1.
6. Set [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg]"CurrentPowerPolicy" to an existing number.

I've emailed ibm about how to fix it. Lets see if they do anything about it. its been a major bug that's been around for years.

Optional Step...if you've for some reason deleted the GlobalPowerPoilcy\Policies key, then you gotta have it. Here's an example
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\GlobalPowerPolicy]"Policies"=hex:01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,10,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,\ 00,00,00,10,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,03,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,00,c0,01,00,00,00,\ 05,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,0a,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,01,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,16,00,00,00

15. Rafe11/29/2007 22:35:34
Homepage: http://www.webware.com

Thank you Dan for post #4! Saved my sanity.

16. Volodymyr05/07/2008 02:26:01

THANKS A LOT!!!!!!!

17. Steve06/07/2008 06:14:54

Awesome! Had this exact same problem. What I found was that there was ONE registry entry in there causing all the problems. Of all the entries under the PowerPolicies key, one key had no data associated with it. It was numbered 1012. Clearly a bogus entry. Clearly some process went crazy and added a bunch of registry entries. When I deleted that one, Fn+F3 started working again, and it displayed a huge list of power schemes, most of them duplicates. So now I just have to go pick and choose which ones I really want.

Thanks again!

18. yoga06/12/2008 09:12:06

Thank you very much

19. Sebastian06/23/2008 11:35:26

Hello guys!
Thanks so far for all the hints ... but I still have the problem ...
I tried the posted comment by Michael Ma 17.11.2007 - no solution at me.
What is about all the entries @ HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg

And I even get the message that I don't have the permissions to access the energy schemes ...

Can anybody help?
Thanks so far.
Sebastian

20. P. Lloyd06/26/2008 15:08:33

Thanks for taking the time to post this--it worked and made my day!

21. alexincase07/14/2008 13:35:20

hey guys. I`ve tried all hints from this forum but didn`t worked for me. In a few words my problem is : the power schemes are set to "never" turn off the monitor but it does turn it off after 15 mins. I`m going with an HP 6715s on win xp pro ... tried all registry replacement and reset values ... but still no solving. Anyone can help me with this? Cheers all !

22. Christian Brandlehner07/14/2008 15:17:32
Homepage: http://chris.brandlehner.at

Maybe your screen may go blank due to the screensaver, not due to the power saving?

23. alexincase07/14/2008 19:09:39

no mate. the screensaver is off ... it`s the first thing I`ve turned off after instaling windows. it`s shitty .. can`t find any solving, think I gotta reinstall windows ...

24. dod_basim07/20/2008 14:10:53

Thanks man!

also works on R60

25. Sebastian08/03/2008 10:28:18

Hi!
Can anybody help me with a complete work around for this problem?
I tried the given solutions ... no solution.
I'm still in trouble with energy manager.

Don't how to go further ...
Thanks Sebastian

26. paddk08/08/2008 10:49:26

As described in 17 I also found one entry with the number over 1000 almost on the top of all policies, deleting of which allowed me to see the whole list of power schemes with many duplicates. I went through the list, but non of the power scheme was useful. What I should delete, and what not???
Could it be possible solution just to delete all policies, and reinstal power manager? This should write a new registry keys, isn't it so?? :-

27. Christian Brandlehner08/10/2008 01:17:57
Homepage: http://chris.brandlehner.at

@26, try this:

Use the Powercfg.exe utility to restore the default power scheme:
You can use the Powercfg.exe utility to copy the power scheme from the Default Userprofile to the user who is currently logged on. You can do this because power schemes are uniquely associated with individual user accounts. To copy the power scheme from the default user by using the Powercfg.exe utility, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
powercfg /RestoreDefaultPolicies

28. sg200208/12/2008 02:16:25

Michael Ma's solution is almost correct. Almost. To fix that bug:
1. Go to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies] and delete all dublicated policies. Leaving you with few windows standart policies and few policies created by the Power Manager. Numbers should start from 0.
2. Go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg\PowerPolicies] and do the same thing there.
2. Go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg] and set LastID key to the number of the last policy.

This helped me to fix that bug two or three times.

29. Vlad08/17/2008 22:10:19

Thanks a lot! This issue was frustrating me to a huge degree.

30. David Toh08/30/2008 07:11:43

Hey Chris, I had a similar problem on my T43 not being able to load up power schemes. I must thank you for your suggestions to remove the policies overun through regedit.

Again, thanks so much.

31. mary 09/17/2008 09:17:58

hello

32. erik09/18/2008 19:01:30

thanks, had an excess of 90+ entries on a T61 + current version of power manager, kept entries 1-10 and all was immediately restored w/o reboot.

33. excelgeek09/24/2008 07:06:52

you guys are the bombs! you are all rock stars. this was totally driving me into obsessive compulsiveness and i thank all of you for relieving my intense itch....

love you man....

excelgeek :)

34. leNOMOREvo10/08/2008 21:26:26

How is it possible that this crappy bug has been around for 1,5 years now, and it hasn't been fixed? These used to be Business Machines, that wouldn't let you down. And this is not the only bug...

35. Arkdog10/19/2008 02:00:48

Look. I am SO SICK of this ridiculous problem. Lenovo provides NO help whatsoever. It is an obvious bug and NO-ONE is doing anything about it.

By the way. I have tried EVERY single solution on the web, and NONE of them work for me. It may restore the power profiles in the list, but switching to another power profile does nothing! And after the first restart, i lose all the profiles again. RIDICULOUS! At this stage, I'm never buying a thinkpad again.

36. Cyberdude10/26/2008 15:54:02

I've tried all the suggestions here without success. I had ~900 power policy entries.

Applying fix in #14 and the corrected fix in #28 didn't help. I see the list of power schemes in Power Manager but as soon as I close and reopen it the scheme are lost and I get a blank list again.

The tried the Powercfg restore too but it didn't help.

This is really starting to frustrate me as I use the power scheme switching quite frequently. My problems all started when I upgraded to the latest version.

37. eXtreme11/11/2008 21:21:45

The #17 solution worked nice for me

38. Jan11/12/2008 10:27:24

I confirm!!I had the same bug with think Vantage power manager schemes !
but after cleaning the registry from the loads of schemes( I left 5 in) the schemes just appeared and I was unable to make them work....
so I find out following some advices of comment 14 that the power schemes had a high numeration( 240 and over) I just clicked right on them and renamed them starting from 1.... It worked !!!!!!!!!
Hope It'll help someone

39. GUND11/18/2008 20:40:46

Thank you so much man, I just ran into this issue myself!

40. Piatal12/12/2008 11:47:10

Thank you Michael Ma for post #14. That worked for me. I tried first other methods but it only got worse.

Of course after 5 steps I had to do 6th - Restart computer Still without your help I would probably try to restore system backup... and broke it all for good..

41. gr812/26/2008 13:33:06

Can anyone place this registry value copy on rapidshare or megaupload please:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg

I already deleted this part of registry and I can't restore it even after re-installation powermanager and driver for powermanager.

This is second time when I have problem with vanishing powerpolicies. Firs time I used one of above solution but now they are don't work :(

42. vjineo01/10/2009 17:31:33

Thanks a lot for comment #14 "Michael Ma".

I messed up the registry while trying the other fixes and none of the suggestion worked. I tried comment #14 Bug fix #2 and it worked like a charm.

I've been wasting around a week with this crazy bug. (took a while to figure out the magic word to search in google "cannot save power scheme")

Is this an issue with Lenovo power manager or windows XP ???

43. Daniel V.R.01/21/2009 14:42:51

Thank you Michael Ma for post #14!!!

44. Bernard Sufrin02/17/2009 11:31:44

Thank you. This solution worked for me as well.

It seems to be helpful (I donj't know how important it is)to use the Powermanager applicaiton, not the built-in Windows schemes editor; the latter doesn''t stay in sync with the registry.

Bernard

45. Luka02/21/2009 20:14:30

Thanks for solutions. Deleting registry policies worked for me.

46. Michael 03/08/2009 18:48:25

I had the same problem and none of the suggested workarounds worked for me - but I ultimately found the perfect solution: I bought a MacBook :) My Thinkpad T60 was my second (and last) Windows laptop ever.

47. Mark Smallsreed03/24/2009 16:45:38

I tried to delete excess power schemes by using the single digit power scheme entry as the markers and deleting the 2+ digit schemes that did not match the single digit entry description. Apparently this is not correct. I did this for the 1 and 2 entries and then I could only execute the Power Optimized setting and the others were visible but inactive. Then I rebooted, checked the registry and some entries were added again. (101, 102, 103, 104). Deleted those and now I see multiple entries of same scheme and they now work. What specifically do I delete so that I see only one distinct scheme and it executes properly from the Func-F3 screen? Thx.

48. Mana06/01/2009 12:50:35

Michael Ma's trick worked for me!

49. Argh!09/25/2009 15:41:14

Thank you Chris! you are brilliant!
This has been annoying me for weeks!
I *believe* it started when i opened the power manager from windows, instead of through ThinkPad. So, to avoid.

50. Robin Green10/16/2009 03:50:04
Homepage: http://www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com

Thanks for the tip. I had a bunch of copies of schemes I'd created, no idea why. Happened just after Windows had installed some automatic updates.

I googled:
thinkpad power manager loses settings
and found you a few lines down - putting here in case others search on that.

51. Nitesh10/31/2009 17:27:45

Thanks to Michael for suggestion on #14. The issue got resolved for me by using that fix. The happened to me after some Autoupdates were applied.

I also see that Michael had written to IBM to address this but not sure whether there was any feedback because similar symptoms are observed even after 2 years. I have a T600 laptop what was bought about 3-4 months so it appears that if it was a bug in IBM systems, the problem still continues.

52. Christian Brandlehner10/31/2009 17:49:34
Homepage: http://chris.brandlehner.at

@51: IBM is no longer producing the Thinkpads, the whole desktop PC and Laptop department was sold to LENOVO.

53. chris01/02/2010 11:18:35

Thanks for #14.
It works fine for me (Lenovo T400, XP)

One notice: After you create own scheme you need to redo step 4 to 6 one more time, to take into consideration own scheme.

54. Krishnudu02/24/2010 07:21:56

Thanks for the so many inputs...

cheers

55. AlladinZ03/05/2010 03:06:02
Homepage: http://www.google.com

bump,

SL400 Thinkpad, v3.11a of power manager

I get two "Maximum battery life" profiles showing up in the gui version. Click on either one of these and both get highlighted. The "E-Star" profile which was in the slot now occupied by by one of these duplicates is not showing.

I think it happened one day when I tried to open power manager while windows was still starting up. (thats another topic - how/why does the os installation age with time, growing startup times, shutdown times....)

Anyway - having now discovered the powecfg command and its extensive /HELP option output. The command line version has restored some sense to the situation - can see and select E-Star again. Yay for command lines...

Will try the registry hacks later.

56. flap04/10/2010 16:05:29

Hi There,
Thanks a lot to all of you who explained how to get my PowerManager back. I was looking for a solution for more than one year. Special thanks to Christian Brandlehner and 'sg2002'.

57. dakkk04/20/2010 10:27:44

This is saving me grief and sanity too. Thanks a lot. I like using the Thinkpad power man. but this is ridiculous how annoying it can get.

For hibernate do not forget to allow hibernate in bios. My mistake that time.

58. dakkk04/20/2010 21:53:56

Success!

First deleted all the powerpolicies from the whole register.

Then I followed advise nr 14.

Full Success!

Thanks.

59. mikesp804/27/2010 14:45:17

Thanks to all. Solved my power schemes problem in 5 minutes.

60. dakkk05/06/2010 13:18:24

Actually, I had to install xp again, installed the power manager on clean xp and... it keeps forgetting about the hibernate setting - keeps it turned off. I am amazed about how bad a piece of software this is... I am very angry with this, this is sure.

61. Chris07/23/2010 22:36:23

I had this happen a second time in less than a year. I'm using the latest version of the software. This is ridiculous!

62. Thales08/20/2010 00:53:39

Hey folks, I tried #14 and some other things posted in the comments, but I'm still having the same issue. Actually, after performing all the steps and then when I open power manager, even before or after the reboot, and it doesn't allow me to choose any profile. <br><br>If I create new ones it will show in the list, but still does not allow me to select any of them. (I'm using last version of power manager driver and power manager software for my T400 downloaded in Lenovo website).<br><br>I have wasted several hours on this and now I can't get it fixed, I didn't want to format my laptop and install everything again, but neither want to leave this as it is, battery is lasting only 1:30-2:00 when it would last for almost 5 straight hours.<br>Have anybody found another solution?