Question: I like having my laptop run as long as humanly possible when running off battery, even if it means huge a compromise in performance. 

Currently, whenever I'm on battery I have to manually switch my power plan to "Power Saver", and then switch back to "High Performance" when I'm plugged in. 

Is there any way I could have my computer do this automatically?

Answer: 
You can create a single power scheme that includes settings for both A/C and battery mode. You don’t even need to create it manually in the *Power Settings* applet; just copy the following commands to a text-editor (eg Notepad) and save it as `Create_Hybrid_Power_Scheme.bat`—make sure to save as type *All Files (\*.\*)*, not *Text Documents (\*.txt)*—and then double-click it (you can adjust timings as desired).

```
powercfg /c moderate
powercfg /s moderate

:: A/C Settings:
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /monitor-timeout-ac     15
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /disk-timeout-ac        25
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /processor-throttle-ac  NONE
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /standby-timeout-ac     45
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /hibernate-timeout-ac   120

:: Battery Settings:
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /monitor-timeout-dc     10
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /disk-timeout-dc        20
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /processor-throttle-dc  adaptive
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /standby-timeout-dc     30
powercfg /CHANGE moderate /hibernate-timeout-dc   60

pause

```
Doesn't each power plan in Vista/7 allow you to configure settings for both AC and DC power? A/C = plugged in, D/C = battery. Just adjust as you see fit, and you won't even need to switch power plans.