Norton "Power Saving Mode"

Hello, Folks,

 

What I gather from the Help is, when this Option is On and a Laptop is on Battery Power, then only one or two Background Tasks will Run; when this Settings is Off, then all Background Tasks should Run normally.  If this is indeed meant to be the case, then why when I have this Setting "Off" and on Battery Power, does, for example, Pulse Updates not Run?  Any insight would be great.  Cheers!!

 

 

 

Hello, Folks,

 

What I gather from the Help is, when this Option is On and a Laptop is on Battery Power, then only one or two Background Tasks will Run; when this Settings is Off, then all Background Tasks should Run normally.  If this is indeed meant to be the case, then why when I have this Setting "Off" and on Battery Power, does, for example, Pulse Updates not Run?  Any insight would be great.  Cheers!!

 

 

 

Hi, PapauZ,

 

Yes, that's the Help File that I mentioned about, however, this does not explain why, when you Turn Off this Setting and are on Battery Power, the Background Tasks are still suspended when they shouldn't be.

 

 

Most of the background tasks will only run when the computer is on external power.  Check the symbols for each Norton Task and you'll see that few show a battery icon.  On my system only Automatic LiveUpdate will run on battery power and even that is only indicated when Power Saving Mode is turned off.  This is a desktop though, so none of this applies in my case - things could be entirely different on a laptop.  The point is that checking the Norton Tasks will tell you exactly what needs external power and what doesn't.

Yes, point taken, but, to me, that only happens when you have P.S.M. On and when you have this Off, it shouldn't matter whether it is plugged in or not, all Background Tasks should Run.  That seems to be the whole point in this Setting.  If what you have described were to be true, then this Setting is pointless, and I am sure many users will still want all Background Tasks to Run regardless of whether it is plugged in or not.  This is why clarification is needed from Symantec. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floating_Red:

 

Good question.  I have a laptop and when I turn off Power Saving Mode, the only Norton background task that can run when my system is on battery power is Automatic Live Update (i.e., the same as SenderOfJive's desktop).  I agree with you that it doesn't make any sense that all other Norton tasks such as Idle Quick Scan, Norton Insight, Pulse Updates, etc. won't run until you plug into AC power when Power Saving Mode is disabled.

 

If you're working in a public WiFi hotspot but can't plug in your mobile PC (hello, Starbucks!) wouldn't you expect all Norton background tasks to run automatically if you deliberately turned off Power Saving Mode?  If you were concerned about conserving battery power you would never turn off Power Saving Mode in the first place.

____

 

MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2
NIS 2011 v. 18.1.0.37
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

Hi Floating_Red,

 

I have NIS on a laptop and I can assure you this is normal. In Norton tasks only the automatic live update will run on battery power. The Help documentation does explicitly state that when this option is turned OFF, only the tasks which have the battery icon in the Norton Tasks window will actually run on battery power.

 

 

Symantec tried to strike a balance between user control vs things like pulse updates which would run the battery down significantly sooner.

 

I don't agree that the option is useless and it is not a bug but by design.

 

Having said that if you want better control over what runs and does not run on battery power, feel free to suggest it in the Norton Ideas Forum.

 

Best wishes.

Allen

Although you could run each task manually by yourself. Just open the task list and click on the little arrow in front of it.

Then what happens when you have this Option "On"?  Does no Background Tasks Run?  Or just Automatic LiveUpdate?  Am sorry, but this makes no sense to me in having the Power-Saving Option in N.I.S. if whether you have it On or Off you get the same behaviour.  And Running Pulse Updates manually is un-realistic.  Like I already mentioned, from the Help File, it seemed to me that had you Turned Off this Setting then all Background Tasks should Run.  I would still like clarification from a Symantec Employee just to confirm or deny aspects of this discussion.  Thanks.

 

 

 

Hi Floating_Red,

 

Directly from the Help Section on this option:


Power Saving Mode lets you save your battery power by suspending a list of background jobs when your computer runs on battery power. By default, this option is turned on.

When this option is turned on, Norton Internet Security detects when your computer is on battery power and suspends the background jobs. The background jobs include Norton-specific tasks, such as automatic virus definition updates, Norton Community Watch submissions, and Idle Time Scans. The background jobs resume when you start running your computer again on external power.

You can obtain a list of background jobs in the Norton Tasks window. The Status column in the Norton Tasks window also displays the type of power that a job requires to run. Norton Internet Security continues to run the background jobs that show a battery symbol in the Status column.


Pulse updates are a significant drain on the battery. Think about how often they run.

 

The Norton tasks window is quite clear on what runs on battery power and what requires external power. When you toggle that option in Misc. Settings, the power icons in the Norton tasks window changes based on that current on/off setting.

 

Best wishes.

Allen

 


Floating_Red wrote:

Then what happens when you have this Option "On"?  Does no Background Tasks Run?  Or just Automatic LiveUpdate?  Am sorry, but this makes no sense to me in having the Power-Saving Option in N.I.S. if whether you have it On or Off you get the same behaviour.  And Running Pulse Updates manually is un-realistic.  Like I already mentioned, from the Help File, it seemed to me that had you Turned Off this Setting then all Background Tasks should Run.  I would still like clarification from a Symantec Employee just to confirm or deny aspects of this discussion.  Thanks.


 

Hello,

 

"Automatic Live update" will run every 6 hours when your laptop uses power from a battery and the option is "off".

If you switch the option to "on" then "Automatic Live update" will run every 1 hour if a computer is in idle mode at this time.

Hi, Allen; Hi, Bullbulator,

 

Thank-you for the information, and thank-you for your replies. 

 

I would like to see this Setting changed in how it operates; the user should have the option of having all Background Tasks to Run when on Battery Power.  Maybe a new Setting could be added for this.  But at least give the user the choice.  I am well aware that there is a Norton Ideas' Board, and I will consider submitting this there. 

 

Many Thanks...