Are screensavers endangered? Support.com offers tips on better PC power management

Heard this week that tech support company Support.com has come out with a free “Green Computer” service that will customize the power management settings on your PC.

According to the company, the process takes about 15 minutes to activate. (Should be interesting to see if this announcement prompts any action from iYogi, which introduced a similar service about two weeks ago that costs $9.99 per year if you are not already a customer.)

The new service introduction was fueled in part by Support.com’s survey of about 1,000 U.S. computer users. The study found that 87 percent were aware of the power management features in their computer, but only 43 percent had actually activated them. Moreover, 53 percent of the respondents said they never turned off their PC or turn it off only before they call it a day.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program touts figures estimating that people can save $25 to $75 in energy costs a year (roughly 400 to 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions) by taking these measures.

Just for kicks, Support.com also offers these energy-saving tips, which I’ll summarize in a couple of bullet points. • Increase your RAM to reduce disk usage • If you’ve set your computer to go into sleep mode when it’s inactive, make sure of the following: close down on Web pages, since animated banners or other content might keep the system’s sleep mode from activating, show down any games or applications that will keep the computer "active" • Unplug peripherals that are plugged directly into the computer • Disconnect any virtual private networks • Unplug power supplies that aren’t being used, since they will still draw power • Use wired mice and keyboards instead of wireless ones