Using the Control Panel Hardware and sound: change default media settings
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This article, Using the Control Panel, was last updated on 31 July 2009 and is now out of date and held in our online archive for reference. Explore our latest Technology articles.
Click on this heading in the main Control Panel window and you’ll be presented with a selection of options for your media and other internal hardware, as well as external peripheral devices, such as printers, mice and keyboards.
AutoPlay is a feature of Windows that performs certain tasks automatically whenever you insert a disc into your CD/DVD drive or plug in an external device, such as a camera or USB thumb drive. Sometimes AutoPlay doesn’t work as desired, however. Here's how to check the settings.
Use Autoplay
Click on the green AutoPlay link and a dialogue box will open with the heading Choose what happens when you insert each type of media or device.
Make sure there’s a tick in the box next to where it says Use AutoPlay for all media and devices.
Play a CD using iTunes
The main part of the window lists a variety of different media and device types with a drop-down menu next to each one.
Click on the down arrow to select the desired outcome for a specific event. For example, under Audio CD you could choose Play audio CD using iTunes.
If you’re not sure, select Ask me every time and an AutoPlay window will appear every time you insert the media or device, allowing you to choose an action from a list of option.
Click Save to finish.
Change battery settings
If you own a laptop PC, you’ll find a Change battery settings link listed under Power Options on the Hardware and Sound Control panel. Click it to customise the way your laptop uses battery power.
There are three basic power plans listed under this entry: Balanced, Power Saver and High Performance.
Balanced is probably the best compromise between performance and power saving, but you can click the‘Change plan settings link to customise each one further.
On the next screen, use the drop-down menus to select the length of time you’d like your computer to wait before turning off its display and putting itself to sleep when working off battery power.
Click the Change advanced power settings link for even more options, such as whether or not your PC requires a password on wake up and when hard disks, wireless networking and other functions should be throttled back to save on power.
Click OK > then Save changes to finish.
