PowerChute Personal Edition v2.1 for Vista - system resources issue

[Anonymous user]

PowerChute Personal Edition v2.1 running on Windows Vista Ultimate x64 uses 40-90% of my CPU at all times (normally at the top end of that, around 80%). This is for the mainserv.exe process. I had to uninstall it. I had the same problem when trying to use PowerChute with the beta version of Vista. Any ideas?

[Anonymous user]

For an issue like this, I would suggest calling in to technical support @ 1-800-800-4272 to allow APC to gather the appropriate information and diagnose what could be causing the issue. There are also native shutdown options available in Vista that allow your computer to gracefully shutdown in the event of a power failure.

[Anonymous user]

I am encountering the same problem with my Vista Ultimate machine. At first after booting it doesn't hog resources, but after some length of time it kicks in and consistently eats around 1/2 to 3/4 of the processor resources.

[Anonymous user]

Oh and another thing that I encountered was that when I had selected the option for shutting down the system with x amount of time left in the battery as opposed to x amount of time after a power failure, when the power does fail and the battery kicks in it will shut down the system immediately with a full battery.

I just thought I'd mention that here and I'll post a new thread about it.

[Anonymous user]

APC model: Back-UPS XS 900

After a power surge (when the battery kicks in for just a second due to a quick drop), the utility tells me everything is fine. When I check task manager, this is when it is using high amount of CPU for no reason (always > 50%). This problem sucks!! I hope it gets fixed.

This is on Vista Home Premium (x86). Im running an ASUS M2N32-SLI mobo, Athlon 64 X2 4600+, w/ 2GB Corsair DDR2 RAM, and a Geforce 7600GT.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous user]

PowerChute Personal Edition v2.1 running on Windows Vista Ultimate x64 uses 40-90% of my CPU at all times (normally at the top end of that, around 80%). This is for the mainserv.exe process. I had to uninstall it. I had the same problem when trying to use PowerChute with the beta version of Vista. Any ideas?

[Anonymous user]

That's a good note about the Vista native support... I tested it with my UPS and it was accurate in tracking level / minutes remaining, and gives decent shutdown options. It just doesn't have the extra little things like how many watts you are using, or how many times the UPS has switched.

[Anonymous user]

"There are also native shutdown options available in Vista that allow your computer to gracefully shutdown in the event of a power failure"

Is there a trick to accessing this native support? I'm running Vista Ultimate with a BX1300LCD plugged into the USB port. PowerChute Personal Edition works fine so I know the USB connection is working, but I'll be darned if I can find anything other than 'Select a power plan' under the control panel power options. Device Manager does correctly show an APC Battery BackUP under Batteries.

[BillP]

To configure Vista's native USB UPS support (they've removed native serial support), you simply need to go to the control panel and power options. There are 3 basic configurations to either conserve battery or get the maximum performance. Each of these options can be configured a little more indepth as well by clicking on their options. For more indepth information I would suggest looking at the help files for the power options applet or checking Microsoft's k-base for power options.

[Anonymous user]

Yeah, but having Powerchute PE work 100% in Vista would be much better 😄

Message was edited by: cirial

[BillP · Accepted solution]

APC has just released PowerChute Personal Edition 2.1.1. This version is meant to address the high CPU utilization issue. It is currently available at:
http://www.apcc.com/tools/download