Does something like this exist? I've googled and can't find anything. I want to be able to preserve power by killing / starting processes depending on whether my laptop is plugged in or not. It doesn't seem like that would be difficult to find, but I can't find it.

7/15/2007 10:41:45 AM

probably have to write something to do what you want

7/15/2007 10:47:12 AM

I know in Linux Gnome you can use the external power on/off as a trigger to run scripts and stuff. If this is in Windows, idk, but I'd say you may have to just roll your own.

7/15/2007 10:55:48 AM

I may have to roll my own. I forgot that windows actually has alarms for certain battery power limits, so I can have it at least run an app when the battery reaches a certain level. I can set that to 100%, so that it actually just runs the alarm when it's unplugged immediately. No idea how to make it do something when plugged back in, though...

7/15/2007 11:07:10 AM

http://www.pbus-167.com/

Pretty decent application

7/15/2007 11:55:58 AM

im pretty sure you can do this with built-in functions in Visual Studio. But yeah, havent seen a product to do it yet

^I dont think this can do what George is talking about

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 11:58 AM. Reason : .]

7/15/2007 11:56:09 AM

Noen - it provides a API that you can write hooks for.

http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc_advanced.htm

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 12:04 PM. Reason : -]

7/15/2007 12:01:57 PM

I'm actually downloading visual studio right now. I've never really done any actual windows development, but this should be simple, and I've found some code that shows how to detect battery level / external power.

also going to check this out ^

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 12:09 PM. Reason : .]

7/15/2007 12:09:38 PM

Well, it's certainly a hack and a half, but I got what I basically want going. I need it to sit in the system tray which it doesn't do yet, but it seems pretty functional.

It also utilizes a program called "process" that I got here
http://www.beyondlogic.org/consulting/processutil/processutil.htm

to terminate processes when you unplug, because I couldn't figure out an easy way to make vb do that. If anyone's an expert on that or finding out if a process is already running to see if it needs to be restarted (right now it just starts applications when you plug in whether they're already running or not), hit me up.

Anyway, if you want to check it out, here you go:
http://www.dirtygreek.org/stuff/BatteryApp.zip

Just unzip all of those files into one place, put the programs you want to start on plug in into startprograms.txt and the process names you want to end in endprograms.txt, then run BatteryApp.exe and/or have windows start it up automatically.

7/16/2007 9:54:58 AM

added system tray functionality and some little tweaks. if anyone tries this, let me know what you think.

7/16/2007 12:22:26 PM

Be carefuly how you are ending the process. If you are terminating the process instead of doing a graceful WM_CLOSE call, it could result in memory leaks and data loss.

But this is an amazing idea. Just a couple of other things you could add to see an even bigger effect: have this load as a system service on startup, so if you are booting on battery, it'll never load the stuff to begin with. and have the option to Mobile stop system services too. There are a lot of services that you may not "need" on during battery time. Might also be worth having a "no wifi" setting, where if you arent on the internet and are on battery (airplane, train, car trip, etc) it can shut off all the related windows services and applications to save a good chunk of memory footprint.

If you get this going, I think there'd be a market for it

also check out this thread on experts exchange for some process killing code
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Programming_Languages/Visual_Basic/Q_20231530.html

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 12:58 PM. Reason : .]

7/16/2007 12:49:03 PM

Yeah, I've thought of some of that. I actually am just using that program (http://www.beyondlogic.org/consulting/processutil/processutil.htm) to terminate processes, and I'm not sure what method it uses. I Think the source is available, though, so I can find out.

UPDATE - i'm using the kill option on that program now, but there's actually a close option that uses WM_CLOSE. It also has some process suspend/resume abilities that I should check out:

Quote :

"Suspending a process causes the threads to stop executing user-mode (application) code. It also increments a suspend count for each thread. Therefore if a process is suspended twice, two resume operations will be required to resume the process (Decrement the suspend count to zero)."

It actually wouldn't let processes start anyway if booting on battery, as long as it's running at startup. As soon as they tried to open, it would kill them, since it's constantly monitoring for the power change.

It's not a service, but my understanding is that installing as a service isn't too difficult.

Do you really think people would pay for this? Provided it is updated to be more user friendly, etc? That would be cool, but I just figured it was too simple to cost anything. Then again, I've seen less complicated software going for way too much money before...

I don't have an account on experts-exchange, but I'm sure I can find something equivalent.

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 1:12 PM. Reason : k]

7/16/2007 1:07:53 PM

I think as-is, it's pretty much a freeware app. But yes, if you make it robust and configurable, I know I would definitely put down $9.95 for it. The joy of being able to get another 10-20 minutes per charge would be amazing.

Here was the pertinent solution from the experts-exchange link:

If you know the name of the exe then you can try this code

Add this code to a module
' Start Module code
Option Explicit
Const MAX_PATH& = 260

Declare Function TerminateProcess _
    Lib "kernel32" (ByVal ApphProcess As Long, _
    ByVal uExitCode As Long) As Long
Declare Function OpenProcess Lib _
    "kernel32" (ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, _
    ByVal blnheritHandle As Long, _
    ByVal dwAppProcessId As Long) As Long
Declare Function ProcessFirst _
    Lib "kernel32" Alias "Process32First" _
    (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, _
    uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long
Declare Function ProcessNext _
    Lib "kernel32" Alias "Process32Next" _
    (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, _
    uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long
Declare Function CreateToolhelpSnapshot _
    Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateToolhelp32Snapshot" _
    (ByVal lFlags As Long, _
    lProcessID As Long) As Long
Declare Function CloseHandle _
    Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

Private Type LUID
   lowpart As Long
   highpart As Long
End Type

Private Type TOKEN_PRIVILEGES
    PrivilegeCount As Long
    LuidUDT As LUID
    Attributes As Long
End Type

Const TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES = &H20
Const TOKEN_QUERY = &H8
Const SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED = &H2
Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = &H1F0FFF

Private Declare Function GetVersion _
    Lib "kernel32" () As Long
Private Declare Function GetCurrentProcess _
    Lib "kernel32" () As Long
Private Declare Function OpenProcessToken _
    Lib "advapi32" (ByVal ProcessHandle As Long, _
    ByVal DesiredAccess As Long, _
    TokenHandle As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function LookupPrivilegeValue _
    Lib "advapi32" Alias "LookupPrivilegeValueA" _
    (ByVal lpSystemName As String, _
    ByVal lpName As String, _
    lpLuid As LUID) As Long
Private Declare Function AdjustTokenPrivileges _
    Lib "advapi32" (ByVal TokenHandle As Long, _
    ByVal DisableAllPrivileges As Long, _
    NewState As TOKEN_PRIVILEGES, _
    ByVal BufferLength As Long, _
    PreviousState As Any, _
    ReturnLength As Any) As Long

Type PROCESSENTRY32
  dwSize As Long
  cntUsage As Long
  th32ProcessID As Long
  th32DefaultHeapID As Long
  th32ModuleID As Long
  cntThreads As Long
  th32ParentProcessID As Long
  pcPriClassBase As Long
  dwFlags As Long
  szexeFile As String * MAX_PATH
End Type
'---------------------------------------
Public Function KillApp(myName As String) As Boolean
   Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS As Long = 2&
   Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = 0
   Dim uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32
   Dim rProcessFound As Long
   Dim hSnapshot As Long
   Dim szExename As String
   Dim exitCode As Long
   Dim myProcess As Long
   Dim AppKill As Boolean
   Dim appCount As Integer
   Dim i As Integer
   On Local Error GoTo Finish
   appCount = 0
   
   uProcess.dwSize = Len(uProcess)
   hSnapshot = CreateToolhelpSnapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0&)
   rProcessFound = ProcessFirst(hSnapshot, uProcess)
   Do While rProcessFound
       i = InStr(1, uProcess.szexeFile, Chr(0))
       szExename = LCase$(Left$(uProcess.szexeFile, i - 1))
       If Right$(szExename, Len(myName)) = LCase$(myName) Then
           KillApp = True
           appCount = appCount + 1
           myProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, False, uProcess.th32ProcessID)
            If KillProcess(uProcess.th32ProcessID, 0) Then
                'For debug.... Remove this
                MsgBox "Instance no. " & appCount & " of " & szExename & " was terminated!"
            End If

       End If
       rProcessFound = ProcessNext(hSnapshot, uProcess)
   Loop
   Call CloseHandle(hSnapshot)
   Exit Function
Finish:
    MsgBox "Error!"
End Function

'Terminate any application and return an exit code to Windows.
Function KillProcess(ByVal hProcessID As Long, Optional ByVal exitCode As Long) As Boolean
    Dim hToken As Long
    Dim hProcess As Long
    Dim tp As TOKEN_PRIVILEGES
    

    If GetVersion() >= 0 Then

        If OpenProcessToken(GetCurrentProcess(), TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES Or TOKEN_QUERY, hToken) = 0 Then
            GoTo CleanUp
        End If

        If LookupPrivilegeValue("", "SeDebugPrivilege", tp.LuidUDT) = 0 Then
            GoTo CleanUp
        End If

        tp.PrivilegeCount = 1
        tp.Attributes = SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED

        If AdjustTokenPrivileges(hToken, False, tp, 0, ByVal 0&, ByVal 0&) = 0 Then
            GoTo CleanUp
        End If
    End If

    hProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, 0, hProcessID)
    If hProcess Then

        KillProcess = (TerminateProcess(hProcess, exitCode) <> 0)
        ' close the process handle
        CloseHandle hProcess
    End If
    
    If GetVersion() >= 0 Then
        ' under NT restore original privileges
        tp.Attributes = 0
        AdjustTokenPrivileges hToken, False, tp, 0, ByVal 0&, ByVal 0&
        
CleanUp:
        If hToken Then CloseHandle hToken
    End If
    
End Function
' End Module code

'Example on how to use the code' this is the click event of a button named cmdKill
Private Sub cmdKill_Click()
    ' Usage:
    Dim pID As Long
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim strExe As String
    strExe = "Notepad.Exe"
    For i = 0 To 4
        pID = Shell(strExe, vbNormalFocus)
    Next i
    'Five instances of notpade.exe is now created
    Debug.Assert False
    MsgBox "It is " & _
        KillApp(strExe) & _
        " that all instances of " & vbCrLf & _
        strExe & _
        " have been terminated!"
End Sub

7/16/2007 3:11:31 PM

UPDATE: I've added a few features, including some little system tray options to disable and exit, and the ability to start and stop windows services as well as programs.

Important: Remember to put "quotes" around any file paths or service names that have spaces.

7/17/2007 11:44:02 PM

I know you can enable or disable services/devices based on different profiles (ie on battery, not on battery) im not sure if its active or just on boot, but you might wnat to look at that.

7/18/2007 7:29:53 AM

Don't UPS systems usually come with software that does this sort of thing for desktops and servers?

I know it's not exactly the same thing, and maybe the program is reliant on coordination from the UPS to shut stuff down, or even the whole system for that matter.

Just a thought.

7/18/2007 7:34:21 AM

I think with a UPS, there's a usb connection between the ups and computer that tells the computer it's now being run by the ups.

Not sure what kind of things that software can do, but it would be different from what this does anyway.

^ I'll look into the services on battery thing

7/18/2007 9:11:03 AM

I've added more new features, such as the ability to disable during certain times of the day. Also made some visual tweaks.

7/19/2007 11:46:43 AM

this is really cool

7/19/2007 12:05:58 PM

glad to hear it. It's certainly been helping me out a bunch. Everyone with any ideas let me know!

7/19/2007 12:53:31 PM

very nice, i'll check this out when I get home on my laptop.

what language did you write this in?

7/19/2007 1:10:21 PM

vb using visual basic 2005 express

[Edited on July 19, 2007 at 1:17 PM. Reason : .]

7/19/2007 1:16:57 PM