How to adjust power settings and screen savers?

Your computer is probably set to power down after a period of inactivity. Normally this is a good thing because it conserves energy, but it can cause problems during video capture and some other video-editing actions. To temporarily disable power-saving options, follow these steps:

1. Choose Start➪Control Panel.
2. In the Windows Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance if you see that option, and then double-click the Power Options icon. If you do not see a Performance and Maintenance listing, simply double-click the Power Options icon. The Power Options Properties dialog box appears.
   
3. On the Power Schemes tab, set all four pull-down menus (near the bottom of the dialog box) to Never.. Alternatively, you can just choose the Always On scheme from the Power Schemes pull-down menu.
4. Click Save As, name the power scheme Video in the Save Scheme dialog box that appears, and then click OK.
5. Click OK again to apply the changes and close the Power Options Properties dialog box.

If you want to conserve power in the future, you can turn on the power saving features by simply choosing a different power scheme in the Power Options Properties dialog box.

I also recommend that you disable screen savers when you are getting ready to work with video. To do so, right-click an empty area of the Windows desktop and choose Properties. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab and choose (None) in the Screen saver menu. Click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.