Keeping your computer in standby or sleep mode is a great way to save energy and lower your electric bill. Unfortunately, Windows sometimes interprets network activity or other signals from peripherals as reasons to keep your system wide awake. To nudge Windows toward the land of nod, try CO2 Saver. The Custom Power Saving dialog of this freeware tool has a checkbox that does just that. It also sits on your desktop and shows you just how much CO2 you (and others) have saved this way. CO2 Saver also includes a configurable Web search bar, which I avoid since it routes search data through Snap's servers for their own uses.

Note: This link takes you to the vendor's site, where you can install the latest version of the software directly onto your PC.

--Scott Dunn