ECO ASSISTANCE
With more than 660,000,000 PCs in the world today, personal digital devices are fast emerging as significant contributors to global warming. And the trend of keeping desktops switched on 24/7 has only attributed to a wastage of as much as 30 billion kilowatt-hours of energy. Translate that and it means approximately 45 billion pounds of carbon emissions. Is there some way out?

With an initiative called Green PC Tool, iYogi— a three-year-old direct to consumer computer support service—will help consumers operate their PC in a more environmentally friendly manner. “It is an automated technological platform that facilitates the change in settings of the computer depending on the usage,” says Uday Challu, CEO, iYogi. So while the desktops have to be switched on and off while not in use (in standby mode, a computer uses as much power as in use), this toolbar once downloaded uses technology to automate and combine the features of a laptop that allows the machine to go into hibernation mode. Among other things, Green PC Tool switches off the desktop’s power automatically.

While the Green PC tool helps you customise the configuration of the PC depending on the behaviour and usage pattern of the computer, it also quantifies a computer’s energy consumption and the carbon savings for individuals and/or subscribers.

The manual service of Green PC is already available. The setting options vary from organised stand-by and turn off or hibernation mode to wake on alarm, restore on a/c power loss and resume on functions. The automated service tool—which will even adjust your settings by default after observing the behaviour pattern of the PC usage—will be available in a month’s time and will come for free.

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