Whats an AMD away driver?

Question

I was recently updating some of the drivers on my computer from MSI and came across an AMD away driver. What is it? What does it do? Is it worth installing?

Answer 1

Microsoft's Away Mode is also a requirement for AMD Live! compliant systems. Away Mode will allow a system to shutdown all components that are unused by a user when they are "away" from the machine. Some of the components listed are: displays, keyboards, mice, remote controls, and other non essentials. The machine continues to operate normally, with the power LED on the system will indicate an off state -- although safety issues may arise from a user thinking that the machine is off when in fact, it's still operating. According to Away Mode specifications, the machine will continue to operate normally so that tasks such as file downloading and transferring can still take place without requiring much power. Away Mode is only supported in Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition with Rollup 2 update. Apparently, the Away Mode feature is part of the Live! specification and is not a feature available to Intel Viiv systems.

Answer 2

Everything Dead Kelly replied is correct. As someone who has "Away Mode" available on their PC I can add that it's really not that big of a deal.

For all intents & purposes it is more like a privacy screen than anything else. I can't conceive of any reason to use it unless tou want to hide screen activity .... system looks powered down but is not in any way whatsoever. All it really does it black out your screen & switch on the amber "standby" LED. In the background everything is still at full throttle.

Install it anyways....why not get all the bells & whistles that come with your unit. It won't hurt it it any way & uses no extra resources whatsoever.

regads,
Philip T

Answer 3

I do"nt no!