Method and system for managing power consumption of a computing device

14) A method for managing power consumption of a computing device in a power-on mode, the method comprising:

• determining the status of the computing device;
• upon a determination that the status is a “logged-on” status:
• identifying operational processes present in an exemption list of processes, on the determination that no user input to the computing device is detected for at least a first predetermined time period;
• and
• switching the computing device to a hibernate mode if no operational processes are identified as being present in the exemption list of processes;
• upon a determination that the status is a “logged-off” status:
• identifying operational processes present in an exemption list of processes, on the determination that no user is logged on to the computing device for at least a second predetermined time period;
• switching the computing device to a shut down mode if no operational processes are identified as being present in the exemption list of processes.

15) A power consumption management system for a computing device in a power-on mode, the system comprising:

• an exemption list;
• a status check module configured to determine status of the computing device;
• a power-state management module configured to:
• classify computing device activity based on predetermined criteria including:
• inactive computing device time compared to a predetermined time period;
• and
• operational processes present in the exemption list of processes;
• and
• switch the computing device to a power-state mode based on the status and the predetermined criteria, wherein the power-state mode is either a hibernate mode or a shut down mode.