Compaq Armada 1700 Reference Manual page 62

Timeouts are specified periods of system or component inactivity.
Timeouts work with battery conservation to conserve power.
When a timeout period has expired, battery conservation shuts
down the system or components in order to save power. For
example, the hard disk idle default timeout is two minutes.
Therefore, if an application does not access information on the
hard disk in less than two minutes, the hard disk shuts down until
it is accessed again.
Timeout values are set using the Battery Conservation Settings or
Hibernation tab in Power Properties (click Start Æ Control Panel
Æ double-click Power Æ Power Properties). Using these utilities,
you can:
use the preset timeouts provided with the medium (default) or
high level of battery conservation.
 or
set your own component timeouts in conjunction with the
custom level of battery conservation so that the computer
works more efficiently with your applications.
If you are running Windows 95, you can set your own timeout
values for individual components of the computer. To set
component timeouts:
1. Access the Power Properties utility by clicking Start Æ
Control Panel Æ double-click Power Æ Power Properties.
2. Click the Battery Conservation Settings tab.
3. Set the Battery Conservation level to Custom.
4. Using the drop-down boxes, select or type a timeout value for
specific components of the computer, such as system idle and
hard disk idle.
5. To save your settings, click OK when you are done. They
become effective immediately and remain in effect until you
change them.