Super Annoying Power Setting Issue

in vista when i click the battery button it allows me to choose from 3 power plans, power saver, balanced, and high performance. i always use power saver when im on battery, and i always use high performance when im plugged in. i have a gaming laptop so when im unplugged i think, "screw balaced i better use as little power as possible because it'll run out in an hour!" and when its plugged in im thinking "screw balanced, MAXIMUM POWER!!!"

windows 7, probably thinking its helping by simplifying things "hides" the third option and only gives me two options: when its on power saver it only allows me to change to balanced, and when its on high performance it only allows me to change to balanced also. this is super annoying of course because i never want to change to balanced! i either want to go from high performance to power saver, or vice versa.

how can i get it to show both power saver and high performance at the same time? and while im at it, is there a way to get it to switch automatically back and forth between power saver and high performance based on whether or not im plugged in?

 

I'm currently not home (where my notebook is with Windows 7), so I'm going go try to help you using my memory (very unreliable).

If you click on the battery you should have an link for "more options" (or something similar). This should bring up the following menu:

I believe that underneath the Power Saver option, there is a drop down menu (if you click on the line that says " See Additional Plans"). If you click on this, High Performance option should be there.

But for you, the easiest thing to do (since you want a specific setting while running on the battery and another while plugged in) would be to change one of the current power settings to match your needs. That way, you could always leave it on that setting.
For example, select the option: Balanced.
On the right, you see the link that says " Change plan settings".
The following window should pop up:

(Or I think it might be a different one, and to get to this one you might have to hit an "Advanced" option).

Once you're here, you can alter the options for how it will perform both when plugged in and running off the battery. So, run through each option and set it to how you would like.
Once that's done, just leave your computer on the "Balanced" power setting, and it will behave like you just configured it.