A1ctl: A Free Utility to Control the Fan Speed and Other Features of Acer Aspire One Netbooks
If you own an Acer Aspire One netbook, you may be interested in a free utility called a1ctl. This program allows you to control the fan speed of your netbook, as well as some other useful features such as CPU speed management, screen resolution changes, webcam/ethernet/wifi enable/disable, HDD click prevention, and more. In this article, we will explain what a1ctl is, how it works, and where you can download it.
What is a1ctl?
A1ctl is a program that was inspired by EEEctl, AsTray and some other programs available for the EEE PC series. It was developed by Noda, a French programmer who has a blog where he posts his projects and updates. A1ctl is a freeware, but Noda accepts donations to support his work.
a1ctl utility download free
A1ctl has the following features:
No installation needed
Small memory footprint (5Mo)
Complete fan management, with stopped/slow/auto fan modes
Support newest bios, from v0.3109 to v0.3309
CPU speed management (XP only)
Fast screen resolution changes, with 1024Ã768 scrolled and downscaled modes (XP only)
Can enable/disable webcam/ethernet/wifi to reduce power usage
Can be started with windows automatically
Option to prevent HDD clicks
Show temperature & battery in tray icon
Customizable icons & colors via .ini file
Integrated ACPIEC driver patching to prevent log writing
How does a1ctl work?
A1ctl works by accessing the embedded controller (EC) of the Acer Aspire One netbooks, which is responsible for controlling the fan speed, the CPU speed, and some other hardware features. A1ctl can read and write values to the EC registers to change these settings. For example, it can set the fan speed to 0 (stopped), 1 (slow), or 2 (auto) depending on the system temperature and user preferences.
A1ctl also uses some Windows APIs to change the screen resolution and enable/disable devices. It can switch between different resolutions quickly, including 1024Ã768 scrolled and downscaled modes that are not normally available on the netbook. It can also turn on/off the webcam/ethernet/wifi devices to save power when they are not needed.
A1ctl also has an option to prevent HDD clicks, which are caused by aggressive power management that parks the HD heads whenever possible. This can reduce the lifespan of the drive and generate annoying noise. A1ctl can disable this feature by setting the HD power management to a higher value.
A1ctl also has an option to patch the acpiec.sys driver, which is a Windows driver that communicates with the EC. This driver writes some warnings into a log file whenever a1ctl polls the temperature from the EC, causing the hard drive to never spin down and consume power. Patching this driver prevents this log writing and saves power and SSD wear.
Where can I download a1ctl?
You can download a1ctl from Noda's blog[^2^] or from Netbookfiles.com[^1^]. The latest version is 1.0 and it was released on 04/08/2009. You may also need to install some runtime files if you get an error concerning MSCOMCTL.OCX or VB6 Runtime.
To use a1ctl, you just need to unzip the file and run the executable. You will see an icon in your system tray that shows the temperature and battery status of your netbook. You can right-click on this icon to access the configuration dialog, where you can change the fan mode, CPU speed, screen resolution, devices enable/disable, HDD click prevention, acpiec.sys patching, icons & colors customization, and startup options.
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