The Standby Period is important for Pocket PCs that run the Windows Mobile 2003SE or earlier operating systems. With these earlier operating systems, all user data is stored in RAM and battery power is used, even when the Pocket PC is turned off, to preserve this data. If the battery becomes completely discharged, all user data is lost.

The Standby option allocates some portion of the Pocket PC's battery to protect your data.

What this means is, if you set this time to the minimum 24 hours, when the battery reaches a critical state, the Pocket PC will shut down and you will not be able to turn it on and use it. All remaining battery power is used to preserve your data, and the data will be protected for up to 24 hours.  So you've got 24 hours to get the Pocket PC plugged into AC power and the battery recharged before you lose all of your personal data. If you set this option to the maximum 96 hours, you will have 96 hours (4 days) when you will not be able to use your Pocket PC, but your data will be protected.

The higher you set the Standby Period, the less time you'll have allocated to use the Pocket PC before it shuts down and goes into standby mode. In most cases 96 hours is extreme, and you can see I have set the Standby Period on my hx2415 to 36 hours (it has saved me on a few occasions).

This setting is no longer necessary on WM5.0 devices since user data is stored in persistent memory and is not subject to loss if battery is fully discharged. Many WM5.0 Pocket PCs do not have this option, but some WM5.0 models, like the hx2000s, still have it. It is simply a remnant of an earlier operating system.

To get to the the Standby Period option, tap Start > Settings > System tab > Power icon > Standby tab.   Not all Pocket PC's have the option to manually adjust the standby period.  I am able to change this setting on my hx2415, which runs Windows Mobile 2003 SE; but I do not have this option on my h1945, which runs Windows Mobile 2003.

Well, isn't that what my backup battery is for? 

The purpose of the backup battery is to preserve your data if you ever need to switch out the main battery.  The backup battery only works for a very limited period of time - maybe 30 minutes or less, so you should not rely on the backup battery to save you if the main battery goes flat. 

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