A multimedia/personal computer-based system for operating information, communication, and entertainment devices in a mobile vehicle uses a power management strategy which reduces power consumption and boot-up time in a manner which facilitates use of a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor system. A power management fault strategy detects fault conditions and restores proper operation without user intervention. A low power microprocessor off-board of the main motherboard switches a plurality of regulated voltages to the main motherboard and other devices. The main application microprocessor on the main motherboard sends periodic status messages to the low power microprocessor. If a time limit between successive status messages is exceeded, then the low power microprocessor takes corrective action such as sending messages to the main application microprocessor, sending a wakeup sequence (resume event) to the main application processor, sending a reset signal to the main application microprocessor, or removing or cycling the regulated voltages being provided to the main motherboard.