I always went for the gusto and ran everything, since I had the APU running for pneumatics and used the APU generators since our ground power is marginal for running #2 and #3 demand pumps on the -400. The intention was to avoid nuisance messages, which used to give us fits when we first started operating the aircraft and the manauls were still maturing. I should point out that this was overnight line maintenance, so usually there were only a few folks around to worry about. Usually I prefer to save Alternate Flaps for the crew to use, as it always seemed like a maginal system with its duty time/heat limitations.