Windows 7 Computer won't "sleep"

[proteus459]

Win 7 SP 1 Home Premium, 64 bit, fails to obey power options "balanced" setting to sleep after 1 hour of idle. Monitor responds properly to any change made to the same setting. Motherboard Intel DH 55 PJ (AAE93812-302), Vid Adpt. Nvidia GForce 8400GS (driver v. 280.26), Monitor NEC67C2 (AS221WM)

• All USB devices have been checked to assure that they allow system to turn them off to save power.
• 2 human interface devices (HID) have this permission grayed out
• mouse and KB have this permission grayed out but are permitted to wake system
• All other devices in device manager also checked
• Printer sharing disabled
• No new programs/ drivers installed
• System sleeps and wakes properly in response to MS keyboard "sleep" button and/or "sleep" command in Start menu

Ideas?

 

[Saltgrass]

A utility called Powercfg might be useful in your situation. You can open an Administrative command prompt and type Powercfg -? to see what options you have.

Powercfg -energy runs a report about your system. You may need to copy the report to the desktop to open. This one takes a little time and all non-essential programs should be closed before running.

Powercfg -requests is supposed to show any devices that are keeping your system from powering down.

 

[proteus459]

I have tried twice to generate a report using "powercfg -energy". Twice I opened the command prompt with admin rights, twice I watched the 60 second assessment of the system, twice I was told that there were 10 errors, 2 cautions and 14 informationals and that the report could be found at C:\Windows\system 32\energy-report.html.

Twice I located that file in sys32 and twice I got a "File Not Found" message when I tried to open it. There is something there...22 kb worth. I deleted the first one after it couldn't be found and it was replaced by a second, same size, that also couldn't be found.

Any ideas?

 

[Saltgrass]

Did you copy it to the desktop to open?

Run the second command. It only takes a couple of seconds and may give you the info you need.

 

[proteus459]

I figured out the "copy to desktop" shortly after I posted the previous reply. It will take me some time to digest the results; I will want to consult with the computer's builder.

"Powercfg -requests" came up with:

DISPLAY:
None.

SYSTEM:
None.

AWAYMODE:
None.

It appears that this will take some digging to resolve. I can force sleep from either the keyboard or the Start menu. I can organize the scheduled tasks to be done all in one day so the computer can remain asleep for as long as possible and tasks can still be done. I'll keep looking; thank you!

 

[Mike]

Because you can manually activate sleep mode, this indicates that something is preventing the system idle timer from working properly. Usually that something can be a peripheral device connected to the system or software running in the background.

Do you know of any software in the system tray which may be preventing your computer from entering sleep?

You should also check msconfig -> Startup section for questionable applications.

If you have Skype v5 running, there are issues related to sleep mode. Either turn Skype off when anticipating non-use of the system, upgrade to the latest version of Skype, or revert to Skype 4.

One piece of advice that seems to be commonplace in these scenarios is, oddly, the state of system services preventing the Windows 7 computer from entering sleep mode. However, I cannot remember which services specifically may interfere with the ability to initiate or awaken the system from sleep mode. In any event, I am confident it was related to sleep mode not being able to work at all - or the computer never being able to come out of sleep mode, and not the issue you describe.

Reluctantly, I would suggest you give this tool a very careful try (in fact, perform a System Restore before trying this software):

Link Removed due to 404 Error

This may help you diagnose and resolve a number of problems with system power states.

The way your system transitions from one power state to another is also controlled in the BIOS. This is an area you may want to look at, but I suspect a software issue is at large here.

 

[Trouble]

To supplement what you have already been trying and what Saltgrass and Mike have already suggested;
Type
services.msc
into the search or run box and hit enter
scroll down to
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
Double click it and set the startup type to disable and click the stop button.
See if that has any effect on your issue.
When Mike mentioned system services it reminded me that, that was one that I had found causing problems for some folks.
Good luck and keep us posted
Regards
Randy

 

[proteus459]

Mike...

No Skype of any of kind, and the Start-up tab in MS config contains only 5 checked items: the Java updater, the MS security client, the audio manager, Intellitype and Intellipoint

At this point we think we have found a solution in the Task Scheduler library. We changed the conditions for the Multimedia task by UNchecking the permission to wake the computer to run the task. It was checked by default and neither my IT professional nor I can figure out why. Since removing that permission the "sleep" function has worked as expected.

Randy

I'll implement your suggestion and pass it along to my computer builder. I have a XP laptop on a wireless network with this Win 7 desktop but the ONLY thing they share is the printer.

Thanks to both of you. I'll stop back with a progress report.

 

[Saltgrass]

My multimedia task does not have that box checked. The only task showing is the Log On sound..

What task was associated with the Wake the computer box checked with? I don't share or stream media, so perhaps it is something related to that.

 

[proteus459]

This is a screen cap of the conditions tab; it IS the System Sounds Service and the circled box WAS checked. Unchecking it seems to have corrected the computer's inability to sleep after a period of idle but do so when a Start menu command was given.

I would suspect that if it was just the log-on sound it would not be running continuously, as it is.

 

[Saltgrass]

I have checked all 3 of my Win 7 systems and they look the same as yours except the box is not checked.

I suppose your system builder has it set that way in their install image. If it isn't that, perhaps something that was installed or used changed it.

But you seem to be correct that a logon sound would not run all the time, but maybe whatever actually checked the box has something being done. I have set my system with the check box and will test to see if it refuses to go to sleep and what the output of the Powercfg -request utility is.

 

[Saltgrass]

I have been testing and agree a check mark in the area you indicate will keep the system from sleeping.

But I have some problems. First, why was the box checked, only you can find out.

Secondly, I suggested running the Powercfg utility to help:

Powercfg -requests, you showed nothing showed up.

Powercfg -energy, you did not state what showed up.

When I run the utilities, I get the attachments below. One shows a situation exists that might keep your system from sleeping and the second one names it. Why did your install not indicate the same.

Please understand, this is not about you, but about the other folks that might end up with the same problem. If you could determine what caused that box to be checked, it would really help us out to help others. In reality, you would be helping all of those that might experience the same situation, but It is very good you did determine a solution to your problem and it will help others even if you do not determine what originally caused it.

Link Removed due to 404 Error

 

[proteus459]

First, why was the box checked, only you can find out.

If I could do that I probably would not have turned to this forum for help. We discovered the checked box quite by accident; after finding the computer had failed to sleep during my absence we (the builder and I) checked the System event logs and found that that task had awakened the computer. Since neither of us had been into the Task Scheduler since the system was built we assumed that either

• the box had been checked by default
• some other setting somewhere in the system was responsible for the check mark

While checked the task settings we found it set to wake the computer and removed the check mark from that box. This change allowed the computer to sleep properly so we felt that we had found the root of the problem.

Some time later we discovered the following parameter in the advanced settings of power options:


As a precaution and because of how I use my system, we changed the setting to "allow the computer to sleep" but by that time the computer was sleeping properly and we felt need to investigate whether this setting was related to the checked box in the scheduled task.

 

[Highrisedrifter]

Hi there

I created an account so I could post something similar. I realise this is an ancient thread but in the spirit of trying to keep relevant things in the same place I hope you don't mind me resurrecting this from the dead. I have my screen saver set to activate after ten minutes and my monitors to turn off after twenty minutes. Up until quite recently both of these things have happened perfectly. Admittedly, I have changed my graphics card from an ATI to a Geforce card a couple of weeks back but this issue predates that by a few weeks.

I have followed the steps outlined in this thread to no avail. The below cut-n-paste is from the energy-report.html that was generated after the powercfg -energy command was run.

I might add that I have a number of SSDs and so I have disabled the sleep function of those, hence the first two results indicating as such.

However, the SSDs never prevented my screen saver from activating or my monitors from turning off before.

I have heard that keyboard and/or mouse (Logitech G19 and Logitech G700s) could stop the screen saver from functioning but I have tried to isolate that as a possible cause by unticking the 'allow device to wake computer' function for each one in turn. It doesn't help. Anyway, I have had those devices for a while and they never stopped the screen saver activating before.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or require any more info. I've tried other things too over the last couple of weeks but my aged and addled brain has made me forget what they were.

Any help really gratefully received please.
___________________________________________________

Power Policy:Sleep timeout is disabled (Plugged In)
The computer is not configured to automatically sleep after a period of inactivity.

Power Policyisk idle is disabled (Plugged In)
The disk is not configured to turn off after a period of disk inactivity.

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Root Hub
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D2D
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 26, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_8086&PID_1D2D
Port Path

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Root Hub
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D26
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_8086&PID_1D26
Port Path

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name Generic USB Hub
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D2D
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 26, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_8087&PID_0024
Port Path 1

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name Generic USB Hub
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D26
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_8087&PID_0024
Port Path 1

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name Generic USB Hub
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D2D
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 26, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_05E3&PID_0607
Port Path 1,5

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Mass Storage Device
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D26
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_040D&PID_6205
Port Path 1,1

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Composite Device
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D26
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_046D&PID_C531
Port Path 1,3

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Composite Device
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D2D
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 26, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_046D&PID_C228
Port Path 1,5,1

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Composite Device
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D2D
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 26, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_046D&PID_C229
Port Path 1,5,2

USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Composite Device
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1D2D
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 26, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_046D&PID_C07C
Port Path 1,6