Sleep mode activated when PC not idle - why?

[unbob]

OK, I've read all about Win7 sleep mode and (think) I understand everything I've read.

What I have not seen in my research and do not understand is why my PC enters sleep mode when it is not idle!

For example, I start a disk backup to an external drive, close the lid on my laptop (yes, I have set the sleep setting "do nothing" when the lid is closed), and then leave the computer to "do it's thing". The backup normally takes at least 15 minutes to run. However, my Win7 enters sleep mode within minutes while the backup job is running. Why?

This same problem occurs no matter what program I'm running - backup, video conversion, defrag, etc etc.

It seems that if I'm not using the mouse or keyboard, sleep mode is activated no matter what is currently running on my PC.

Yes, I want to utilize the Win7 sleep mode feature. No, I don't want sleep mode activated while my computer is busy running a job!

Can a resident 7F guru enlighten me? What am I missing?

Thx, Rob

 

[bulletng]

Sleep is set up to activate at a specific time, when you press a button or when you close your laptop. You can check to see what exactly it is doing by typing in POWERCFG.CPL in the Start Menu or browsing to Control Panel > Power Options. Once there you can click on Change Advanced Power Options to further define the options.

 

[Injust]

Sleep mode is NOT activated at a certain time.
It is activated when you prompt it to, by clicking the sleep button, or leaving it idle.
IDLE means no MOUSE or KEYBOARD input, but not that the programs are still running. Windows cannot determine what programs that are running mean that it is not idle.

 

[unbob]

Sleep is set up to activate at a specific time, when you press a button or when you close your laptop. You can check to see what exactly it is doing by typing in POWERCFG.CPL in the Start Menu or browsing to Control Panel > Power Options. Once there you can click on Change Advanced Power Options to further define the options.

Thank you for the reply. However, your post does not answer my question - to wit: Why does my computer enter sleep mode when it is not idle?

 

[Injust]

Look at my post: The computer determines when your computer is idle. It is considered IDLE when there is no MOUSE/KEYBOARD input for X minutes.

 

[unbob]

Sleep mode is NOT activated at a certain time.
It is activated when you prompt it to, by clicking the sleep button, or leaving it idle.
IDLE means no MOUSE or KEYBOARD input, but not that the programs are still running. Windows cannot determine what programs that are running mean that it is not idle.

Thanks for the reply. Your statement "IDLE means no MOUSE or KEYBOARD input" may be true (as defined by Microsoft).

However, "Idle" should mean "the processor is not executing any instructions and therefore not performing any work - it is thus in a 'wait-state'". This was/is true in the mainframe world but apparently not true in the PC world.

This is all very unfortunate since I cannot use the "sleep mode" feature at all if I want my PC to perform useful tasks while I'm "away" doing other activities. If this is true, it is ridiculous and outrageous.

I'm assuming this problem can be "worked-around" by using some sort of scripting to disable/enable sleep mode while in the interim running one or more programs.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

 

[unbob]

Sleep mode is NOT activated at a certain time.
It is activated when you prompt it to, by clicking the sleep button, or leaving it idle.
IDLE means no MOUSE or KEYBOARD input, but not that the programs are still running. Windows cannot determine what programs that are running mean that it is not idle.

Please explain how this statement makes sense - "Windows cannot determine what programs that are running mean that it is not idle".

Windows is an OS. Therefore, it "knows" if programs are running (ie, the processor is executing instructions). If the processor is executing instructions, it is not idle.

If the user explicitly initiates a program that is actively running, why can't Windows determine that means the PC is not idle?

 

[bru]

I know a computer will sleep while MSE is running a scan. Certain functions aren't considered as keeping the computer "active". What backup program are you using?

 

[Injust]

Computers have background process that run. For example, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and go to the Processes tab. There will be many processes, even though you might have no programs running at the moment. Trying to end all of them will crash your computer. Alas, your computer cannot distinguish whether a program counts as idle or not.

 

[AddRAM]

Set sleep to start in an hour or 2, if plugged in. Hopefully your jobs will be done by then. Problem solved.

If it`s going to sleep in mere minutes then that`s what you MUST have it set to. Just change it.

 

[Sardonicus]

Rather than sleep, is it your screensaver kicking in? If the screensaver is set to blank, it may kick in, even though the computer is not idle and has no keyboard or mouse movements.

 

[AddRAM]

If that were happening, you could tell by the color of the powerlight, correct ?

But back to the OP`s question, why does the pc sleep when it is idle but running a program etc. has been answered ages ago. No keyboard input or mouse movement from a user.

 

[unbob]

I know a computer will sleep while MSE is running a scan. Certain functions aren't considered as keeping the computer "active". What backup program are you using?

Yes, running an MSE scan is another good example of a running program being "put to sleep".

Re backup programs, I use Macrium Reflect, TeraByte Unlimited Image for Windows and 2BrightSparks SyncBackPro.

 

[unbob]

Computers have background process that run. For example, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and go to the Processes tab. There will be many processes, even though you might have no programs running at the moment. Trying to end all of them will crash your computer. Alas, your computer cannot distinguish whether a program counts as idle or not.

"Trying to end all of them will crash your computer." Huh? No, I don't want any program or process to be forced to end by sleep mode. And, certainly, the OS can distinguish whether a program was initiated (as an application) by the user.

My whole point here is that I want any actively running application program to remain "enabled" and active until it completes either successfully or unsuccessfully and not be eligible to be "put to sleep".

 

[unbob]

Set sleep to start in an hour or 2, if plugged in. Hopefully your jobs will be done by then. Problem solved.

If it`s going to sleep in mere minutes then that`s what you MUST have it set to. Just change it.

Sorry, that does not solve the problem.

I want sleep mode to activate in say 5 minutes when I leave the PC unless one or more application programs are running.

If there are no application programs running, I don't want the PC sitting there for 2 hours and wasting power (I'm solar powered so that's a big deal).

 

[AddRAM]

I don`t think it`s possible, I would call Microsoft about it.

Or just change the sleep timer.

Sleep mode, once known as Stand By or Suspend mode, saves energy but doesn’t quite turn the PC off. In Sleep mode, Windows saves what you're doing and then puts the computer to sleep — meaning into a special low-power mode. The computer isn't exactly off, and it restores itself quickly, which makes Sleep mode more effective as a way to shut down the computer.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...de-while/bcd680cc-4ae4-4476-82ea-c26d4c88b218

http://askville.amazon.com/programs...de-computer/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=1313988

 

[unbob]

Rather than sleep, is it your screensaver kicking in? If the screensaver is set to blank, it may kick in, even though the computer is not idle and has no keyboard or mouse movements.

No, I'm not using a screensaver. When my PC sleeps, the fan stops, the screen goes black, all lighted "indicators" go black (except "plugged into power"), etc. Then when I move the mouse, the Windows login screen is displayed. It's in sleep mode for sure.

 

[AddRAM]

Well, you have been told why it does it. I found a solution to stop it from doing it. Let me know if you`re interested.

 

[Injust]

Certain programs have a "Sleep/Shut down/Log off/etc." effect like Auslogics Disk Defrag, for example. You can tick this box and set it to shut down after defragging.
I don't know about this. You could schedule a task in the Task Scheduler to shut down when the program closes, but you'll need to make the program close once it's finished.

 

[DavidE]

I use sleep and hibernate and they work well for me.
I have several programs open and running all the time.
Outlook, Excel, Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Utilities, Editors, Media, ......

I want the PC to sleep if I am idle (KB + mouse) even when these programs are running.
Upon wakeup they will be in the state they were before going to sleep.

Some programs may have a "prevent idling to sleep" option while they are running, and it sounds like that is what you want.
Some programs also prevent "idling to sleep" no matter what, because they are programmed that way.

I would not want to have to close all programs for sleep to work.