How to Troubleshoot a Vista Sleep Mode Problem and Find a Solution

How to Troubleshoot a Vista Sleep Mode Problem and Find a Solution

INFO: This will show you some steps to help you troubleshoot and find out what is causing your sleep mode problem. These are the usual reasons for sleep mode problems. For more information, see: Windows Help and How-to: Turn Off a Computer FAQs

NOTE:

A) When your computer is in hibernation, the only way to wake it is to tap the case power button.

B) If this sleep mode problem just started recently, then you might consider doing a System Restore before or after trying the steps below if they do not help. For how, see: How to Do a System Restore in Vista

PROBLEMS:

1. Computer will wake up for no reason.

2. Sleep mode does not work any more.

3. Hibernate option is not available in Power Options, then you accidentally deleted the Hibernation file Cleaner in Disk Cleanup.

See: How to Restore the Hibernation File in Vista4. Screen saver not working.

RELATED LINKS:

1. How to Change Power Button Settings for the Start Menu and Case in Vista
2. How to Disable or Enable Password Protection on Wakeup in Vista
3. How to Create a Hibernate Shortcut in Vista
4. How to Use and Change a Screen Saver in Vista
5. How to Create a Power Options Shortcut in Vista

BEFORE STARTING:

Device Drivers and BIOS :

1. Make sure you have the latest device drivers and BIOS for your motherboard.

NOTE: A out-of-date video driver or other drivers are sometimes the source of sleep mode problems. It is best to keep these up to date to resolve issues found with them.

STEP ONE:Check Your Mouse and Keyboard :

NOTE: A wireless mouse and keyboard can cause your computer to wake up for no apparent reason, and to not wake up from sleep mode when you press a key or move the mouse. This may also cause your screen saver to not work to. If the computer is using an optical mouse, changes in light can cause the computer to wake.

For a Wireless Mouse or Keyboard:

1. Unplug the receiver on the back of the computer and test.2. If sleep works now, then:A) Download new drivers for you wireless mouse and test.

WARNING: Always get your drivers from the source, never from Windows Updates. They do not work properly sometimes.ORB) Disable the wireless mouse and/or keyboard wake up option in Step Five below. If you have to disable both of them, then you can wake the computer up by pressing the power button on the case.ORC) Time to get a new mouse and/or keyboard that is compatible with Vista.

For a Optical Mouse:

1. Try not to have direct bright light shining on the sensor or moving around it.

STEP TWO:Check Settings in Power Plan Options :

NOTE: Power settings control the computer’s ability to go into and come out of sleep/standby mode.

1. Open Control Panel. (Classic View)

2. Click Power Options icon.

3. Click Change plan settings under your power plan. (See screenshot below)
Change1.jpg
4. Click Change advanced power settings. (See screenshot below)
Change2.jpg
5. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable. (See screenshots below step 10)

NOTE: This will allow any Power Options that are grayed out to now work and not be grayed out.

6. Recommended Settings for Sleep :NOTE: Sleep saves any open documents and programs to memory only, and then puts the computer into a low-power state.

WARNING: If you lose power to the computer, you will also lose what is in memory.

• Hard disk - Set to at least 1 minute before the computer (Sleep after setting below) is set to sleep.

• Sleep - Sleep after - This is for the computer. Set to at least 1 minute after Hard disk and Display is set to turn off.

• Sleep - Allow hybrid sleep- Set to Off.

• Sleep - Hibernate after - Set to Never.

• USB settings - USB selective suspend setting - Set to Disabled.

• Power buttons and lid - Start menu power button - Set to Sleep.

• PCI Express - Link State Power Management - Set to Off.

• Display - Turn off display after - Set to at least 1 minute before the computer (Sleep after setting above) is set to sleep. Usually set this as the same as the Hard drive is set to turn off.

• Multimedia settings - When sharing media - Set to Allow the computer to sleep. 7.

Recommended Settings for Hybrid Sleep :

NOTE: Hybrid sleep saves your open documents and programs to memory and to the hard drive, and then puts the computer into a low-power state. After the Hibernate after time you set, it will then put the computer into hibernation.

WARNING: Use the same Recommended Settings for Sleep above, except for these changes:

• Sleep - Allow hybrid sleep- Set to On.

• Sleep - Hibernate after - Set to at least 1 minute after the computer (Sleep after setting above) is set to sleep. 8. Recommended Settings for Hibernation :NOTE: Hibernation is a power-saving state that saves your open documents and programs to the hard drive and then turns off your computer. If Hibernate after is not listed, then make sure that you have the Hibernation File enabled or restored to. It is by default unless it was cleaned in Disk Cleanup, see: How to Restore the Hibernation File in Vista

WARNING: Use the same Recommended Settings for Sleep above, except for these changes:

• Sleep - Sleep after - Set it to Never. • Sleep - Allow hybrid sleep- Set it to Never. • Sleep - Hibernate after - Set it to at least 1 minute after Hard disk and Display is set to turn off. • Power buttons and lid - Start menu power button - Set it to Hibernate. 9. Click OK to apply10. Just exit out the other windows.
Power_Options.jpgOptions 1.jpg

11. Test sleep mode.

If it is still not working correctly, then continue to the next step.

STEP THREE: Check Sleep State in BIOS :

NOTE: Make sure you have the latest Video drivers and BIOS for your motherboard.

1. Open Start Menu.

2. In white line (Start Search) area, type cmd and press Enter.3.

In command prompt, type powercfg -a and press Enter. (See screenshot below)NOTE: This will give you a report of the available sleep states for your computer and will attempt to report reasons why sleep states are unavailable. You will want to see S1 and/or S3 listed.
CMD_Sleep_States.jpg

4. Restart the computer into the BIOS settings, and go into the Power Management sectionin the BIOS.NOTE: Usually you will press the F2 or Delete key as soon as your computer starts booting to enter the BIOS.

5. Make sure ACPI mode: S3 or S1 is enabled.

NOTE: S1 (Sleep) and S3 (Hybrid/ deeper sleep). If you are running an incompatible video card, some or all of these states below will be unavailable. If one of the settings causes your computer to not wake back up, then unplug the computer and plug it back in and start it back up into the BIOS and change the setting back.
BIOS_States.jpg

6. Make sure Wake on Ring and Wake on Lan are disabled.NOTE: This will help with keep the computer from waking up on it's on.

7. Save the BIOS setting changes and exit to restart the computer.8. Test sleep mode. If this does not help, then move on to the next step.

STEP FOUR:To List Device Names That are Currently Configured to Wake Up the System From Any Sleep State :

NOTE: If it's able to wake up your computer, it will be listed here to help you narrow down the device responsible.

1. Open the Start Menu

.2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type cmd and press Enter.

3. In the command prompt, copy and paste in bold: (See screenshot below)powercfg -devicequery wake_armed and press Enter.
Device_List.jpg

4. Go through the list of devices to see if you have one you do not want to wake up your system. EX: A Network Device (Modem, Ethernet, etc.) or Wireless Mouse5. If you found a device that may be causing the problem, then move on to the next step to disable the wake up option for the device.

STEP FIVE:Disable or Enable the Wake Up Computer Option for a Device :

NOTE: Check your Network device. Network activity can cause the network hardware to wake the computer, especially when the network is always on (like cable and DSL connections). High Definition Audio may also cause the computer to wake from sleep mode.

1. Open Control Panel. (Classic View)

2. Click Device Manager icon.

NOTE: You need to be in a Administrator account.

3. Click Continue for UAC prompt.

4. Open the device's list that you want to change. (See screenshot below)EX: Network Devices

5. Right click on device name and click Properties.EX: Network Devices
Device.jpg

6. Click Power Management tab. (See screenshot below)

7. Uncheck Allow this device to wake the computer.

NOTE: To Enable it again, just check this instead. If you need to disable the wireless mouse and keyboard, then you can wake the computer by pressing the power button on the case.

8. If listed, check Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.NOTE: This will turn the device off when the computer goes into sleep mode.

9. Click the Advanced tab.NOTE: For your Network device.
Power_Management.jpg

10. Check the boxed in red Property: items below to see if they are set to Disabled in the Value: area. (See screenshot below)NOTE: This area may look a little different for your particular network device, but it should be similar. 11. Click OK to apply and close properties window.



NOTE: Default settings and meaning:

• Link Down Power Saving (Disable) Saves power by disabling the NIC when it has no link.

• Link Speed/Duplex Mode (Auto Negotiation) Auto negotiates the link speed (10base/100base/1000base full/half duplex). Duplexing is "talking" and "listening" at the same time. If your card is full-duplex, it can send and receive at the same time.

• Network Address (Not Available) Describes how you got your network addy (assigned/dhcp/etc)

• Optimal Performance (Disable) This depends on the OS and the Card. Many times what this means is your card can adjust the size of the transfer window and MTU to improve performance on various lines of various states.

• Receive Buffer Size (64K bytes) How much data your card can buffer before it has to process some or return a time-out.

• Shutdown Wake-On-Lan Allows the network card to wake up the computer for network use when the computer was shutdown from within Vista, not by the case power button or by unplugging it.

• WakeUp on ARP/PING (Enable) Allows your card to wake up when it's hit with a ping (ICMP) or ARP request (something is looking for your machine).

• WakeUp on Link Change (Disable) Allows your machine to wake up on link state changes (line goes up or down).

• WakeUp using APM Mode (Disable) Advanced power management (APM) allows the machine to wake on a machine with APM settings (sleep after so many minutes/whatever). Advanced_tab.jpg

STEP SIX:Check the Screen Saver :

NOTE: Some screen savers can interfere with the computer’s ability to go into and come out of sleep/standby mode. Disabling or changing the screen saver may resolve the problem.

1. In the Screen saver section, select an alternate screen saver or set it to None and then click OK.

NOTE: For how, see: How to Use and Change a Screen Saver in Vista2. Test the sleep mode.

STEP SEVEN:Check Startup Programs :

NOTE:

A) Many software components start up automatically with Vista and run in the background. Some of these programs may not be necessary, and can interfere with the sleep/standby mode. For troubleshooting purposes, use the following steps to prevent programs from starting up with Vista to see if this is the issue.

B) If you are having these problems, you can avoid from having to do this completely if you logoff and put the computer to sleep from within the logon screen.

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type msconfig and press Enter.OR2. Click on All Programs, Administrative Tools, and System Configuration.
3. Click Continue for UAC prompt.

4. Under the General tab, dot Selective startup. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: When done with the test, dot Normal startup, to return to the default settings before the test, and click OK.

5. Uncheck Load startup items and click OK and restart the computer.

NOTE: You will get a notification that you made changes to the Startup programs in the bottom right Notification area. Just ignore it for now. It will go away when you put it back to Normal startup after you finish.
System_Configuration.jpg

6. Test sleep mode.

7. If unchecking (disabling) Load startup items fixed the sleep problem, then enable one startup item at a time and test to see if the problem occurs again. Continue enabling startup items, until you find the program that is causing the problem. Remove or update the problem program.

NOTE: See Method One or Two here:

How to Check and Change the Startup Programs in Vista A)

When done, change the setting back to Normal startup (step 4).8. If unchecking (disabling) Load startup items did not resolve the sleep problem, then set it back to Normal startup (Step 4) and go to the next step below.

STEP EIGHT:Check Scheduled Tasks for Programs :

NOTE: Sometimes a program will have something scheduled to run that will wake the computer up. Try turning them off temporarily to see if it resolves the problem.

1. Check in the suspected program settings to see if there is a feature that may wake the computer.

NOTE: Sometimes it can be the Auto-Update feature in the program.

2. Check Task Scheduler for items that are set to Wake-Up the computer to perform it's action.NOTE: Type taskschd.msc in the Start menu white line and press Enter. Expand out the list in the left pane and click on the suspect item's folder. Double click on the task in the middle pane. Click on the Conditions tab. See if Wake the computer to run this task is checked or not.3. Check Windows Automatic Updates settings.

NOTE: See: How to Turn Windows Update Automatic Updating On or Off in Vista

STEP NINE:Windows Sidebar Gadget :

NOTE: Sometimes a Windows Sidebar Gadget may cause the computer to not sleep on it's own.

1. Turn off Windows Sidebar as a test to see if your computer will enter sleep on it's own now.

NOTE: See: How to Turn Windows Sidebar On or Off in Vista2. If it does, then turn Windows Sidebar back on and turn off each Gadget one by one and test sleep again after each one until you find the one causing the problem.

STEP TEN:Try System Restore :

NOTE: If sleep/standby mode previously worked, attempt a system restore back to a time when it worked. If the problem has always existed, skip this step.1. Save any open files and close all programs. Backup any important files.2. See: How to Do a System Restore in VistaNOTE: If System Restore resolves the problem, the problem is probably caused by software that was installed after the restore point date.