Power Options and Sleep Mode Problems

How to Troubleshoot a Vista or Windows 7 Sleep Mode Problem​

   Information

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

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

Common Problems:

• Computer will wake up for no reason.
• Sleep mode does not work any more.
• Hibernate option is not available in Power Options, then you accidentally deleted the Hibernation file Cleaner in Disk Cleanup.
• Screen saver not working.

   Tip

BEFORE STARTING:Make sure you have the latest device drivers and BIOS installed for your motherboard.NOTE: A out-of-date video driver or other drivers are sometimes the source of sleep mode problems.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 1

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 USB Mouse or Keyboard:​

1. Check the BIOS settings to make sure that you have a Legacy USB option enabled.​

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For a Wireless Mouse or Keyboard:​

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1. Unplug the receiver on the back of the computer and test.​

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2. If sleep or hibernation works now, then try:​

A) Download new drivers for you wireless mouse and test again with the receiver plugged in.​

NOTE: Always get your drivers from the source, never from Windows Updates. They do not work properly sometimes.​

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B) 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.​

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C) Time to get a new mouse and/or keyboard that is compatible with Vista.​

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For a Optical Mouse:​

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

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STEP 2

Check Advanced Power Plan Settings

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

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1. Open the Control Panel. (Classic View)​

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2. Click on the Power Options icon.​

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3. Click on the Change plan settings link under your power plan. (See screenshot below)​

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4. Click on Change advanced power settings. (See screenshot below)​

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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.​

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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.​

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[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-700][TR][TD]
Main Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Sub Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Recommendation
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Hard disk
[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD]
[TD]
Set to at least 1 minute before the computer (Sleep after setting below) is set to sleep.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Sleep after
[/TD]
[TD]
This is for the computer. Set to at least 1 minute after Hard disk and Display is set to turn off.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Allow hybrid sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to Off.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Hibernate after
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to Never.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
USB settings
[/TD]
[TD]
USB selective suspend setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to Disabled.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Power buttons and lid
[/TD]
[TD]
Start menu power button
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to Sleep.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
PCI Express
[/TD]
[TD]
Link State Power Management
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to Off.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Display
[/TD]
[TD]
Turn off display after
[/TD]
[TD]
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.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Multimedia settings
[/TD]
[TD]
When sharing media
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to Allow the computer to sleep.
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

​

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 in step 6 above, except for these changes:​

​

​

[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-700][TR][TD]
Main Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Sub Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Recommendation
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Allow hybrid sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to On.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Hibernate after
[/TD]
[TD]
Set to at least 1 minute after the computer (Sleep after setting above) is set to sleep.
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

​

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.​

WARNING: Use the same Recommended Settings for Sleep in step 6 above, except for these changes:​

​

​

[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-700][TR][TD]
Main Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Sub Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Recommendation
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Sleep after
[/TD]
[TD]
Set it to Never.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Allow hybrid sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Set it to Never.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Sleep
[/TD]
[TD]
Hibernate after
[/TD]
[TD]
Set it to at least 1 minute after Hard disk and Display is set to turn off.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Power buttons and lid
[/TD]
[TD]
Start menu power button
[/TD]
[TD]
Set it to Hibernate.
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

​

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9. Click on OK to apply​

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10. Just exit out the other windows.​

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11. Test sleep mode. If it is still not working correctly, then continue to the next step.​

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STEP 3

Check Sleep State Settings in BIOS

NOTE: Make sure you have the latest Video drivers and BIOS for your motherboard. Read your motherboard manual to see if you have any jumpers or settings that sets different sleep voltages for USB.

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1. Open the Start Menu.​

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

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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 if the ACPI S1 and/or S3 is listed. ​

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4. Restart the computer into the BIOS settings, and go into the Power Management section in the BIOS.​

NOTE: Usually you will press the F2 or Delete key as soon as your computer starts booting to enter the BIOS. ​

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

WARNING: S1 (Sleep) and S3 (Hybrid deeper sleep). If you are running an incompatible video card, some or all of these states below may be unavailable. If one of the settings causes your computer to not wake back up afterwards, then reset the CMOS on the motherboard and restart the computer, or unplug the computer for a moment and plug it back in, and reset the BIOS back to the factory default settings.​

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6. Make sure Wake on Ring and Wake on Lan are disabled.​

NOTE: This will help keep the computer from waking up on its own.​

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7. Save the BIOS setting changes and exit to restart the computer.​

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8. Test sleep mode. If this does not help, then move on to the next step.​

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STEP 4

To See what had Waken Up Windows Last

NOTE: This will give you a list of items that woke up the computer last that may help narrow down what is waking up the computer.

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1. Open the Start Menu.​

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

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3. In command prompt, type powercfg lastwake and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: Notice that I had USB\ROOT\HUB listed. For me, this would be the USB wireless mouse. Your list results will vary of course.​

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STEP 5

To List, Enable, or Disable Device Names Currently Configured to Wake Up the System From any Sleep State

NOTE: This will show you a list of devices that are able to wake up your computer to help you narrow down a device that may be responsible for waking up your computer. It does not mean that these devices are the ones that woke up your computer though, just that they are able to.

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1. Open an elevated command prompt.​

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2. To List Devices that Can Wake Up the Computer​

A) In the command prompt, copy and paste in bold: (See screenshot below)​

powercfg -devicequery wake_armed and press Enter.​

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B) 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 Mouse.​

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C) If you found a device that may be causing the problem, then check with the STEP SIX section below first to see if you can disable a wake up option for the device in it's Power Management settings in Device Manager to test to see if that is it before proceding.​

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3. To Disable a Listed Device From Waking Up the Computer​

NOTE: Only do this step if you cannot do it from STEP SIX below using Device Manager instead.​

A) In the elevated command prompt, type below in bold and press Enter.​

WARNING: Be sure to write this device name down in case you want to be able to enable it again in step 4. Once you disable it, it will not be listed again in step 2A until enabled again.​

powercfg -devicedisablewake "exact name of device listed in step 2A"​

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NOTE: For example, if I wanted to disable the listed (step 2A) High Definition device (HDAC), then I would type powercfg -devicedisablewake "High Definition Audio Controller" and press enter.​

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4. To Enable a Listed Device Again to Waking Up the Computer​

NOTE: Only do this step if you cannot do it from STEP SIX below using Device Manager instead, or you have done step 3 above with the device.​

A) In the elevated command prompt, type below in bold and press Enter.​

powercfg -deviceenablewake "exact name of device listed in step 2A"​

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NOTE: For example, if I wanted to reenable the High Definition device (HDAC) that was disable and removed from the list in step 3, then I would type powercfg -deviceenablewake "High Definition Audio Controller" and press enter.​

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5. When done, close the elevated command prompt, and test sleep mode.​

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STEP 6

To Disable or Enable the "Allow this device to wake the 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, if listed in STEP FIVE, may also rarely cause the computer to wake from sleep mode. You can disable (only option available) the device as a test in Device Manager to see before putting the computer to sleep. Just enable it again if it is not the problem.

1. Open the Control Panel. (Classic View)​

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2. Click on the Device Manager icon.​

NOTE: You need to be in a Administrator account.​

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3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.​

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4. Open the device's list that you want to change. (See screenshot below)​

EX: Network Devices​

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5. Right click on the device name and click on Properties.​

EX: Network Devices​

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6. Click on the Power Management tab. (See screenshot below)​

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7. Uncheck Allow this device to wake the computer. (See screenshot above)​

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.​

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8. If listed, check Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. (See screenshot below step 6)​

NOTE: This will turn the device off when the computer goes into sleep mode.​

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9. Click on the Advanced tab. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This is only for the Network device.​

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10. Check the boxed in red Property: items below to see if they are set to Disabled in the Value: area. (See screenshot above)​

NOTE: This area may be different for your particular network device since it is based on the driver, but it should be similar. You will be looking for any Wake on type property options listed.​

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11. Click on OK to apply and close properties window. (See screenshot below step 6 or 9)​

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STEP 7

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 settings, select an alternate screen saver, or set it to None, then click on OK.​

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2. Test sleep mode.​

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STEP 8

Check Startup Programs

   Note

• 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.
• 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.​

A) In the white line (Start Search) area, type msconfig and press Enter.​

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B) Go to step 3.​

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OR​

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2. Click on All Programs, Administrative Tools, and System Configuration.​

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3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.​

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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 on OK.​

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5. Uncheck Load startup items and click on 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.​

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6. Test sleep mode.​

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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).​

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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.​

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STEP 9

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.​

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2. Check Task Scheduler for items that are set to Wake-Up the computer to perform it's action.​

A) 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.​

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B) Click on the Conditions tab.​

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C) Uncheck the Wake the computer to run this task box.​

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3. Check Windows Automatic Updates settings.​

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STEP 10

Check Windows Sidebar Gadgets

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

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

NOTE: Sometimes, you may need to restart the computer afterwards as well.​

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2. If it does, then turn Windows Sidebar back on and turn off each Gadget one by one. Test sleep again after each one until you find the one causing the problem.​

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STEP 11

Check Motherboard Jumpers

NOTE: A few motherboards have been reported has having jumpers on the board for certain functions (ex: USB device wake-up) that may need to be enabled or disabled.

1. Pull out or download your motherboard manual, and check for any such jumpers.​

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2. If you have one that is related (ex: USB device wake-up), then test sleep mode inbetween toggling the jumper on and off.​

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STEP 12

Reset Print Spooler

NOTE: This may help if your computer will sleep fine manually, but will not sleep automatically or not go to sleep at all. Credit to Artxie for this.

1. Open Services, and temporaily Stop the Print Spooler service.​

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2. Open the Start Menu and type %WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers in the search line and press enter, then delete all files in this folder.​

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3. In Services, Start the Print Spooler service. Close Services window.​

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   Note

If the print spooler issue persists, the installed printer driver may not be compatible or corrupted. Check the printer manufacturer's website to download and install the latest Windows compatible driver for it.

STEP 13

Enable or Disable Windows Media Center Updates to Wake Up the Computer

NOTE: This will show you how to enable or disable the Windows Media Center (mcupdate) task from waking up the computer from sleep when it checks for Media Center updates in Windows 7 and Vista.

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1. For how, see: Windows Media Center Updates - Enable or Disable Waking Computer - Windows 7 Forums​

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STEP 14

View and Override Power Availability Requests

By using power availability requests, applications, services, and drivers can temporarily disable power management features to accomplish user scenarios. Availability requests can prevent the display from turning off after inactivity, and prevent the computer from automatically sleeping, enable Away Mode, and shutting down.

1. For how, see: How to View and Override Power Availability Requests in Windows​

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STEP 15

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, then backup anything that you do not want to lose to be safe..​

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2. See: How to Do a System Restore in Vista​

NOTE: If System Restore resolves the problem, the problem is probably caused by software that was installed after the restore point date.​

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I hope this helps,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Change Power Button Settings for the Start Menu and Case in Vista
• How to Disable or Enable Password Protection on Wakeup in Vista
• How to Create a Hibernate Shortcut in Vista
• How to Use and Change a Screen Saver in Vista
• How to Create a Power Options Shortcut in Vista
• How to Restore or Disable Hibernation in Vista
• How to Changed the Return to Sleep Timeout for a Unattended Wake Up in Vista
• SP1 Causes Hibernation Error: "System was shut down unexpectantly"
• How to Restore the Default Power Plan Settings in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable Windows Media Center Updates to Wake Up the Computer
• How to Read the Wake Source Log in Event Viewer for Windows 7 and Vista
• How to View and Override Power Availability Requests in Windows

 

[Brink]

Calabrache,

As a test, see if this hibernation shortcut will do the same thing or not for you.

 

[kaworito]

What does it show you in STEP FOUR as to what last woke up your system?

Hi.

Well, I get "recuento de activación - 0" (my vista is in spanish, ^^U) on the command box when I try to see the lastwake history. It basically means that nothing woke up my computer.

When I give the hibernate command the computer's screen turns black for a few seconds and then it takes me to the welcome screen.

 

[Brink]

Kaworito,

See if disabling and enabling to toggle hibernation through disk cleanup may reset it to work properly again for you. The hibernation file may have been corrupted.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/165508-hibernation-enable-disable.htmlhttp://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/165508-hibernation-enable-disable.html

 

[kaworito]

Kaworito,

See if disabling and enabling to toggle hibernation through disk cleanup may reset it to work properly again for you. The hibernation file may have been corrupted.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/165508-hibernation-enable-disable.html

Thanks for the suggestion.
I ran the disk cleanup utility and erased the hibernation file, then re enabled it via cmd (powercfg -h on), then restarted...

and the problem is still there u_u

Agh what else do you think I could do? Thanks for your help

 

[Brink]

The only thing that I know of next would be a clean reinstall since you do not have any restore points and had already went through everything in the tutorial.

 

[kaworito]

God, I dont even think that would be an option. I don't have the vista discs...

 

[Brink]

If you have a OEM (ex: Dell, Gateway, etc...) type of computer, then you may have a recovery partition that you can do a factory restore with. What brand is your computer?

 

[kaworito]

Brink, first of all let me say I really appreciate your help

Now, I have an ASUS f3sv computer. It doesn't have a recovery partition.

I think I'm pretty much screwed, right?

 

[Brink]

If you go into Disk Management and do not see a D: recovery partition, then you do not have one. Do you have a set of recovery discs instead? One is usually for applications and drivers, while the other one is to reinstall Vista back to factory settings.

Usually you would press the F9 key every second immediately when the ASUS logo appears during boot to enter the recovery manager. You would want to backup anything that you do not want to loose first though.

 

[calabrache]

Thanks Brink for the help, unfortunately it did not change the behaviour of the hybernation. The battery was 86% when the computer was put into hybernation using the proposed shortcurt holding shutdown -h and 81% after 5 hours which means the hybernation mode is still S3 type and does not perform a full save to disk. Any suggestions ? At least it is a good opportunity to discover further your tutorial which are very helpfull. Best regards

 

[mitchell]

Hi everyone, Firstly thank you for the great tutorial! i have spent two weeks working on this issue and have finally resolved it. between this thread and some other sites i noticed a couple of people in this thread with the same problem behavior as me and dozens of them in Hewlett Packards forums. My problem was sleep mode would work fine once then the second time the monitor would shut down but the hard drive remained active and nothing would wake it. so i would shut the power button down and restart it. as soon as i pressed the power button it would drop into a proper sleep state and then reboot (almost like initially it got stuck half way dropping into sleep) like i say after reboot sleep would work fine once but not a second except when running solely AC power or solely DC power sleep malfunctioned straight away. anyway i tried everthing including formatting and reinstalling windows, updating bios and drivers, different power modes, setting bios back to default then today i opened the case dropped out the cmos for 10 mints problem still there so i removed the memory sticks put only one back PROBLEM SOLVED! put the second stick back in problem back again so all along the problem was one of my memory cards even though no memory problems were displayed in sys. info or with windows memory diagnostic tool. well i hope my experience can help someone else who has not yet resolved thier sleep problems (or mabee check the easy things before reinstalling windows like i should have)

Hi i am back again and am really at a loss and hoping this may trigger something for someone. i obtained a replacement memory card and the problem was back again now i have tried all different configurations for this and come up with the same results basically:
1Gb of ram sleep mode works fine.
1.5Gb of ram sleep mode works once ok then after that it fails as per previous post
2Gb of ram sleep mode doesn't work at all.
This problem seems to have arisen about two weeks after i did a bios upgrade as prior to this i had no problems and had operated on 1.5Gb of ram for over two years, I only have option S3 and says other options are not hardware supported I re enabled hibernation today it did not make any difference although it works ok. am not really expecting any miracles on this as i have exhausted pretty much what everyone else has tried i just thought that the memory card thing might jog something in someones memory, here's hoping.

 

[Brink]

Hello Mitchell,

You might see if there is a "Memory Mapping" option in the BIOS that you try with it enabled to see if that may help.

However, you might consider flashing the BIOS back to the older version since it work perfectly with it. Be sure to send a report to your motherboard's manufacturer about that bug in the BIOS to see if they may be able to fix it in the next BIOS release. They may also already know of this bug and have a workable solution for it to.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Brink]

Thanks Brink for the help, unfortunately it did not change the behaviour of the hybernation. The battery was 86% when the computer was put into hybernation using the proposed shortcurt holding shutdown -h and 81% after 5 hours which means the hybernation mode is still S3 type and does not perform a full save to disk. Any suggestions ? At least it is a good opportunity to discover further your tutorial which are very helpfull. Best regards

The only other thing I can think of is to go through each option in your Power Options Plan to see if everything (ex: wireless network) is set to be turned off when the computer goes into hibernation.

 

[mitchell]

Hello Mitchell,

You might see if there is a "Memory Mapping" option in the BIOS that you try with it enabled to see if that may help.

However, you might consider flashing the BIOS back to the older version since it work perfectly with it. Be sure to send a report to your motherboard's manufacturer about that bug in the BIOS to see if they may be able to fix it in the next BIOS release. They may also already know of this bug and have a workable solution for it to.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Select software and drivers 
hi shawn, thanks for your response my bios only has the bare basics and HP does not seem to have the previous version for download i have left the above link so you may have a look if you wish, i am trying to communicate with HP at the moment but previous experience is they will blame NVidea, but like i say i have done two clean installs and the problem is there from scratch before i even update or install anything so the only thing that is not reverted is the bios and i did set it back to default before formatting

 

[naptime]

Hello!

I found this great tutorial while tearing my hair out over sleep problems with my gf's computer. It didn't solve my problem, but it got me closer, and for that I'm truly grateful. I did find one solution that I want to share, but I still have a related problem that maybe someone can help with. (If I should start a separate thread let me know.)

The problem has been that the computer will sleep fine manually, but will not sleep automatically.

It used to work when the machine was new, but stopped some time ago. This tutorial helped me narrow it down to services, and it turned out that with the Print Spooler service stopped it would auto-sleep again. Google found this fix for that problem:
remove everything in %WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers

After I did that, the machine would sleep automatically, even with my normal load of services and applications. It took me hours to find this -- I hope that might help someone else a little quicker.

But: with my gf's normal set of applications, no auto sleep again. It turns out that she usually has at least one or two IE tabs open to YouTube (with the flash player plugin of course), and closing the YouTube tabs in IE brings back auto sleep again. :huh:

This I don't understand, since it doesn't seem to be a common problem for the hordes of YT watchers. And I can't expect her to either close YouTube or manually sleep every time she gets up from the computer. She has the latest flash (10), IE8, Vista-32. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Brink]

Hello Naptime, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Thank you for sharing this. It has been added as STEP TWELVE.

You might check in STEP TWO of the tutorial in the Power Options to see if Multimedia settings - When sharing media is set to Allow the computer to sleep.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[naptime]

Thanks for including my find Shawn!
No luck with the multimedia setting though, I double-checked and everything is set per the tutorial's recommendations.

Since this only happens so far with Adobe Flash Player open, I'm going to see if I can get a response from Adobe's support. I'll post back if they have an answer...

 

[Brink]

Ok. I look forward to hearing what they have to say if anything.

 

[mitchell]

Hi everyone, Firstly thank you for the great tutorial! i have spent two weeks working on this issue and have finally resolved it. between this thread and some other sites i noticed a couple of people in this thread with the same problem behavior as me and dozens of them in Hewlett Packards forums. My problem was sleep mode would work fine once then the second time the monitor would shut down but the hard drive remained active and nothing would wake it. so i would shut the power button down and restart it. as soon as i pressed the power button it would drop into a proper sleep state and then reboot (almost like initially it got stuck half way dropping into sleep) like i say after reboot sleep would work fine once but not a second except when running solely AC power or solely DC power sleep malfunctioned straight away. anyway i tried everthing including formatting and reinstalling windows, updating drivers, different power modes, setting bios back to default then today i opened the case dropped out the cmos for 10 mints problem still there so i removed the memory sticks put only one back PROBLEM SOLVED! put the second stick back in problem back again so all along the problem was one of my memory cards even though no memory problems were displayed in sys. info or with windows memory diagnostic tool. well i hope my experience can help someone else who has not yet resolved thier sleep problems (or mabee check the easy things before reinstalling windows like i should have)

Hi i am back again and am really at a loss and hoping this may trigger something for someone. i obtained a replacement memory card and the problem was back again now i have tried all different configurations for this and come up with the same results basically:
1Gb of ram sleep mode works fine.
1.5Gb of ram sleep mode works once ok then after that it fails as per previous post
2Gb of ram sleep mode doesn't work at all.
This problem seems to have arisen about two weeks ago as prior to this i had no problems and had operated on 1.5Gb of ram for over two years, I only have option S3 and says other options are not hardware supported I re enabled hibernation today it did not make any difference although it works ok. am not really expecting any miracles on this as i have exhausted pretty much what everyone else has tried i just thought that the memory card thing might jog something in someones memory, here's hoping.

Just an update and i finally have resolved my problem so i am posting this in hope that it may be of help to someone else. in my quest i have found this is a very common complaint with HP F500 series notebooks which just happen to ship with nVidea graphics cards, time and time again in both forums it came up that this problem was not happening when only one stick of ram was inserted (i used 3 different sticks alternately and they all worked fine one at a time but when i inserted a second stick no matter what configuration i had sleep mode problems again) so i jotted down the specs of my newest one and went and ordered an identical ram stick inserted the matching pair and now i have my maximum ram back and fully functioning sleep mode. so i still dont know what caused the problem but i have finally found my solution :D I only hope that my experience can help someone else.

 

[Saidas]

Same for me only it is Microsoft Wireless Keyboard & Mouse & High Definition Audio Device.

All are MS products

Did I read previously that it has something to do with the DDR memory?