Why won't my computer go to sleep automatically?

Windows 8 is set to sleep after 30 mins, and it used to work, but recently it's started refusing to sleep. (I can still manually ask it to go to sleep without any issue.)

Put the computer to sleep: 30 minutes

I was having issues a while ago, but it was with my network adapter. That's since been disabled, so it's definitely not that:

enter image description here

I've checked to see what devices are able to wake up my machine, but it only appears to be my mouse:

Powercfg -devicequery wake_armed

Which is odd, because I haven't recently changed my mouse, and more confusing still: The monitor does go to sleep just fine. If it was actually the mouse keeping my system awake, I'm pretty sure the monitor wouldn't go to sleep.

I've checked my Wake Timers, and nothing:

enter image description here

I've also checked my existing requests...

UPDATE: I found something. What to do with it, I don't know...

enter image description here

Note: Even when /requests says that there's "NONE" under every category, my machine still won't sleep(!).

enter image description here

In short: How can I tell what's preventing my computer from Sleeping?

UPDATE: Ok, so I now have a few more pieces of the puzzle. I came back to my computer and it was ASLEEP! Lawks! It seems that the only times it doesn't sleep is if VLC Player is open, even if a video isn't actually playing.

UPDATE UPDATE: Ok, so it won't sleep sometimes when VLC Player ISN'T running, either. Bah!

Django Reinhardt

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 4 183

If it might be the mouse, try it with the mouse unplugged to confirm? – Journeyman Geek – 2013-01-21T15:27:30.940

Hmm. As stated in the question, the mouse hasn't changed, and it would stop the monitor from sleeping if it was that... Right? Isn't there some Event which details why it can't sleep? :-/ If you still think it's worth a try, I'll do it. – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-21T15:43:06.227

Check Administrative Tools -> Task Scheduler for any tasks that are set to go off. Eg, AdobeFlash, GoogleUpdate, RealPlayer, etc will have tasks that may be scheduled as often as every 5 minutes. – Daniel R Hicks – 2013-01-22T03:02:19.473

Kind of a nitpick, but have you tried letting it go into hibernation? Personally, I can't remember sleep ever functioning correctly outside of new installs. I have always had issues with services running in the background keeping it awake. Usually it's a virus scanner. Not saying this is your situation. I just keep mine on hibernation. (Not the same thing, I know) – Josh Campbell – 2013-01-30T09:38:03.423

@JoshCampbell - I can attest that sleep works fine on Vista and 7. Of course I gather nothing works right on 8, so would make no bets there. (You do have to clean up the background junk, though, as I indicated a couple of comments up.) – Daniel R Hicks – 2013-10-13T02:55:53.263

1I am currently also having this problem. Nevertheless, I would not like my computer to go to sleep while playing videos. Moreover, I found out a curious thing. When I disable automatic turning off of the screen, the computer goes to sleep automatically. But it won’t go to sleep automatically after an automatic turning off of the display. That seems very strange. Anyone having this same behaviour? – josefec – 2013-12-26T14:31:29.067

Answers

There are several things to check:

Power configuration of course
Task scheduler
automatic wake up for maintenance (network wake up)

I assume your computer is up to date. As you have found that no requests exist, it could not be an interrupt which is causing this. However, its better to check BIOS settings and device manager settings to know which settings and which devices are configured to interrupt. Plus a compatible BIOS update is necessary to let interrupts function accurately.

Besides that, there are problems with multimedia players such as VLC. If it was running, the computer will refuse to sleep. A small piece of software can be found here (which may or may not assist you since you have Windows 8. It works with Windows 7 though).

Lasith

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 186

That software looks like it's made just for me! I'll try it out. Thanks! – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-24T12:32:46.950

1It is VLC keeping my computer awake, and it's through the SrvNet process it does it. If I override that process, then my computer goes to sleep WHILE THE VIDEO IS PLAYING :( It looks like the piece of software is just what I needed. Thanks! – Django Reinhardt – 2013-02-03T20:42:43.633

To answer my own question, it seems that to discover what's preventing your system from sleeping, you can run powercfg -energy and let it do a trace. The resulting report revealed the following for me:

enter image description here

Which lead me to:

enter image description here

Django Reinhardt

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 4 183

1This was helpful. System Availability Requests:System Required Request The program has made a request to prevent the system from automatically entering sleep. Requesting Process \Device\HarddiskVolume5\Program Files\Synergy\synergyc.exe Synergy is a program that lets one computer's keyboard/mouse control another computer. So that makes sense! – Ryan – 2014-04-13T20:36:37.553

My current testing suggests that this problem is (or can be) caused by running processes.

When running powercfg /requests two processes were listed under the SYSTEM category:

Print Spooler
was trying to still print a document
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
was waiting for playback instructions

After shutting down both services, the system hibernated as expected.

Regarding \FileSystem\srvnet, I found the thread Not sleeping due to : \FileSystem\srvnet which suggests that this is also related to media sharing.

Finally went to: Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings

And under media streaming - blocked all - and that did the trick! I don't know if there's another way to allow streaming and enable sleeping, but for now, beats running all night long after waking for a time update etc... :-)

Der Hochstapler

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 77 228

@JohnnyW: Sorry it didn't work out for you :( Sadly I now no longer have a system that displays this issue :\ – Der Hochstapler – 2013-01-22T02:03:06.320

Huh! You may have been right, after all. I just found something in my /requests. Any clue? – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-22T12:27:18.093

@JohnnyW: Check this out: Not sleeping due to : \FileSystem\srvnet

– Der Hochstapler – 2013-01-22T14:07:23.743

Thanks, I saw that, but unfortunately it hasn't helped -- bah! (If you see the comments, a lot of Windows 8 folks are saying the same.) – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-23T14:01:01.033

1@JohnnyW: So, when you run powercfg -energy now, it lists nothing? – Der Hochstapler – 2013-01-23T14:40:33.607

Yep, if I look at /requests everything has "NONE" listed under it. The -energy report only says: USB Suspend - USB Device not entering Selective Suspend. No mention of \FileSystem\srvnet. That's exactly how it was when I found it still running this morning.. Argh. – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-23T15:19:02.967

More updates! It seems VLC Player is part of the problem... – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-23T22:45:38.433

@JohnnyW: Someone is reporting the same over here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/44707-63-computer-automatically-enter-sleep-mode-ever And here's someone requesting that VLC should let the computer sleep if nothing is playing (from 2005) http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10464

– Der Hochstapler – 2013-01-24T10:48:38.973

@JohnnyW Actually, my Windows 8 client isn't shutting down again as well. I also had the srvnet entry and disabled media streaming for now. Still investigating this, just so you know ;D – Der Hochstapler – 2013-01-26T17:45:47.433

It's a weird one, isn't it? I can't seem to find a solution to this, as it isn't always when VLC Player is running! – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-26T18:27:51.017

In a Command Prompt (cmd) run as Administrator enter this command :

powercfg /requestsoverride driver srvnet System

harrymc

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 306 093

This appears to have worked! – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-30T14:15:04.200

2Agh! Slight problem: Now my computer will go to sleep while I'm watching videos...! – Django Reinhardt – 2013-02-03T20:39:25.383

I think you should either restart anew by Restore the Default Power Plan Settings, or use something like Don’t Sleep.

– harrymc – 2013-02-03T21:19:33.873

Here's another option: set the sleep time to a short time (e.g. 1 minute). Then wait a minute. Your computer shouldn't be gone to sleep, as per your description. Then, you might be able to see in powercfg -lastwake what the problem was, if your computer tried to sleep, but was woken up immediately.

Stefan Seidel

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 8 812

You can use WinSleep to diagnose many sleep issues like this - it shows you a history of sleep/wake times. Some other features they include are:

Keeps your computer asleep (while not too busy) as much as possible during periods you specify.
Provides a detailed time-line graph showing when your computer was awake, asleep, or hibernating.
Provides convenient Sleep and Hibernate buttons for manual use when desired. Shows the current CPU/Disk/Network usage percentages for your computer.

seanivo

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 21

2Can you explain HOW you would go about diagnosing problems using this software? – Django Reinhardt – 2016-06-20T14:56:50.563

It is an issue with HOMEGROUP in Win8.1 Pro. Mind you, the HOMEGROUP computers that are preventing sleep don't even have to be turned on! Basically, I had to take the three computers in the house and have them leave the old HOMEGROUP. I then created a new HOMEGROUP with a new password and made sure that I could share files and folders back and forth. One computer was a bear and I had to stop sharing entire folders and files (shift-left click to select all files and folders, right click-sharing-stop sharing) and then share the one folder that I wanted to.

To verify that this is your problem, just disable the network adapter and set the sleep to one minute. Wait 5 minutes and see if it sleeps.

Now the two Win8.1 Pro computers sleep! (takes a couple of minutes to fall asleep so some patience is needed).

JohnPombrio

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 21

See here, I figured it out finally for my issues: Win 8.1 not going to sleep

I used an option (/WAKETIMERS) which I had not seen too often before on any helping forum, thus I'm posting it here:

powercfg /WAKETIMERS

-> To see the scheduled tasks. Helped me figure out to disable the Windows regular maintenance, which avoided sleeping completely (and not only waking it up in the night).

tim

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 302

In my particular case, leaving the homegroup immediately fixed this problem. Note that setting 'When sharing media -> Allow the computer to sleep' didn't fix it at all.

My powercfg /requests was identical to the one shown in the original question.

Kim

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 111

I created new power scheme set it for 5 min to sleep ( so I could check) "Change Advanced Settings".... On the to "paragraph" of the window is "Change Settings that are currently unavailable" Then scroll down to "Sleep"-Expand "+" "Allow Wake Timers" - "Disable"

Wait to test and it Works

Now set the sleep time for the period you want

Mine is 2 hrs.

Figured it out

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 11

I had a similar problem when I upgraded from Win7 to Win10, my computer would no longer go to sleep. The solution for me was to go into Settings-->System-->Power & Sleep-->additional power settings-->change plan settings-->change advanced power settings. Find "sleep" and set "Allow hybrid sleep" to DISABLED. This fixed my problem.

Rob

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 1

look at this page helpdeskgeek.com/windows-8/fix-windows-8-1-will-sleep/ It prints a report. The errors are the important part. I couldn't open the html page so i right clicked on the html and opened in word.(you can try write or anything else) There were about 11 errors. The audio driver was one that kept it from sleeping along with srvnet. For the audio driver the report will list the requesting driver device. Mine was VIA High Definition Audio. You have to open cmd in administrative mode and type in the following: *powercfg -requestsoverride "VIA High Definition Audio" system . In quotes type in the name of your requesting driver. My other problem was srvnet. Open cntrl panel, network and sharing center, change advance sharing settings, then turn off all media streaming options.

Bob Lee

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 1

1I see the link didn't show up so open cmd prompt in administrative mode and type in powercfg.exe /energy. A report will show up in C:\Windows\System32 and open the energy-report.html – Bob Lee – 2016-06-06T03:18:46.820

I solved this using the powercfg -lastwake showed the device as the ethernet adaptor

Set this to not allow wake and now computer auto sleeps. (oddly it would sleep when told to before)

richard

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 1

I too had issues with computer not going to sleep in automatic mode, but it would go to sleep in if I did it manually. Found out it was due to my Asus Asuite 2 set at high performance mode. Switched it to auto mode and it solved the problem

Dave G

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 1

My quess is that the answer is in Task Scheduler. Thanks to your screen shot, we can see your regular maintenance is set. Perhaps it fails at 02:59 and is set to retry?

Have a look in the Task Scheduler Library, if necessary, drill down to the Microsoft and then Windows folder.

Guy Thomas

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 3 160

Yes, it is set to retry when the computer is idle for "0 minutes" (oddly enough). Surely there must be some way for Windows to let me know what's keeping it from going to sleep, though? :-/ – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-12T10:20:53.570

My logic is powercfg / waketimes tells you what's waking. Task Scheduler allows you to adjust (disable) the task, hence 'Get the job done' that is bringing it out of sleep prematurely. – Guy Thomas – 2013-01-12T10:37:57.270

Thanks, Guy. The thing is that it's set to run the second the machine goes idle... So it should have definitely run long before the 30 mins timer tries to put it to sleep. – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-12T11:20:54.720

Hi, just thought I'd let you know that I'm still having the same problem and my WakeTimers are now completely empty :( – Django Reinhardt – 2013-01-21T15:25:16.043

Here are the steps to follow when you want to check which process is preventing your system from sleeping:

Open Command Prompt (Admin) [in Windows 8, right-click in the bottom-left corner]
Type powercfg /energy
Wait 60 seconds for it to finish
Open the folder c:\windows\system32
Sort the files in it on Date Modified
Copy the file energy-report.html to the desktop, then open it (with your web browser)
Read this document to find out which errors were reported as preventing the system from sleep
Try to fix those errors (search the web for "error xxx preventing sleep windows")

E.g. if the “print spooler” is reported to be preventing sleep, go to Devices & Printers control panel, open your printer device, and remove all unfinished print jobs from the queue (i.e. cancel all documents).

Paul Van Cotthem

Posted 2013-01-12T07:01:57.673

Reputation: 1