So playing around with Windows 7 has been fun, but there are a few quirks. For example, on one of my laptops, Windows 7 does not go to Sleep mode. It looks like it is about to go to sleep, but instead wakes up immediately.
Other times it sleeps, but wakes up randomly even though I didn’t open the computer. And sometimes, just to be difficult, it doesn’t go to sleep at all! If you are having sleep mode problems with Windows 7, you’re not alone.
There are a few ways you can try to solve this unable to sleep problem in Windows 7. I’ll go through all the steps below.
Method 1 – Update Drivers
The very first thing you want to do if Windows 7 is not going to sleep is to update all the drivers, especially for your video card. You can either run Windows update or go to the website for your hardware manufacturer and download them there. I would recommend the latter.
Method 2 – Configure Power Option Settings
If that didn’t work for you, the next thing to do is to make sure your Power settings are configured properly.
First, click Start, then type power sleep in the search box and click on Change when the computer sleeps.
Now, change the value of Put the computer to sleep to something new like 15 minutes or 30 minutes, but do NOT set it to Never.
Next click on the Change advanced power settings link at the bottom. Go ahead and expand Sleep and then expand Allow waker timers. Make sure this is set to Disable.
Scroll more and expand Multimedia settings, then expand When sharing media, and select Allow the computer to sleep.
Method 3 – Disable wake up computer devices
If the first two methods didn’t work, your issue might be caused by devices that automatically wake up your computer. You can try disabling the devices that might be waking your computer.
Click on Start, type CMD and then right-click on CMD and choose Run as administrator.
Now type the following command which will list out all the devices that can wake up your Windows 7 computer.
Powercfg -devicequery wake_armed
Now you can disable a device by typing in the following command and replacing devicename with the name of the device listed previously:
Powercfg -devicedisablewake “devicename“
Image Source: Microsoft
You can also prevent the devices from waking a Windows 7 computer using Device Manager. Go to the Control Panel, click on Hardware and Sound and then click on Device Manager.
Expand the device you want to disable and right-click on it and choose Properties.
Click on the Power Management tab and uncheck the Allow this device to wake the computer box.
Hopefully, if you’ve been having this problem in Windows 7, these solutions will fix it! If not, post a comment and I will try to help! Enjoy!
I tried all the above solutions for Windows 7 but it has still not solved the sleeping problem. Could you please provide with more assistance.
If my windows 7 desktop is NOT going to sleep when it should, what can I do. when I run powercfg, it is showing me a few items such as:SB 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 PCIVEN_10DE&DEV_07FE
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 4, function 0
Device ID USBVID_10DE&PID_07FE
What do I do further to troubleshoot. Thanks
I've tried all these, but I cant execute the command. I always get an error. The problem is the Microsoft USB IR remote!
Whenever I try to disable it using the powercfg command, it gives me some strange error. any idea?
thanks
I am running windows 7 64 bit and I have a problem with sleep. The computer won't automatically go to sleep. The monitor will turn off but the system stays on. I can manually sleep the computer fine. It will stay sleeping until I wake it. However when I set the timer in the power options to sleep after xx minutes it never goes to sleep on its own.
fab
Thanks for the help – item 3 worked & did the trick, after a complete failure of help from Microsoft, whose Laser keyboard/mouse kit caused the problem.
Thanks, this worked for me!
Having exact same problem as "fab Said." Windows 7 64 bit won’t automatically go to sleep. I can manually sleep the computer fine. It will stay sleeping until I wake it. However, when I set the timer in the power options to sleep after xx minutes, it never goes to sleep on its own. Tried all suggestions.
Windows update fixed the problem for one day and then the problem re-occurred even though I made no power settings changes.
Hi.
I was having the same issue. Went through all the motions with no success until I changed one little setting. Hit window>type power options> select "change plan settings" from the right of your selected power plan> select "change advanced power settings"> scroll to usb settings> usb selective suspend setting>disable.
I did this after I updated bios/drivers and verified they were functioning properly. Also after making certain that it wasn't a program or a device causing the wake.
Also, make sure sleep states are enabled in bios, but research this first before messing with unknown settings.
Thanks for the help. Ditto what "SageDesign" said. Method 3 worked, although my problem was due to the Network Adapter running, as opposed to the wireless mouse/keyboard.
Windows 7 was randomly waking several times a day/night. Tried method 2 as described and now all is OK. Thank you for such a clear solution to what was a very annoying problem.
Great stuff. Thanks a lot.
I had Win 7 sleep problems. I did all the recommended steps to fix the problem without success. The problem got fixed with the installation of Win 7 Service Pack 1.
Re-configuring sleep settings is not a good way to try to solve this issue. You can restore sleep defaults. Also, these issues can simply mean installing driver updates for your mainboard/chipset or bios (if it is out of date).
Windows 7 – It was the Microsoft wireless mouse that was preventing with dim, monitor off, and sleep. I confirmed this by unplugging the USB receiver/transmitter.
Unfortunately, none of the settings suggested here make it start working, including unmarking the "allow it to wake computer" in Device Manager. It remains stuck in the highly annoying situation of the computer and monitor staying on in high power forever unless change is manually commanded.
Success was found by disabling the devices. Thanks very much.
i followed your steps to make my computer sleep on its own, like it used to about a month ago – but to no avail.
at least i followed all of them except for the replacing device names, which i have to idea on how to do that.
anyway, i guess i could just try to remember to do it manually every night.
thank you!
debra
Thanks for sharing the last step. Now I know that USB peripherals can wake the computer. So when inserting a USB, be sure to check it’s properties and uncheck the “Allow device to wake the computer.”
i have tried all of these and even disabled all items in startup to no avail. i also notice that my hard drive led blinks once a second and i think this is the culprit.
Having exact same problem as “fab” 2010-01-25 and “rar33013″ 2010-12-12.
With Windows 7/64, Power Options used to make the display and computer sleep until some months ago when it won’t automatically go to sleep. I can still manually sleep/wake the computer fine. Tried all suggestions to no avail.