Vista - Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up

**Brink** · **Registry Key** **Power Plan**

How to Change the Return to Sleep Timeout for a Unattended Wake Up in Vista

Information

This will show you how to change how long Vista will wait to go back to sleep mode automatically after waking up unattended and idle. The default time is 120 seconds (2 minutes).

Note

If the computer wakes up from sleep mode and is used by you and not idle, then Vista will not go back to sleep mode after this timeout period. Instead it will use the time period you set in Power Options. For more on Power Options, see STEP TWO here: How to Troubleshoot a Vista Sleep Mode Problem and Find a Solution
This will also affect how long you have to enter your password if you have enabled the Password Protection on wakeup option. For more about this, see: How to Disable or Enable Password Protection on Wakeup in Vista

RELATED LINKS:

Here's How:

1. Open the Start Menu.

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

3. If prompted, click on Continue in the UAC prompt.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0\DefaultPowerSchemeValues

5. In the left pane, click on the triangle to expand DefaultPowerSchemeValues. (See screenshot above)

6. Click on the key (see table tip below) that is for the Power Plan that you want to change the wait time for. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: Normally, you would just do this for the Power Plan that you have selected (see tip below). If you have more than one user, then you may also want to include their Power Plan, or all of them.

Tip

Registry Key Power Plan
381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e Balanced
8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c High performance
a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a Power saver
Not an available option Created Custom Power Plan
NOTE: For more about how to see and change a Power Plan, see STEP TWO here: How to Troubleshoot a Vista Sleep Mode Problem and Find a Solution

7. In the right pane, right click on ACSettingIndex (while on AC power) or DCSettingIndex (while on battery power) and click on Modify. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You can choose to do this with one or both of these for what you want the timeout period to be for them.

8. Dot Decimal, and type in how many seconds you want Vista to wait to go back to sleep automatically after an unattended wakeup. (See screenshot below step 9)
NOTE: The default time is 120 seconds.

9. Click OK or press Enter.

10. Close regedit.

11. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply.

That's it,
Shawn

.

**Oldroser** · 10-11-2008

Nice to see such a time switch exists. I shut the lid on my laptop, it wakes up and new shuts down again. Or is this when you have set it to sleep after a certain idle time and that sleep is different. I have done all suggested in your excellent tutorials and still it wakes up. Microsoft help said he couldn't help me any more, except to refer me higher which would cost me money. Network adapter waking laptop from sleep?

The Optomize__Power document from Microsoft I found, he said only referred to sleep after idle, not when I shut the lid, which sounds silly to me. It says,

Quote:

Wake on Timer

Windows Vista systems are capable of waking from Sleep due to a timer event, such as a scheduled task or Windows Media Center television recording. The wake on timer feature enables the power manager to program the platform timer alarm to wake the system at a predetermined future time, based on requests from applications and services.
The global ability for the system to wake from timer is controlled in Windows Vista power policy. By default, the ability to wake from Sleep on timer is enabled for all power plans and both AC and DC power states.
Friendly name
Allow wake on timer
Description
Allow Windows to automatically wake your computer from sleep on a timer for scheduled tasks and other programs.
GUID
bd3b718a-0680-4d9d-8ab2-e1d2b4ac806d
Symbol
GUID_WAKE_ON_TIMER
Defined in
Ntpoapi.h
Balanced defaults
Enabled (AC)
Enabled (DC)

The Windows power manager programs the platform timer alarm when the system enters the Sleep state. Disabling wake on timer for DC power prevents the power manager from programming the platform timer alarm if the system is on DC power when the computer enters Sleep. Similarly, disabling wake on timer for AC power prevents the power manager from programming the platform timer alarm when the system is on AC power and enters a Sleep state.
Disabling wake on timer can help extend usable mobile PC battery life by preventing the system from automatically waking from Sleep and allowing the system to wake from Sleep only when the user is ready to interact with the system again. System manufacturers designing ultraportable laptops for business and productivity use may want to disable the wake on timer policy.
However, it is important to note that if wake on timer is disabled, the following Windows functionality are not available on the system:
·Hibernate idle time-out.
·Windows Media Center television recording.
·Scheduled tasks that are programmed to wake the computer from the Sleep state.
·Automatic checks for new Windows Update if the preconfigured time occurs when the system is in the Sleep state.
·Any other program or service that attempts to schedule a wakeable timer via the SetWaitableTimer API.

How do you disable this sucker, if it does apply to the sleep when you shut the lid?

**Brink** · 10-11-2008

Hello Oldroser,

From this and your other post, you might check your BIOS power management settings to see if it may also contain a "Wake on LAN" type option that needs to be disabled.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

**Oldroser** · 10-11-2008

No, that's already been ruled out.

**Brink** · 10-11-2008

I'm afraid that I do not know what else to try with your particular problem other than the items listed in the tutorial below. Since it is related to the network waking up your laptop, you might post this question with all the details from both posts in the Network & Internet forum to see if someone may know of a solution for this for you.

Power Options and Sleep Mode Problems

I hope you get a solution soon,
Shawn

**Oldroser** · 10-16-2008

Well, after I re-enabled the "allow the computer to put this device to sleep to save power" on the USB hubs, which a Microsoft specialist working on this problem had disabled, it slept until I woke it up twice. Unfortunately, the third time it went to sleep but couldn't be awakened. Had to hit the power button to turn it off. Curse it!

matgray87 · 08-19-2009

Vista business laptops wake themselves up from Hibernation

read the response from GerogB...prevented unwanted wake-up from sleep/hibernate for me...

WildHare · 11-03-2009

Hey, can this be posted in Seven forums too? I just did it for Windows 7, and did it because I used this same tutorial last year for Vista to allow a program to start via scheduler from sleep mode, and stay running long enough to complete it's task - two minutes isn't long enough for iTunes to start and download podcasts.

Thanks for the great site(s) and great help!

**Brink** · 11-03-2009

Hello WildHare, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Sure thing. I'll get it added tonight sometime.

10-11-2008
Oldroser Vista Home Premium 32bit 12 posts	Re: Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up Nice to see such a time switch exists. I shut the lid on my laptop, it wakes up and new shuts down again. Or is this when you have set it to sleep after a certain idle time and that sleep is different. I have done all suggested in your excellent tutorials and still it wakes up. Microsoft help said he couldn't help me any more, except to refer me higher which would cost me money. Network adapter waking laptop from sleep? The Optomize__Power document from Microsoft I found, he said only referred to sleep after idle, not when I shut the lid, which sounds silly to me. It says, Quote: Wake on Timer Windows Vista systems are capable of waking from Sleep due to a timer event, such as a scheduled task or Windows Media Center television recording. The wake on timer feature enables the power manager to program the platform timer alarm to wake the system at a predetermined future time, based on requests from applications and services. The global ability for the system to wake from timer is controlled in Windows Vista power policy. By default, the ability to wake from Sleep on timer is enabled for all power plans and both AC and DC power states. Friendly name Allow wake on timer Description Allow Windows to automatically wake your computer from sleep on a timer for scheduled tasks and other programs. GUID bd3b718a-0680-4d9d-8ab2-e1d2b4ac806d Symbol GUID_WAKE_ON_TIMER Defined in Ntpoapi.h Balanced defaults Enabled (AC) Enabled (DC) The Windows power manager programs the platform timer alarm when the system enters the Sleep state. Disabling wake on timer for DC power prevents the power manager from programming the platform timer alarm if the system is on DC power when the computer enters Sleep. Similarly, disabling wake on timer for AC power prevents the power manager from programming the platform timer alarm when the system is on AC power and enters a Sleep state. Disabling wake on timer can help extend usable mobile PC battery life by preventing the system from automatically waking from Sleep and allowing the system to wake from Sleep only when the user is ready to interact with the system again. System manufacturers designing ultraportable laptops for business and productivity use may want to disable the wake on timer policy. However, it is important to note that if wake on timer is disabled, the following Windows functionality are not available on the system: ·Hibernate idle time-out. ·Windows Media Center television recording. ·Scheduled tasks that are programmed to wake the computer from the Sleep state. ·Automatic checks for new Windows Update if the preconfigured time occurs when the system is in the Sleep state. ·Any other program or service that attempts to schedule a wakeable timer via the SetWaitableTimer API. How do you disable this sucker, if it does apply to the sleep when you shut the lid?
My System Specs

10-11-2008
Brink Vista x64 Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 26,552 posts	Re: Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up Hello Oldroser, From this and your other post, you might check your BIOS power management settings to see if it may also contain a "Wake on LAN" type option that needs to be disabled. Hope this helps, Shawn
My System Specs

10-11-2008
Oldroser Vista Home Premium 32bit 12 posts	Re: Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up No, that's already been ruled out.
My System Specs

10-11-2008
Brink Vista x64 Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 26,552 posts	Re: Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up I'm afraid that I do not know what else to try with your particular problem other than the items listed in the tutorial below. Since it is related to the network waking up your laptop, you might post this question with all the details from both posts in the Network & Internet forum to see if someone may know of a solution for this for you. Power Options and Sleep Mode Problems I hope you get a solution soon, Shawn
My System Specs

10-16-2008
Oldroser Vista Home Premium 32bit 12 posts	Re: Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up Well, after I re-enabled the "allow the computer to put this device to sleep to save power" on the USB hubs, which a Microsoft specialist working on this problem had disabled, it slept until I woke it up twice. Unfortunately, the third time it went to sleep but couldn't be awakened. Had to hit the power button to turn it off. Curse it!
My System Specs

08-19-2009
matgray87 Vista 32bit 1 posts	Vista business laptops wake themselves up from Hibernation read the response from GerogB...prevented unwanted wake-up from sleep/hibernate for me...
My System Specs

11-03-2009
WildHare Vista Home Premium 64bit 1 posts	Re: Sleep Return Timeout for Unattended Wake Up Hey, can this be posted in Seven forums too? I just did it for Windows 7, and did it because I used this same tutorial last year for Vista to allow a program to start via scheduler from sleep mode, and stay running long enough to complete it's task - two minutes isn't long enough for iTunes to start and download podcasts. Thanks for the great site(s) and great help!
My System Specs

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