Windows 8.1 Ignores power settings and hibernates after 5 minutes

kcr

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
3
0
10,510
My PC ignores all power settings and hibernates after approx 5 minutes of user inactivity. It is a Dell Vostro 200, which I had been running successfully on Windows 8 Pro. The problem appears to have been the result of upgrading to Windows 8.1.

Regardless of the power scheme settings, the PC goes into hibernation after 5 minutes of "inactivity"; i.e. if there is no user keyboard or mouse input. The hibernation also ignores most background processes, so it will go into hibernation even if I am streaming internet radio. I use Windows Home Server, and the daily backup process is currently failing because the PC wakes up to start the backup, but hibernates after 5 minutes, in the middle of the backup process.
The only exception I can find is YouTube - hibernation does not occur if I watch a video longer than 5 minutes, even if there is no user input.

I have tried various suggestions from other forums, without success:
The video drivers up to date.
BIOS is up to date, and ACPI is set to S3.
I have run power settings troubleshooter which reset power settings to "Balanced".
I have tried setting power to "Always on"
I have tried a clean boot process, disabling all start ups and other services, but the problem still occurs

As noted above, the PC was previously working fine, and the only change I can identify is applying the Windows 8.1 upgrade.
Does anyone have any ideas how I can resolve this, or any suggestions for debugging the cause, please?
Thanks
 
1.) Go to Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Power Options
2.) Click on "Change plan settings"
3.) Click on "Change advanced power settings"
4.) Click the "+" next to "Sleep"
5.) Click the "+" next to "Hibernate after"
6.) Change setting to "Never"

 

kcr

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
3
0
10,510


Thanks for the reply. This did not make any difference. The PC still hibernates after 5 minutes.
 

kcr

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
3
0
10,510
Hello,
I was a bit hasty on your first suggestion. It appears that typing "Never" into the "Hibernate after" field did have an affect, I think possibly after a reboot. I was away for a few days and returned to find the PC on, presumably after waking up for a scheduled backup and then staying on. I confirmed that it was staying awake under this setting.
I then reset the Hibernate to 15 minutes and tried the Hard disk setting of "Never". Under these conditions, the original problem reoccurs - the PC hibernates after 5 minutes.
So the power profile does seem to have some effect under certain settings.