Windows 8.1 Pro desktop goes to sleep within a few minutes of being idle

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JohnMay2014

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Hi all,

This is making me frustrated.My win8.1 pro desktop system,is going to sleep after a few mins of staying idle.I was having windows 7 before this and I never faced any issue.It was recently that I upgraded my OS to windows 8.1 pro.

By staying idle, I mean, I am reading some newspaper or some pdf file or something like that online without any activitiy on the keyboard.After a few mins, it automatically goes into sleep mode. This is making me mad, as I could be in the middle of something while reading documents and it goes into sleep. Please help.
In the power options, I have changed it to High Performance plan, I have verified that, "Turn of Display" and "Put the computer to sleep" options are "Never". When I click on "Advanced Power Settings" , I can see that , under sleep, "sleep after" is never. Allow Hybrid sleep is "Off". Hibernate after is "Never". Please help.

I just wanted to add, that the event viewer shows the following entries...

The system is entering sleep.
Sleep Reason: System Idle

The kernel power manager has initiated a shutdown transition.

The system firmware has changed the processor's memory type range registers (MTRRs) across a sleep state transition (S4). This can result in reduced resume performance.

The system has returned from a low power state.
Sleep Time: ‎2014‎-‎06‎-‎21T05:51:33.970250600Z
Wake Time: ‎2014‎-‎06‎-‎21T05:52:23.968079800Z
 
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dodger46

dodger46

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Nov 19, 2011
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Might be a fault with your Windows Installation, can only suggest some diagnostics...
First try System File Checker
Winkey plus 'X'
Choose Command Prompt (Admin)
Type sfc /scannow then Enter

It finds and fixes errors in Windows, but doesn't always report them. Run it and see if the fault disappears after re-booting your system
If corrupt files are found that can’t be fixed, try

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

In fact run it anyway, even if SFC finds nothing.

Re-run SFC

To view CBS Log

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txt

Search C drive for sfcdetails.txt or navigate to C:\Windows\System32 and scroll down.
 
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JohnMay2014

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I ran sfc scan, It found some errors and fixed it, I reran it. But still the OS shuts down within a few mins of being idle.I cannot read anything without fear of when it will go into sleep state.
 
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JohnMay2014

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Sorry, I didn't see that. I just started Dism now. Thanks. I hope that will fix it.
 
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JohnMay2014

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After running DISM, I got the message,
"The restore operation completed successfully. The component store corruption was
repaired.
The operation completed successfully.",

But within a few mins of being idle, the system went to idle state. I was downloading something, and that also stopped. Now I have to restart it and keep moving the mouse every now and the, I hate Microsoft. I am going back to windows 7 if this cannot be fixed.
 
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dodger46

dodger46

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Very unusual and totally frustrating.
Try typing 'Troubleshoot' at your Start Screen until Troubleshooting appears, and select it. Then choose System & Security followed by Power. Run the Troubleshooter.

I take it the System performed OK whilst using 8, the only obvious next step if Troubleshoot fails would be to revert to 8 and leave it at that. It is supported until 2018 to the best of my belief, and for most an improvement on 7.
You could try System Refresh and Reset, either way you'll need to re-install your software and a Reset will remove your Data too. I'm not sure either will work once the upgrade to 8.1 has completed.
A thought...you might get out of this situation by creating a new Administration Account. If that is successful and it doesn't sleep after a few minutes perhaps you could remove the original account and then restore it assuming it is a M'soft Account. Worth a try. Whatever you do, back up your Data!
 
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JohnMay2014

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Hi dodger,

Thanks for all the tips.

I ran the troubleshooter, all it did was reset the time the display went to sleep and reset the time the computer went to sleep which is what i did not want.

Unfortunately, previous to Win8.1, I wasn't using Win8. I was using Win7. So if I have to revert, it will be to Win7.

I really dont want to do a system refresh/reset as there are lots of software which are installed for which I spent several hours.

Also thanks for the tip on admin account. Well actually, I am the administrator of the system!

Ok, these are some observations.

If I wake the PC from sleep by touching keyboard then it goes to sleep in 2 mins
But If I use the power button to wake the PC, it does not go to sleep.

So, I downloaded a software called Insomnia for testing. This time, when I wake up the PC using keyboard and run the Insomnia software, it does not go to sleep.

So I guess my options are to always use power button to start up.Incase, I use the keyboard to awaken the PC, I have to remember to quickly open the Insomnia application to prevent the sleep mode.
Thanks again for the tips
 
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dodger46

dodger46

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Ah. when you said you 'Upgraded' I assumed from 8, so 8.1 was a clean install, then? Or did you upgrade from 7 to 8 using an upgrade disk then to 8.1? Meanwhile what I meant by creating a new account was literally that, a whole, new account as Administrator in a new name to see if the fault persists when logged in to the new account. Then, if the fault disappears, remove the original account from the new one (You can as it's an Admin Account). From there you could either continue with the new account, or create a new Microsoft Account with a different email address rather than revert to the original in case the settings retained by M'soft include the dodgy Sleep setting.
Anyway, something to consider if you get fed up with your present workaround, and you wouldn't lose your installed Software...
 
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JohnMay2014

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Hi dodger,

sorry for the late reply. Yes, 8.1 was a clean install. I had windows 7, then I formatted system and installed 8.1 pro.Sure I will try the admin account tip when I get fed up with this workaround. But frankly speaking, I feel a multibillion dollar company (you know who) have not done their testing well.

 
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dodger46

dodger46

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For your Info, you don't have to revert all the way back to 7 if you want to re-install W8, provided you have or created Installation media for the upgrade you can use it to clean install. Simply boot from the disk/drive and choose Custom Install,
and if it doesn't Activate, perform a Refresh with the Installation Media still in place and on completion Windows will be activated...
 
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paulocosme

paulocosme

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hello

"The system firmware has changed the processor's memory type range registers (MTRRs) across a sleep state transition (S4)"

S4 is an intel power state so maybe you have to disable in your BIOS something so it doesn´t shut your windows down.

https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2007/01/10/all-about-system-power-states-s0-s5

"System Power State S4 the Hibernate state: The system consumes the least power compared to all other sleep states. The system is almost at an OFF state, expect for a trickle power. The context data is written to hard drive (disk)and there is no context retained"
 
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JohnMay2014

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Thanks for your reply. I posted this in another forum, http://www.eightforums.com/general-support/48458-windows-8-1-goes-sleep-within-few-mins-please-help.html. At the end of the post, I was asked to try a registry key setting. I did that. It was working. I removed that. It was still working. It's been a month and it is still working fine. I don't know what adding and removing that registry key did, but it did work. thanks for this tip. If by chance, the issue crops up, i will check your solution out.
 
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RezzZ

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@JohnMay2014 thanks for sharing this!

My old Vaio notbook with Win10 had the same issue. Two minutes inactivity and the laptop went into sleep mode even though the power configuration allowed sleep only after one hour of inactivity when connected to power (which it was). I imported the registry file for "System unattended sleep timeout", updated the number from 2mins to 60 minutes for all power profiles (just in case) and removed the registry settings afterwards with the other registry file.
Now the laptop stays alive again.

Thanks again for sharing.
 
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