Windows 10 Woes: Spontaneous Sleep Mode
Here is another annoying issue that happens, particularly with older laptops on Windows 10; The Unattended Idle Timeout Power Settings problem. You have a multitude of power settings in Windows 10. Yet, you can set them all to never timeout, but somehow, in a matter of a few seconds, your computer starts to shut down into sleep mode. You don’t want it to go to sleep. In fact, you wanted it to stay on because you were downloading a large file. All you did was turn around to grab a cup of coffee, and then, Voila! Your laptop shuts down. So, how do you fix your Windows 10 PC from spontaneously going into sleep mode? By activating the Unattended Timeout power option.
It does not help that Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, hides useful tools in their operating system from the average user. You will see what I mean in a minute. But, enough griping. After all, we can go on all day about the flaws of Windows 10. So, let’s get to fixing this issue.
Symptom: From Power options, both On Battery and Plugged In power options are set to never OR over 1 hour, but the computer still goes into sleep mode or hibernation mode within a few minutes.
Solution: After trying several settings, this seemed to be the one that worked 100% of the time. You will need to go into the system registry and activate the “System unattended sleep timeout” option for the Sleep mode in Power Settings. Don’t worry, here is the step by step to do this:
First, here is what your sleep setting may look like in your Advanced Power options if Unattended Sleep Timeout is not active. And, by default, its not.
1) Windows logo key + S -> Type Regedit -> Right-click on Registry Editor -> Run as Administrator.
2) For safety, make a back up of your Registry by doing the following: In Regedit, click on File -> EXPORT. Then select a directory to put the file. I suggest naming it ‘Registry Backup’ and naming the file: Registry.reg.
Example: Registry10102019.reg
Then click, SAVE to save the file.
3) Within Regedit, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0
4) Right-click Attributes, and select Modify.
5) Change the Value Data Field -> 2, and click OK in the dialog box.
6) Exit Regedit.
7) Click on the Win key -> Type Power Options -> Open Power Options -> Selected Plan -> Change Plan Settings -> Change Advanced Power Settings
8) Click on Change Settings that are Currently Unavailable.
Navigate to -> Sleep -> System Unattended Sleep Timeout, then set your preferred settings.
9) Click OK in the dialog box to save your power settings and make sure you are using that profile in our Power Plan.
That is it! Your done. Now your system should not shutdown arbitrarily when you reach for your coffee.
