SIGH.....now the Windows won't sleep automatically......

Just started last night.
Running Win7....Avast [paid*]...malwarebytes [paid]...CCleaner.
Not seeing anything that upgraded/updated since yesterday.
Have a wireless mouse and keyboard....maybe a year old.
It will manually go to sleep.

Used method two here
helpdeskgeek.com...
No help.

Any ideas???


*got a discounted version for this year....not seeing any advantage, really....and I'm not using all the bells and whistles....most are disabled.

I have noticed that some programs (media players) prevent even the screen-saver from being activated, could be something like that?

a reply to: ArMaP

I dunno.....I have the advance settings to allow media to allow sleep...as described in Method two in my link above.
And....it would be something that started on it's own....nothing new being used.

Don't listen to vids or music much....occasionally YT or Amazon Music.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

It could be avast that's stopping it from sleeping. Avast is constantly "working" so would, in theory, prevent the sleep function.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Have you tried going to Control Panel - System And Security - Power Options? When you click on Power Options it should take you to a new page. On that new page there is a panel on the left with links. One of those links is the link to control when the computer goes to sleep, it should say something like, "Change when the computer sleeps". Try that and let us know if it works or not.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

This might help.

a reply to: Hefficide

hmmmm.....I unplugged and replugged the wireless mouse/keyboard thingy...maybe that is it....


ETA
NOPE!!!!!!



a reply to: Voyaging

Thanks....that is set up properly.

I found avast WAY to spammy, it's a good AV but its best to use the free version every couple of weeks and remove it once you're finished,

I just use the free version of superantispyware and malwarebytes, Thats the only 2 you need to keep your computer clean as a whistle, Oh and Ccleaner every once in awhile.

Have you updated your drivers recently? A programme i found just recently is called slimware utilities, It searches your computer to see which drivers are out of date and downloads and updates them, its simple to use but if you have a lot of outdated drivers it might take a half day to download and install them all but it's worth doing...

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

You're welcome, been using Windows all my life, so if you need any other help, just let me know and I will try to help

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I've had this happen too. Once I started putting it to sleep manually, it fixed itself.
(Things have to fix themselves around this place). lol!

Once I lost my refresh button. Once I lost the pinned sites at the bottom of the page. I don't know why. They fixed themselves. My computer has a will to live apparently. Bless it.

a reply to: angeldoll

I have had that kind of thing fix itself before....so hoping that happens with me.
I personally think my AV is getting too big for it's britches......

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

It could be that a failing hardware device is firing off a hardware interrupt.

Try removing all removable bits and pieces and see if the system will sleep properly. If it does, re-add them one at a time till you find the cuprit. If you don't find the culprit, it might have been a bad connection in the first place & you've fixed it.

a reply to: chr0naut

It will sleep properly if I do it manually, so might that still be the issue?

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: chr0naut

It will sleep properly if I do it manually, so might that still be the issue?

It depends on the priority of the interrupt. If it is handled early, it should not be able to be pre-empted by a keypress. If it is late/low priority, a keypress should override it.

(BTW hardware interrupts (except the NMI) are virtualised in Windows, which makes them maskable so that the OS can deal with more important things and multitask properly, but a physical interrupt assertion is still queueable).

a reply to: chr0naut

I suspect my AV is causing issues....the auto sleep on the desktop and the Windows Defender being blocked on the laptop.
We know the AV is causing the Defender blockage.

This all started in the last few days....since the last update for AVAST

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Are you using a laptop or a PC? I ask because sometimes, the laptop might have different settings depending on if you are using battery power or not.

Windows Defender shouldn't be causing the problem, as my pc falls asleep with it. Avast might, as I've had nothing but problems with it (that and Trend Micro...).

-foss

a reply to: fossilera

The laptop has issues with Avast and Windows Defender...Defender worked perfectly when Avast was uninstalled.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The desktop has the sleep issue which I cannot pinpoint....but may be related to the same AV.

Both issues have started since the last upgrade of Avast.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Are you running defender AND avast at the same time?

If you are, they could quite possibly be causing a conflict with one another.

a reply to: TerryDon79

I was under the impression they should be able to run together?
And, up until now, there's been no conflict.....like for two-three years.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

You shouldn't ever run 2 AVs together. Believe it or not, they can actually make each other ineffective.

Also, I find defender utter rubbish.

I run Windows firewall, a custom configured linksys firewall (a physical box), Avast, malwarebytes (the free one is fine) and run CCleaner every 2 days.