Windows 8.1 refuses to sleep

[dburne458]

Microsoft has changed how you close those apps from Win8 to Win8.1. In the past, you just pulled them down and they were closed. Now you need to pull them down, wait until they flip, and then let go of them for a proper shutdown of those apps. If you just pull them down and let go, they will disappear from the menu on the left, but if you look in Task Manager, you will see that they are still loaded. That's why I always press CTRL-SHIFT-ESC before I leave the PC to check if everything is closed properly. You can still force your PC to go to sleep, but after it has run a nightly task, it doesn't go to sleep again if any of those Metro Apps are still in Task Manager.

I am glad I saw this part as well, that I did not know. I did new system build recently and installed 8.1, I was wondering how come sometimes after closing an app in Metro it still showed running in task manager, or when I moved cursor to upper left corner in the Metro GUI, and sometimes they were closed instead.

Now I know, can mark that off the list of things that make me go hmmm.


Btw, my new system build so far has no problems with sleep, although the dang thing boots so fast with UEFI and SSD hard drive, don't really need it unless I just want to have some things on my desktop as was when I slept it.

 

[linw]

Thanks, Rudy. Didn't know about the app close change. Wonder how many other tricks are unknown to me!

 

[sygnus21]

well my issues are definitely related to my network cause if I disconnected the network cable from the PC it goes to sleep.

Now I just need to find what in the network is causing the sleep issue.

 

[Wynona]

Yeah that is a ton of stuff there. I don't know, guess I'll have to get use to manually putting it to sleep till a more reasonable solution can be found. It's frustrating because I built this new rig with Win 8 in mind. Between IE11 issues and now this BS which is posted all over the net, I may just dump 8 and go back to 7.

Don't really want to do that but these BS nagging issues are starting to build to a boiling point now

For awhile I had my dual boot system (7 & 8.1) on the desk beside this one, and went back to Win 7 every so often. Talk about your sloooooooooowwwwwwww moving systems! So, she's packed up ready for the move to another state in a few months.

Windows 7 was the best OS so far, except that Win 8's so much faster and I'm finally getting used to it. Once MS fixes the sleep issue, I'll put Windows 8.1 back on this system, but for now, Windows 8 works just fine.

 

[Hdgamer]

I have been trying everything I read on every forum to try to get my computer to go to sleep. I followed everything in this thread and nothing worked. I even installed MCE standby tool and watched the countdown to sleep and see it reset every couple seconds trying to close out programs, disconnect usb devices, etc to make it go to sleep. NOTHING. Finally today I noticed my western digital raptor drive that holds all my steam games on it has been very noisy so I disconnected it. Viola!!! Computer now goes to sleep. I don't think the drive was bad and maybe steam had nothing to do with it, maybe windows had installed something on the other drive that caused it to keep reading every few seconds and keeping the computer from entering sleep mode? I'm throwing this out there for an option for other people to try and see if that helps.

 

[bouldernerd]

I have been trying everything I read on every forum to try to get my computer to go to sleep. I followed everything in this thread and nothing worked. I even installed MCE standby tool and watched the countdown to sleep and see it reset every couple seconds trying to close out programs, disconnect usb devices, etc to make it go to sleep. NOTHING. Finally today I noticed my western digital raptor drive that holds all my steam games on it has been very noisy so I disconnected it. Viola!!! Computer now goes to sleep. I don't think the drive was bad and maybe steam had nothing to do with it, maybe windows had installed something on the other drive that caused it to keep reading every few seconds and keeping the computer from entering sleep mode? I'm throwing this out there for an option for other people to try and see if that helps.

I have tried all of the fixes discussed here and elsewhere over the last couple of months and have been disappointed in a day or two when they no longer worked. I hope your fix sticks! A few days ago my PC started sleeping reliably for a day and I had made no changes, then it stopped again. Very frustrating. I wish I cold remember to force sleep when I get up from my desk, but I usually forget. Very frustrating. I am skeptical that there will be a fix for this, but hopeful.

 

[sygnus21]

This is a definite sure fire way to get an idea what's causing it for sure... disconnect you cable or Wi-Fi service and if the PC sleeps, you know it's a network problem.

It's been stated here and elsewhere that 8.1 may have a bug with regards to networking issues which prevents PC's from sleeping. And that the best way to fix it is to have all systems leave the current Home Group and re-establish a new one with all computers on, and using the same password for all.

I've not re-established my home group yet, but I can say that since leaving home group Win 8.1 now sleeps without issue.

You can see these posts... Windows 8.1 Won't Sleep When Idle - Page 2 - Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support - Neowin Forums to get an idea what I'm talking about, including one by our very own johnpombrio - http://www.eightforums.com/general-...o-sleep-standby-automatically.html#post293284. Please read the thread though as some steps may be unnecessary or even work. BUT.... if your PC sleeps when disconnected from the network, it's definitely a network problem.

Good luck.

 

[johnpombrio]

This is a definite sure fire way to get an idea what's causing it for sure... disconnect you cable or Wi-Fi service and if the PC sleeps, you know it's a network problem.

It's been stated here and elsewhere that 8.1 may have a bug with regards to networking issues which prevents PC's from sleeping. And that the best way to fix it is to have all systems leave the current Home Group and re-establish a new one with all computers on, and using the same password for all.

I've not re-established my home group yet, but I can say that since leaving home group Win 8.1 now sleeps without issue.

You can see these posts... Windows 8.1 Won't Sleep When Idle - Page 2 - Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support - Neowin Forums to get an idea what I'm talking about, including one by our very own johnpombrio - http://www.eightforums.com/general-...o-sleep-standby-automatically.html#post293284. Please read the thread though as some steps may be unnecessary or even work. BUT.... if your PC sleeps when disconnected from the network, it's definitely a network problem.

Good luck.

Sygnus, the overriding symptom was indeed that unplugging or disabling the network adapter would let the computer sleep. However, there has been no firm proof that disabling Homegroup or any particular network setting (like disabling IPV6) is a permanent fix for the issue. I thought that was the case but the problem reoccurred a couple of days later. Right now, I have Homegroup running and my computer sleeps fine after the Dec 11th update from MS. I spent a LOT of time fooling with the network without any fix that worked for long. A symptom or cause that unplugging the network cable fixes it is still unknown.

 

[Hdgamer]

This is a definite sure fire way to get an idea what's causing it for sure... disconnect you cable or Wi-Fi service and if the PC sleeps, you know it's a network problem.

It's been stated here and elsewhere that 8.1 may have a bug with regards to networking issues which prevents PC's from sleeping. And that the best way to fix it is to have all systems leave the current Home Group and re-establish a new one with all computers on, and using the same password for all.

I've not re-established my home group yet, but I can say that since leaving home group Win 8.1 now sleeps without issue.

You can see these posts... Windows 8.1 Won't Sleep When Idle - Page 2 - Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support - Neowin Forums to get an idea what I'm talking about, including one by our very own johnpombrio - http://www.eightforums.com/general-...o-sleep-standby-automatically.html#post293284. Please read the thread though as some steps may be unnecessary or even work. BUT.... if your PC sleeps when disconnected from the network, it's definitely a network problem.

Good luck.

Leaving homegroup, and disconnecting my ethernet cables, and even disabling IPV6 did nothing on none of my computers. Was a dead end and computer still woudln't sleep. My one computer did sleep after disconnect the hdd though. I still think Windows was trying to access something off the drive keeping the pc in awake mode. Even the monitor wasn't turning off.

 

[Hdgamer]

This is a definite sure fire way to get an idea what's causing it for sure... disconnect you cable or Wi-Fi service and if the PC sleeps, you know it's a network problem.

It's been stated here and elsewhere that 8.1 may have a bug with regards to networking issues which prevents PC's from sleeping. And that the best way to fix it is to have all systems leave the current Home Group and re-establish a new one with all computers on, and using the same password for all.

I've not re-established my home group yet, but I can say that since leaving home group Win 8.1 now sleeps without issue.

You can see these posts... Windows 8.1 Won't Sleep When Idle - Page 2 - Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support - Neowin Forums to get an idea what I'm talking about, including one by our very own johnpombrio - http://www.eightforums.com/general-...o-sleep-standby-automatically.html#post293284. Please read the thread though as some steps may be unnecessary or even work. BUT.... if your PC sleeps when disconnected from the network, it's definitely a network problem.

Good luck.

Leaving homegroup, and disconnecting my ethernet cables, and even disabling IPV6 did nothing on none of my computers. Was a dead end and computer still woudln't sleep. My one computer did sleep after disconnect the hdd though. I still think Windows was trying to access something off the drive keeping the pc in awake mode. Even the monitor wasn't turning off.

Try using the MCE Standby tool, disconnect all usb devices and then hdd and see if the countdown still resets. If it does then it's something else deeper within windows, but if not you caught the problem. It's a usb device, driver for it, or hdd problem.

 

[David Bailey]

My Windows 8.1 Pro wmc goes to sleep at the designated time.

I did this:

Windows 8.1 won't sleep | fixedByVonnie

All but the Ethernet change.

I also did this:

Sleep and hibernation: frequently asked questions

A picture:



I tested it by setting it to sleep after 1 minute.
It took longer but it did go to sleep.

I disabled using a password on waking.

I just tested it again & it worked like a charm.

EDIT-- It took about 2 minutes.

Edit-2-- I set it for 1 hour & it went to sleep at exactly 1 hour.

Edit-3-- If you are on a network see the posts on resetting all the computers.

For the home user with 1 computer this seems to be a good solution.

 

[sygnus21]

This is a definite sure fire way to get an idea what's causing it for sure... disconnect you cable or Wi-Fi service and if the PC sleeps, you know it's a network problem.

It's been stated here and elsewhere that 8.1 may have a bug with regards to networking issues which prevents PC's from sleeping. And that the best way to fix it is to have all systems leave the current Home Group and re-establish a new one with all computers on, and using the same password for all.

I've not re-established my home group yet, but I can say that since leaving home group Win 8.1 now sleeps without issue.

You can see these posts... Windows 8.1 Won't Sleep When Idle - Page 2 - Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support - Neowin Forums to get an idea what I'm talking about, including one by our very own johnpombrio - http://www.eightforums.com/general-...o-sleep-standby-automatically.html#post293284. Please read the thread though as some steps may be unnecessary or even work. BUT.... if your PC sleeps when disconnected from the network, it's definitely a network problem.

Good luck.

Sygnus, the overriding symptom was indeed that unplugging or disabling the network adapter would let the computer sleep. However, there has been no firm proof that disabling Homegroup or any particular network setting (like disabling IPV6) is a permanent fix for the issue. I thought that was the case but the problem reoccurred a couple of days later. Right now, I have Homegroup running and my computer sleeps fine after the Dec 11th update from MS. I spent a LOT of time fooling with the network without any fix that worked for long. A symptom or cause that unplugging the network cable fixes it is still unknown.

Which is why I said read everything because things may not work. However I'm extremely confident the issue for most lays in networking; an issue Microsoft clearly needs to address, as I too think there's some type of bug somewhere.

At any rate for now I'm running without Home Group but that can't or wont last for long as I need my network up and running. I'll try setting up every thing at the same time and hope that sticks

Thanks.

 

[NCguy]

This is a definite sure fire way to get an idea what's causing it for sure... disconnect you cable or Wi-Fi service and if the PC sleeps, you know it's a network problem.

It's been stated here and elsewhere that 8.1 may have a bug with regards to networking issues which prevents PC's from sleeping. And that the best way to fix it is to have all systems leave the current Home Group and re-establish a new one with all computers on, and using the same password for all.

I've not re-established my home group yet, but I can say that since leaving home group Win 8.1 now sleeps without issue.

You can see these posts... Windows 8.1 Won't Sleep When Idle - Page 2 - Microsoft (Windows) Discussion & Support - Neowin Forums to get an idea what I'm talking about, including one by our very own johnpombrio - http://www.eightforums.com/general-...o-sleep-standby-automatically.html#post293284. Please read the thread though as some steps may be unnecessary or even work. BUT.... if your PC sleeps when disconnected from the network, it's definitely a network problem.

Good luck.

Sygnus, the overriding symptom was indeed that unplugging or disabling the network adapter would let the computer sleep. However, there has been no firm proof that disabling Homegroup or any particular network setting (like disabling IPV6) is a permanent fix for the issue. I thought that was the case but the problem reoccurred a couple of days later. Right now, I have Homegroup running and my computer sleeps fine after the Dec 11th update from MS. I spent a LOT of time fooling with the network without any fix that worked for long. A symptom or cause that unplugging the network cable fixes it is still unknown.

Which is why I said read everything because things may not work. However I'm extremely confident the issue for most lays in networking; an issue Microsoft clearly needs to address, as I too think there's some type of bug somewhere.

At any rate for now I'm running without Home Group but that can't or wont last for long as I need my network up and running. I'll try setting up every thing at the same time and hope that sticks

Thanks.

How about networking without homegroup?

 

[NCguy]

I want to solve this issue as much as anyone here and I dont plan to give up. I am a desktop user, I use a powerful pc, and I don't like wasting power.

FWIW, I recently built a new windows 8.1 core I7 haswell desktop pc with 12gb ram, 500 watt power supply, 3 monitors, 4TB harddrive, SSD, optical drives etc. I tested the pc power consumption when the pc was idle but not sleeping. To my amazement the power consumption was only 30 watts. So while I want to solve this it's good to know that it won't break the bank if it's not possible to solve it. I also realize that power consumption may not be the reason most people care about sleep.

 

[figorulz11]

Found a fix - although this may only apply to some.

Hi guys... good news well for some anyways..



I have just managed to find a fix myself FINALLY! (to do with the AMD Radeon 7730M graphics driver...)


I did a bit of digging around the internet and found this link:
AMD Radeon HD 7730M - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

which has seemed to solve my issue!


I only downloaded this link below and without having to reinstall anything and installed the file from AMD's Catalyst Display Driver site/software.

Desktop


My laptop now sleeps within 3 seconds and now wakes up within 1 second now .
I have Intel Graphics HD 4000 and AMD Radeon HD 7730M installed on my Dell 7520 15R SE with Windows 8.1
This may not help EVERYONE but hey it's worth a try.

P.S

Remember to not to update the driver when you are done. This will change the driver back to the original and "better" Microsoft driver.

I have read around 15 odd pages and felt like I was attached to this forum/thread so I signed up just now and posted my solution so hopefully this helps at-least ONE person.

 

[sygnus21]

How about networking without homegroup?

I don't think you can network on a home system without being in a home group. I'm not a network guru though.

That said, since leaving my home group, I can see any of my other systems on the network - to include my other two PCs' and my TV. So yeah, I need my home group back. I'll do that later on though.

@ NCguy, I too recently just built a Haswell system with Win 8.1 as the OS. See system specs. Anyway never had sleep issues under Windows 7. And though my laptop has 8.1 I never notice sleep issues because I usually just shut down after use or simply close the lid, so It's kind of hard to notice sleep issue there. Anyway looking at it now, it too may have sleep issues, but I just never noticed.

@ figorulz11, while yours seems to be driver related, most are network related. Point is, you fix may not be suitable for everyone here. However it is something to look at (driver issues).

Thanks

 

[NCguy]

How about networking without homegroup?

I don't think you can network on a home system without being in a home group. I'm not a network guru though.

That said, since leaving my home group, I can see any of my other systems on the network - to include my other two PCs' and my TV. So yeah, I need my home group back. I'll do that later on though.

@ NCguy, I too recently just built a Haswell system with Win 8.1 as the OS. See system specs. Anyway never had sleep issues under Windows 7. And though my laptop has 8.1 I never notice sleep issues because I usually just shut down after use or simply close the lid, so It's kind of hard to notice sleep issue there. Anyway looking at it now, it too may have sleep issues, but I just never noticed.

@ figorulz11, while yours seems to be driver related, most are network related. Point is, you fix may not be suitable for everyone here. However it is something to look at (driver issues).

Thanks

yes, you can network without homegroup but I don't think you can do both at the same time. I also don't know if you'll have sleep issues with standard networking - I kind of doubt it.

http://mobile.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-t...hare-folders-without-homegroups-in-windows-7/

 

[linw]

@NCguy. Of course you can have a network without homegroup. How do you think we did this before homegroup?? If you also have XP or Vista comps they can't join homegroups so you have to do it the old-fashioned way!

Never used homegroups, myself, as I prefer to have manual control. I also have an XP and Vista comp here.

 

[NCguy]

@NCguy. Of course you can have a network without homegroup. How do you think we did this before homegroup?? If you also have XP or Vista comps they can't join homegroups so you have to do it the old-fashioned way!

Never used homegroups, myself, as I prefer to have manual control. I also have an XP and Vista comp here.

read the thread. I wasn't the one saying this couldn't be done. I was the one saying it could.

 

[sygnus21]

How about networking without homegroup?

I don't think you can network on a home system without being in a home group. I'm not a network guru though.

That said, since leaving my home group, I can see any of my other systems on the network - to include my other two PCs' and my TV. So yeah, I need my home group back. I'll do that later on though.

@ NCguy, I too recently just built a Haswell system with Win 8.1 as the OS. See system specs. Anyway never had sleep issues under Windows 7. And though my laptop has 8.1 I never notice sleep issues because I usually just shut down after use or simply close the lid, so It's kind of hard to notice sleep issue there. Anyway looking at it now, it too may have sleep issues, but I just never noticed.

@ figorulz11, while yours seems to be driver related, most are network related. Point is, you fix may not be suitable for everyone here. However it is something to look at (driver issues).

Thanks

yes, you can network without homegroup but I don't think you can do both at the same time. I also don't know if you'll have sleep issues with standard networking - I kind of doubt it.

How to share folders without homegroups in Windows 7 - PC Advisor

It was me who said that. That said...

I already know how to share folders. However I prefer Home Group because of the flexibility it affords me. However as I've stated, I've not yet looked into re-establishing my Home Group setup but it is my hope that re-establishing it will fix my sleep issue. But, yeah, I could share folders, haven't tested to see if the sleep issue come back, but I prefer Home Group.

Thanks

Oh, and what do you mean by this.... "I also don't know if you'll have sleep issues with standard networking" ??? While all of my PC's are on the same network, since removing my PC from Home Group, no sleep issues.