Herbie Murray
Computers can be unpredictable, and sometimes they just don't want to stay asleep. You can put your computer to sleep, only to be woken up by the screen lighting up in the middle of the night. This could be due to a number of reasons, such as a USB device, the keyboard, mouse, or even an external hard drive. It could also be due to a scheduled event or a power setting that needs to be adjusted. If you're experiencing this issue, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can take to diagnose and fix the problem, such as checking your device manager, updating BIOS and drivers, or changing power settings.
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What You'll Learn
Network adapters, mouse, keyboard, and ethernet connections can wake up a computer
A computer can be woken up from sleep mode by a variety of factors, including network adapters, mice, keyboards, and ethernet connections. To prevent these devices from waking up your computer, you can try several solutions.
Firstly, ensure that your PC has the "Wireless Display" feature installed. If it's still not working, update the "Network Adapters" drivers in the Device Manager and install any pending Windows updates. Outdated network, mouse, or keyboard drivers can cause issues with sleep mode, so keeping them updated is important.
If your computer is connected via Ethernet, you can open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager," find the Ethernet adapter under "Network Adapters," right-click, choose "Properties," and open the Power Management tab. Here, you can uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option. Alternatively, you can keep the box checked and select "Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer."
If your computer is connected via Wi-Fi, you can open the wireless adapter properties, enable the parent option, and then enable the "magic packet" option. This will allow your computer to wake up remotely while still in sleep mode.
Additionally, you can manually disable devices such as network adapters, mice, and keyboards in the Device Manager's Power Management tab. You can also disable "Wake Timers" in the advanced power settings to prevent Windows from waking up for its scheduled tasks.
It is important to note that some computers may have different settings and options, so the exact steps may vary. However, by following these general guidelines, you can prevent your computer from being woken up by network adapters, mice, keyboards, and ethernet connections.
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Windows Update can cause unwanted wakeups
To solve this problem, you can use Windows Update's built-in tools to more meticulously schedule updates and reboots. Set your Active Hours and defer updates until you have time to install them. In Windows 10, head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update to pause updates or change active hours.
You can also open the Start menu, search for "Automatic maintenance," and click Change Automatic Maintenance settings to open the Control Panel. From this menu, you can change the time this runs or prevent it from waking your computer altogether by unchecking the "Allow scheduled maintenance to wake up my computer at the scheduled time" box at the bottom.
Additionally, you can manually disable devices that may be causing the issue. Open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager," and find the Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter in question under Network Adapters. Right-click on it, choose Properties, and open the Power Management tab. Uncheck the "Allow This Device to Wake the Computer" option. Alternatively, you can keep that box checked and select "Only Allow a Magic Packet to Wake the Computer."
You can also adjust the wake timers on your computer. Open the Start menu, search for "Edit Power Plan," and click Change Advanced Settings in the Edit Plan Settings window. Head to Sleep > Allow Wake Timers and change Battery and Plugged In to Disabled. Repeat this process for all your power plans in the drop-down menu at the top.
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Wake-On-LAN can wake up computers remotely
Wake-on-LAN (WoL) is a networking standard that allows a computer to be turned on or woken up from a sleep or powered-off state remotely. This is done by sending a "magic packet" to the target computer's network adapter, which then signals the computer to power up. This can be done using a Wake-on-LAN app on another device, such as a phone or laptop, or by using software tools or command-line utilities.
To ensure Wake-on-LAN works, the network card of the computer being woken up needs to support the feature. Most modern Ethernet adapters support Wake-on-LAN, but wireless adapters rarely do. The BIOS and the operating system must also be configured to support Wake-on-LAN. In the BIOS, WoL is usually enabled in the power management settings. In the operating system, the network adapter properties should have the WoL feature enabled, allowing the adapter to respond to the magic packet.
There are various scenarios where WoL technology can be useful. For home setups, users can access files on a desktop from a laptop or mobile device. For business environments, IT professionals can perform maintenance, updates, or support tasks on computers outside of regular working hours without needing continuous access to the computers. This saves energy and reduces operational costs.
Wake-on-LAN can also be used to wake up a computer that is outside of the house, such as when on vacation or working remotely. This is known as Wake-on-WAN and involves sending the magic packet to the router's external IP address instead of the computer's internal IP address.
It is important to note that there may be times when you need to disable your computer's fast startup feature or adjust certain settings to make Wake-on-LAN work properly. Additionally, to wake up the computer quickly without scanning each time, you can set a static IP address for the computer from the router.
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Powercfg -lastwake can identify the device causing the wake-up event
If your computer wakes up randomly from sleep mode, you can use the command "powercfg /lastwake" to identify the device or event that caused the last wake-up. This command will show the "Wake History Count", "Wake History", and "Wake Source Count". You can then check the "Instance Path" to identify where the wake-up originated from, such as a USB or PCI port. Additionally, you can look under "Type" to determine the nature of the cause, which is typically a device or a wake timer.
For example, one user discovered that their computer was waking up due to an "Intel(R) I211 Gigabit Network Connection", which is the Ethernet port that connects the computer to the internet. In this case, the user could fix the issue by opening the Device Manager, right-clicking on the Ethernet adapter, choosing Properties, and unchecking the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option in the Power Management tab.
Another common cause of random wake-ups is wake timers, which are scheduled events that are allowed to wake the computer. To prevent wake timers from waking your computer, you can disable the feature completely by opening the Power Options, clicking on "Change plan settings", selecting "Change advanced power settings", choosing "Sleep", and then disabling "Allow wake timers".
If you are unable to identify the device causing the wake-up event using "powercfg /lastwake", you can try using other commands such as "powercfg /waketimers" or "powercfg /devicequery wake_armed". Additionally, you can check the Windows Event Viewer to see all the times your computer woke up recently and the corresponding causes.
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Wake timers can be disabled to prevent computers from waking up
If your computer keeps waking up from sleep mode, there are a few settings you can tweak to fix the problem. Wake timers are scheduled events that are allowed to wake your computer. To disable wake timers, follow these steps:
For Windows 10:
- Go to Control Panel > System Security > Change when the computer sleeps > Change advanced power settings > Sleep > Allow wake timers > Change to Disable > Apply.
- Open the Start menu, search for "Edit Power Plan," and click on "Change advanced settings" in the Edit Plan Settings window.
- Head to Sleep > Allow Wake Timers and change Battery and Plugged In to Disabled. Repeat this process for all power plans in the drop-down menu.
- Open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager," and find the device in the resulting list.
- Right-click on the device, select Properties, and then the Power Management tab.
- Uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option and click OK.
For Windows 11:
- Open the Start menu, search for "Edit Power Plan," and click Change Advanced Settings in the Edit Plan Settings window.
- Head to Sleep > Allow Wake Timers and change Battery and Plugged In to Disabled. Repeat this process for all power plans in the drop-down menu.
- Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update to pause updates or change active hours.
Disabling wake timers will prevent your computer from waking up from sleep mode. However, this setting may affect all wake timers, so you may need to experiment with different settings to find what works best for you.
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Frequently asked questions
There are several reasons why your computer might be waking up from sleep mode. It could be due to a USB device, such as your mouse or keyboard, or a scheduled event that is allowed to wake your machine.
On a Windows PC, you can open the Command Prompt and run the command "powercfg /lastwake" to see which device last woke up your computer.
You can try unplugging all USB devices before putting your computer to sleep to identify the offending device. Once you've found it, you can disable its ability to wake up the computer in the Device Manager settings.
You can disable wake timers in the advanced power settings. Open the Start menu, search for "Edit Power Plan," click on "Change advanced settings," go to "Sleep," and disable "Allow Wake Timers" for both battery and plugged-in power modes.
You can try entering the BIOS setup and disabling USB waking or checking for any "Wake On..." settings that might be causing the issue. Additionally, make sure your BIOS and drivers are up to date.
