Windows 7 sleep mode

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I have switched keyboards from the cheap Compaq keyboard that came with my computer to the Microsoft comfort curve 3000 keyboard. My question is that the Microsoft keyboard doesn’t have the sleep key on it like the compaq did. So when I take my computer out of sleep I have to press the power button on the computer. Is there a way to set a hotkey or shortcut key on the MS keyboard to do the same function as the compag sleep key (the little moon symbol)??? I would like another option as I believe it is easier on the computer using a keyboard key rather then the power button on the Computer. Thanks.

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I have switched keyboards from the cheap Compaq keyboard that came with my computer to the Microsoft comfort curve 3000 keyboard. My question is that the Microsoft keyboard doesn’t have the sleep key on it like the compaq did. So when I take my computer out of sleep I have to press the power button on the computer. Is there a way to set a hotkey or shortcut key on the MS keyboard to do the same function as the compag sleep key (the little moon symbol)??? I would like another option as I believe it is easier on the computer using a keyboard key rather then the power button on the Computer. Thanks.

Check the ‘Power Management’ tab of your keyboard’s properties in Device Manager. Ensure that ‘Allow this device to wake the computer’ is checked. This way, pressing any key on the keyboard will bring the computer out of sleep mode. The ‘sleep’ button is meant to put the computer to sleep when pressed. You may also want to check if your mouse is set to wake your computer. I turn this off as it’s very easy to inadvertently wake the computer by nudging the mouse.

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Check the ‘Power Management’ tab of your keyboard’s properties in Device Manager. Ensure that ‘Allow this device to wake the computer’ is checked. This way, pressing any key on the keyboard will bring the computer out of sleep mode. The ‘sleep’ button is meant to put the computer to sleep when pressed. You may also want to check if your mouse is set to wake your computer. I turn this off as it’s very easy to inadvertently wake the computer by nudging the mouse.

Thanks, I will try this.

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I presume you are talking about a desktop system and not a laptop so my comments are based on that.

There is no good reason to ever use Sleep Mode on a desktop and some good reasons for not doing so. In Sleep Mode, recovery is very fast but any power failure during Sleep will result in loss of data (in open files). Sleep is really designed for a laptop that has a battery so power failures are not a risk. After a Sleeping laptop drains much of its battery, the laptop will automatically save all data and Shutdown.

Desktop systems should use Hibernate Mode rather than Sleep. The system takes slightly longer to go into Hibernate but recovery is just about as fast as it would be from Sleep. The main advantage to Hibernate is that all data is first saved to disk in order to guard against power failures.

The front panel Power button on some/many/most systems (certainly mine) can be configured (in the Power Settings) to invoke any mode including Hibernate, which is how I configure mine. Pressing and holding the front panel Power button (for a few seconds) will override the Hibernate invocation and do a hard shutdown (power off). A brief press will invoke Hibernate if awake or Awaken from Hibernate if in Hibernate. The “Shut down” pseudo button on the Start menu still does a soft Shutdown.

My usual operating procedure is to press the front panel Power button to invoke Hibernate then walk away. On return, the system is in Hibernate and I simply push the Power again to bring the system out of Hibernate (about 30 seconds). During Hibernate, the system cannot be Awaken by any mouse movement or keyboard action.

A word of warning. A system that is in Hibernation can be woken by a special packet from the LAN. Unless you have a need to remotely wake your system, you should turn off the “Wake On LAN” option – especially if your system develops insomnia like mine did. I don’t believe using the front panel Power button is any harder on the system than any other way of invoking Hibernate (or Sleep) although, I guess you could wear out the switch since it is a physical switch.

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I presume you are talking about a desktop system and not a laptop so my comments are based on that.

There is no good reason to ever use Sleep Mode on a desktop and some good reasons for not doing so. In Sleep Mode, recovery is very fast but any power failure during Sleep will result in loss of data (in open files). Sleep is really designed for a laptop that has a battery so power failures are not a risk. After a Sleeping laptop drains much of its battery, the laptop will automatically save all data and Shutdown.

Desktop systems should use Hibernate Mode rather than Sleep. The system takes slightly longer to go into Hibernate but recovery is just about as fast as it would be from Sleep. The main advantage to Hibernate is that all data is first saved to disk in order to guard against power failures.

The front panel Power button on some/many/most systems (certainly mine) can be configured (in the Power Settings) to invoke any mode including Hibernate, which is how I configure mine. Pressing and holding the front panel Power button (for a few seconds) will override the Hibernate invocation and do a hard shutdown (power off). A brief press will invoke Hibernate if awake or Awaken from Hibernate if in Hibernate. The “Shut down” pseudo button on the Start menu still does a soft Shutdown.

My usual operating procedure is to press the front panel Power button to invoke Hibernate then walk away. On return, the system is in Hibernate and I simply push the Power again to bring the system out of Hibernate (about 30 seconds). During Hibernate, the system cannot be Awaken by any mouse movement or keyboard action.

A word of warning. A system that is in Hibernation can be woken by a special packet from the LAN. Unless you have a need to remotely wake your system, you should turn off the “Wake On LAN” option – especially if your system develops insomnia like mine did. I don’t believe using the front panel Power button is any harder on the system than any other way of invoking Hibernate (or Sleep) although, I guess you could wear out the switch since it is a physical switch.

Yes, it is a desktop I am refering to. I have just left the computer with the factory settings for going into a low power mode after a period of non use. No the mouse doesn’t wake the computer as I have tried that, and pressing any key on the MS keyboard has no affect on waking the computer. I choose not to use Hibernate mode. The factory settings is to put the computer to sleep after 2 hours of non use.

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I checked my devices and I do not have a power management tab on either the keyboard or the mouse.

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I checked my devices and I do not have a power management tab on either the keyboard or the mouse.

Did you install the Intellitype software for your keyboard? Get it from Software Download.

Joe

--Joe

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Did you install the Intellitype software for your keyboard? Get it from Software Download.

Joe

Good to go.

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I checked my devices and I do not have a power management tab on either the keyboard or the mouse.

You must access the keyboard and mouse properties through Device Manager in order to get at the Power Management tab. Accessing properties through their individual control panel applets won’t do it. If your system does not have the power management feature, I don’t think I can help.

Another poster counsels not using Sleep mode because losing power could potentially result in the loss of data. True, but losing power at any time the computer is in use will potentially result in the loss of data. That is why people buy UPS units. You state that you chose not to use hibernate mode. That, of course, is your choice to make. I personally use the Hybrid Sleep mode. It has all the advantages of Sleep mode (speed) and the security of Hibernate mode (safety), even though I do have a UPS.

Good luck!

BTW, do you not find that 2 hours of inactivity before going to sleep is a really long time? I set my computer to turn off the display after 10 minutes of inactivity and put it to sleep after 20.

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You must access the keyboard and mouse properties through Device Manager in order to get at the Power Management tab. Accessing properties through their individual control panel applets won’t do it. If your system does not have the power management feature, I don’t think I can help.

Another poster counsels not using Sleep mode because losing power could potentially result in the loss of data. True, but losing power at any time the computer is in use will potentially result in the loss of data. That is why people buy UPS units. You state that you chose not to use hibernate mode. That, of course, is your choice to make. I personally use the Hybrid Sleep mode. It has all the advantages of Sleep mode (speed) and the security of Hibernate mode (safety), even though I do have a UPS.

Good luck!

BTW, do you not find that 2 hours of inactivity before going to sleep is a really long time? I set my computer to turn off the display after 10 minutes of inactivity and put it to sleep after 20.

Ok, sorry I am still new at some things. I found the power management tab through device manager and both keyboard and mouse already had the boxes checked as above. So far though it doesn’t bring the computer out of sleep.

I like to have a 2 hour setting on sleep, because when I am around the house or out for errands I can constantly come back and check my computer and emails etc, without it being shut off. I have tried other time frames, but I seem to like this one so far. I may set it a little less down the road.

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Try this. Go to the Keyboard control panel and change the action for one of your keys to run a program, and set the program to run to the following:

rundll32 powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

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I have switched keyboards from the cheap Compaq keyboard that came with my computer to the Microsoft comfort curve 3000 keyboard. My question is that the Microsoft keyboard doesn’t have the sleep key on it like the compaq did. So when I take my computer out of sleep I have to press the power button on the computer. Is there a way to set a hotkey or shortcut key on the MS keyboard to do the same function as the compag sleep key (the little moon symbol)??? I would like another option as I believe it is easier on the computer using a keyboard key rather then the power button on the Computer. Thanks.

Hi and welcome

I just so love it when a user posts the same question on every site. Earlier tonight I answered this on two other sites. The answer keyboard mapping app.

Ken

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This morning my keyboard was able to wake the computer from sleep mode. So I guess all I had to do was ok the power management boxes. Thanks,.

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This morning my keyboard was able to wake the computer from sleep mode. So I guess all I had to do was ok the power management boxes. Thanks,.

Good for you. Glad we could help. As Chet mentioned above, there is a slight risk of losing data due to power failures when using sleep mode or any other time that your computer is on. You may want to consider a UPS (if you don’t already have one) and switch to Hybrid sleep or Hibernate.

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Good for you. Glad we could help. As Chet mentioned above, there is a slight risk of losing data due to power failures when using sleep mode or any other time that your computer is on. You may want to consider a UPS (if you don’t already have one) and switch to Hybrid sleep or Hibernate.

Not entirely accurate. You do not risk data during Hibernate. That is the reason for Hibernate. On a desktop, there is no advantage to Sleep and some risk, even with a UPS. I am not at all certain a UPS can wake a Sleeping computer in order to put it through a Shutdown on a power failure, although I have to admit it would likely preserve a Sleeping computer longer than any power outage. Without a UPS, there is considerable risk since you are putting data at risk for the duration of the 24 hour day rather than just the time you are actually working.

I haven’t actually timed the awake from Sleep vs awake from Hibernate but I suspect there is zero difference. I believe all differences are confined to the entry to the state since Hibernate first saves a memory image. But it does not have to restore that image since memory is kept alive during Hibernate just as it is during Sleep.

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Not entirely accurate. You do not risk data during Hibernate.

I didn’t say that you did. I equated the risk to using Sleep mode. I recommended Hibernate or Hybrid modes to ensure data integrity.

On a desktop, there is no advantage to Sleep…

Of course there is. At the very least it’s the ‘green’ thing to do! I will concede that Hibernate or, even better, Hybrid is preferable for the reasons you state.

I haven’t actually timed the awake from Sleep vs awake from Hibernate but I suspect there is zero difference. I believe all differences are confined to the entry to the state since Hibernate first saves a memory image. But it does not have to restore that image since memory is kept alive during Hibernate just as it is during Sleep.

Not quite accurate. Entering Sleep state puts the system into a lower power state that preserves RAM. As you say, if power is lost during this time, the contents of RAM are lost and the computer must be re-booted.

Entering Hibernate state causes the system to write RAM to disk and puts the system into a much lower power state (virtually off) that does not preserve RAM. Upon receiving a wake-up signal, the RAM must be restored from disk, which is quicker than a re-boot but slower than waking from Sleep.

My preference is Hybrid. It works by writing RAM to disk and then invoking Sleep mode. Absent a power failure, a wake-up signal powers up the system with RAM intact, ready to go. If there has been a power failure the system performs a wake-up from Hibernate mode, restoring RAM from disk and is good to go.

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Not quite accurate. Entering Sleep state puts the system into a lower power state that preserves RAM. As you say, if power is lost during this time, the contents of RAM are lost and the computer must be re-booted.

Entering Hibernate state causes the system to write RAM to disk and puts the system into a much lower power state (virtually off) that does not preserve RAM. Upon receiving a wake-up signal, the RAM must be restored from disk, which is quicker than a re-boot but slower than waking from Sleep.

My preference is Hybrid. It works by writing RAM to disk and then invoking Sleep mode. Absent a power failure, a wake-up signal powers up the system with RAM intact, ready to go. If there has been a power failure the system performs a wake-up from Hibernate mode, restoring RAM from disk and is good to go.

You are completely right and I was very wrong. I didn’t appreciate the difference between Hibernation and Hybrid Sleep or even that there was a difference. I now understand that Hybrid Sleep is really more like Sleep but with a safety backup of memory. It even allows my mouse to waken the system. Hibernation is much more profound so that on waking the system even goes through some of the routines of a startup such as a check for updates and daily scans. It is also noticeably slower than a wake from Hybrid Sleep although nowhere near as lengthly as a full startup.

They all seem to insist on the monster flashing blue light which makes my den look like there is a giant snow removal truck in it.

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They all seem to insist on the monster flashing blue light which makes my den look like there is a giant snow removal truck in it.

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You are completely right and I was very wrong. I didn’t appreciate the difference between Hibernation and Hybrid Sleep or even that there was a difference. I now understand that Hybrid Sleep is really more like Sleep but with a safety backup of memory. It even allows my mouse to waken the system. Hibernation is much more profound so that on waking the system even goes through some of the routines of a startup such as a check for updates and daily scans. It is also noticeably slower than a wake from Hybrid Sleep although nowhere near as lengthly as a full startup.

They all seem to insist on the monster flashing blue light which makes my den look like there is a giant snow removal truck in it.

It’s not about right or wrong. The Lounge is about sharing, exchanging and learning stuff. We all come away the richer because of it, even if you only lurk here.

I’d be careful about letting your mouse wake your computer. I would often inadvertently wake mine by just nudging it with my elbow while working on something else at my desk, so I disabled that feature. I used to have a mouse with rechargeable batteries. When placed on the charger, it would wake up the computer as soon as it fully charged the batteries. That caused me some perplexing troubleshooting.

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Good for you. Glad we could help. As Chet mentioned above, there is a slight risk of losing data due to power failures when using sleep mode or any other time that your computer is on. You may want to consider a UPS (if you don’t already have one) and switch to Hybrid sleep or Hibernate.

What is a UPS anyway?

Also, my Windows 7 64 bit, doesn’t have any other choice in the control panel/power options except sleep. That is all I have to choose from. However it is a choice in Start menu. Lock, sleep, or hibernate. Also as quoted from my computer manual regarding sleep mode it says simply ” sleep mode saves your work to memory so you can resume quickly.It saves memory to the hard disk drive and then goes into a reduced power state….”

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What is a UPS anyway?

See Uninterruptible power supply – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for details.

Joe

--Joe

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What is a UPS anyway?

Also, my Windows 7 64 bit, doesn’t have any other choice in the control panel/power options except sleep. That is all I have to choose from. However it is a choice in Start menu. Lock, sleep, or hibernate. Also as quoted from my computer manual regarding sleep mode it says simply ” sleep mode saves your work to memory so you can resume quickly.It saves memory to the hard disk drive and then goes into a reduced power state….”

A UPS is an uninterruptible power supply, a battery backup usually providing enough emergency power to manually or automatically shut down your computer during a power interruption. A typical consumer UPS costs about $50 to $100 and is available where computers are sold. The big UPS vendors are APC and Belkin, among others.

If the quote from your computer manual is accurate, it sounds as if you have Hybrid Sleep enabled, in which case you are well protected. To verify this, go to Start > Control Panel > Power Options, Click on ‘Change when the computer sleeps’ in the left hand column, then click ‘Change advanced power settings’. In the ‘Power Options’ dialog that pops up, click on the + sign to the right of ‘Sleep’. If ‘Allow hybrid sleep’ is on then you are good to go.

(Ooops… I see everyone got in ahead of me. Gotta learn to use a second finger!)

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If the quote from your computer manual is accurate, it sounds as if you have Hybrid Sleep enabled, in which case you are well protected. To verify this, go to Start > Control Panel > Power Options, Click on ‘Change when the computer sleeps’ in the left hand column, then click ‘Change advanced power settings’. In the ‘Power Options’ dialog that pops up, click on the + sign to the right of ‘Sleep’. If ‘Allow hybrid sleep’ is on then you are good to go.

I did this and indeed there is a + to “allow Hybrid sleep”. Thanks very much for this helpful tidbit. I feel much better about it.

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I believe Hybrid Sleep is a ‘option’ of the Sleep mode. In other words, you can elect to have your system go into Hybrid Sleep any time it enters Sleep or just enter Sleep. In the Advanced section of your current Power Settings, there is an option to enable Hybrid Sleep or not. If Enabled, your system will use Hybrid Sleep rather than Sleep any time it enters Sleep. If not enabled, it will only enter Sleep. In either case, you can have an additional choice of Hibernation. In the same Advanced Power Options, there is a option to Enable Hibernation after XX min. There is also an option for the front panel Power button and the Sleep button (if it exists). In both cases, you can select what happens when you press the button. I elect to have my system go into Hibernation on the front panel Power button. I don’t have a Sleep button.

Here is an explanation of the different states
Sleep is a power-saving state that allows a computer to quickly resume full-power operation (typically within several seconds) when you want to start working again. Putting your computer into the sleep state is like pausing a DVD player—the computer immediately stops what it’s doing and is ready to start again when you want to resume working.

Hibernation is a power-saving state designed primarily for laptops. While sleep puts your work and settings in memory and draws a small amount of power, hibernation puts your open documents and programs on your hard disk, and then turns off your computer. Of all the power-saving states in Windows, hibernation uses the least amount of power. On a laptop, use hibernation when you know that you won’t use your laptop for an extended period and won’t have an opportunity to charge the battery during that time.

Hybrid sleep is designed primarily for desktop computers. Hybrid sleep is a combination of sleep and hibernate—it puts any open documents and programs in memory and on your hard disk, and then puts your computer into a low-power state so that you can quickly resume your work. That way, if a power failure occurs, Windows can restore your work from your hard disk. When hybrid sleep is turned on, putting your computer into sleep automatically puts your computer into hybrid sleep. Hybrid sleep is typically turned on by default on desktop computers.

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Here is an explanation of the different states

Very well explained… do you teach at Queen’s?

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Very well explained… do you teach at Queen’s?

It’s a cut and paste from Windows Help FAQ on Sleep. I don’t teach at Queen’s, although I once worked there many years ago somewhere around 1969. I am now retired – full time.

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- full time.

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I forgot.
A UPS is a Uninterruptable Power Supply. It is a commercial device you can buy from any computer supplier. Basically, it is a big battery that generates 120VAC so when it detects a power failure, it continues to supply power to your system without interruption and signals your system to shutdown. The battery is large enough to hold up the 120VAC long enough to complete Shutdown (we hope).

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I forgot.
A UPS is a Uninterruptable Power Supply. It is a commercial device you can buy from any computer supplier. Basically, it is a big battery that generates 120VAC so when it detects a power failure, it continues to supply power to your system without interruption and signals your system to shutdown. The battery is large enough to hold up the 120VAC long enough to complete Shutdown (we hope).

I thought so, but wanted to be sure.

I also have a external hard drive that I have a backup done on daily and I never leave my computer with programs or documents open that I haven’t saved when I am not in front of it. This plan of action has worked very well for me so far for my home network.

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