Power Management

 

How long does my computer need to be idle before it falls asleep?
Your computer should go into sleep mode after 60 minutes of idle time.  Your monitor will sleep after 20 minutes of idle time.

How do I know if my computer is sleeping?
If your computer is sleeping, the power button located on the CPU will flash.

If my machine is in sleep mode, how do I wake it up?
To bring your computer out of sleep, press the power button on the CPU.  It should take 3-8 seconds to fully wake a sleeping machine.  If your monitor is sleeping, moving the mouse or hitting any key on the keyboard will wake the monitor.

My computer isn’t falling asleep after 60 minutes of idle time.  All the settings are showing up correctly in Power options in the control panel.  Why is that?
Your PC may not sleep if there is too much activity on the computer from an open program or a program running in the background.  Also if your computer is accessing a remote file, this may prevent your PC from sleeping.  Closing these applications or files should allow your PC to sleep.

Will I still be able to use SSL VPN to remote desktop to my PC or access files on my PC if my computer is sleeping?
Yes.  If your computer is sleeping and you attempt to connect to your system using SSL VPN and attempt to establish a terminal connection (remote desktop) or access your PC’s files, your computer will automatically wake up.

Previously, when using SSL VPN to connect to my machine I had no problems.  Now, after my computer goes to sleep, I am no longer able to connect to my computer.  What’s wrong?It’s possible that your computer is not waking when attempts are made to wake the machine.  Although your network card should be enabled for wakeup, there may be rare cases when this is not.  Follow these steps to verify your network card is enabled for wakeup.

Right-click on My Computer and click Properties -> click on the Hardware tab and then click on the Device Manager button. 

Expand the “Network adapters” tree by clicking on the “+” button and then double click “Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller”. 

Ensure that “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” and “Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby” are both checked in the Power Management tab.

Will I still receive computer updates if my computer is sleeping?
Yes.  Your computer is scheduled to wake up each day at 3am for updates.  Even if an update is made available while your computer is sleeping, the next time your machine wakes, the update will be applied.

I have a Mac desktop.  Will this new policy also affect my Mac?
No.  Currently this policy is only applied to PC desktop machines.  A sleep policy may be implemented at a later time for Mac desktops.

 Will I lose my data if my computer is in sleep mode?
As a best practice, save all work and close any non-essential programs before allowing the computer to be inactive for long periods of time.  This will ensure that your data is safe in the majority of situations, including a power failure or other unforeseen failure.

 

Updated: 10/26/2009 1:18:40 PM