Workers' Edge

The standby and hibernate modes in Microsoft's Windows XP and the sleep mode in Vista are meant to be great time-savers. But too often a sleeping PC wakes up on its own--or doesn't awaken when you want it to.

The latter problem is particularly common with Vista, which is proving itself to be pretty worthless, even as Windows versions go.

The first time I set one of my XP systems to standby, it sprung to life each night, showing a message that my network was detected. The problem disappeared after I entered the machine's BIOS (press the key you're prompted to when your PC starts but before Windows loads), navigated to the Power screen, and set Wake on LAN to Disabled. (The location and wording of this setting varies from BIOS to BIOS.)

Another common source of untimely wake-ups is Windows' automatic updates. I prefer to update my OS manually because I don't like Microsoft or any other software vendor deciding when I should restart my PC. Of course, Windows isn't getting any safer or more reliable, so if you choose this option, be sure to get in the habit of checking for updates on your own about once a week.

To deactivate automatic updates in XP, click Start*Settings*Control Panel (or just Start*Control Panel, depending on your Start menu configuration), and double-click Automatic Updates. Select Turn off Automatic Updates, click OK, and close Control Panel.

In Vista, press the Windows key, type "Windows Update," click Change settings in the left pane, and choose Never check for updates (not recommended). You'll get a Security Alert icon in your system tray, but you can get rid of it by right-clicking the icon and choosing Exit. Unfortunately, XP doesn't give you the option to close this system-tray alert, so consider it a reminder to update Windows on your own.

You may also have to deactivate the auto-update settings of your antivirus and other programs and devices. Look for these settings in the apps themselves, or for hardware, check their Device Manager entries (see below for more on Device Manager fixes). Other sources of inadvertent wake-ups are backups and other operations you've created in Scheduled Tasks. To unschedule them in XP, double-click Scheduled Tasks in Control Panel, double-click each entry, choose the Settings tab, uncheck Wake the computer to run this task, and click OK.

In Vista, press the Windows key, type "Task Scheduler," and press Enter. Press Alt-C when prompted by User Account Control, navigate in the left pane to the task that's waking up your PC, select it in the middle window, and choose Disable in the right pane. Microsoft offers more information on disabling Vista's scheduled tasks in a knowledge-base article. Though it's specific to backup, the information applies to other tasks as well. Just be careful you don't disable a task that Vista needs to operate. You'll find descriptions of the Vista tasks you shouldn't disable on BlackViper.com.

Then there are those times when your PC won't wake up when you want it to. Vista is particularly buggy in this regard, and unfortunately Microsoft hasn't done much to help Vista users find a solution. Sometimes the problem is associated with an out-of-date video driver. Visit your video-board vendor's site and look for a driver update. Another possible solution is a BIOS update, which you may be able to download from the site of whichever company made your system's BIOS.

Other times the solution is as easy as enabling the wakeup feature of your mouse and keyboard. In XP, right-click My Computer, choose Manage, select Device Manager, navigate to and double-click the device's entry, choose the Power Management tab, check Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby, click OK, and exit Computer Management.

In Vista, press the Windows key, type "Device manager," press Enter, press Alt-C at the User Account Control prompt, navigate to and double-click the device's entry, choose the Power Management tab, check Allow this device to wake the computer, click OK, and close the Device Manager window.

You may also find a "Wake on keyboard" or similar setting in your BIOS settings, though I couldn't find such a setting in any of my XP or Vista systems. (I have three of the former and two of the latter for those of you keeping score at home.) The last bit of advice I have for people experiencing problems with standby or sleep is crude but effective, as Spock would say: Don't use these modes, at least until Microsoft decides the problems are important enough to fix, and instead shut off your system the old-fashioned way.

Tomorrow: A modest time-saving proposal: Dump your antivirus.

No two jobs are alike, but one thing millions of us have in common is the daily wait for Windows to get going. Why can't our PCs start as quickly as our radios, TVs, and other electronic devices?

Well, the instant-on PC isn't likely to arrive anytime soon, but you can get your workday rolling without having to stare down that annoying Windows logo. The simplest solution is to set Windows' Power Options to send your system into XP's standby or Vista's sleep mode after it has been idle for a while. Then you can simply head for the door when your work day is done. When you return, just tap your mouse or a key on your keyboard, and say "Good morning!" to your desktop, or whatever apps you left open when you left. (Note that some systems require that you press the power button to bring them back to life.)

You might think this would be a waste of electricity, but your PC actually uses just a tad more power when in standby, hibernate, or sleep mode than it does when it's powered off but plugged in.

Why not use XP's hibernate mode? Your system wakes up faster from standby than from hibernation because standby stores your PC's current state in RAM, while hibernate puts all the system information on your hard drive. It takes longer to read data from a drive than from RAM, so you'll save yourself several seconds by using standby rather than hibernate. Just be sure to save your data before you leave, because if your PC should lose power, the information stored in RAM gets wiped out.

To set Windows XP to standby, right-click the desktop, choose Properties, click the Screen Saver tab, and select the Power button. You can leave the monitor and hard-disk settings at "Never", but pick a time in the System standby drop-down menu that you can live with. For me, 30 minutes is the right balance between going off too soon, and staying on too long.

If you're not comfortable leaving your PC on when you're not around, click the Advanced tab and check Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby (this feature requires that you are logged into a password-protected account). When you're done, click OK twice.

To put Vista to sleep, click the Start button, type power options, and press Enter. Select Change when the computer sleeps in the left pane, choose 30 minutes in the drop-down menu next to 'Put the computer to sleep', and click Save changes. To have Vista prompt for a password when resuming from standby, click Change advanced power settings, and choose Yes under 'Additional settings/Require a password on wakeup'. Click OK, choose Save changes, and close the Power Options dialog box.

Maybe you're the impatient type and don't want to wait 30 minutes, or any length of time, to send your system to dreamland. To put your PC into standby right away, reset its power button from "off" to "standby": In XP, reopen the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab, choose Stand by in the drop-down menu under 'When I press the power button on my computer', and click OK twice.

Do the same in Vista by returning to the Power Options window, then click Choose what the power button does in the left pane, and select Sleep in the drop-down menu next to 'When I press the power button:'. You can also choose Require a password (recommended). When you're done, click Save Changes, and then close the Power Options dialog box.

Security alert: The occasional fresh start does all of us good sometimes, and that goes for Windows as well. Many of the OS's updates require a restart to take effect, so it's a good idea to turn off your PC and reboot Windows from scratch about once a week. Since Microsoft releases most Windows patches on Tuesdays, get into the habit of shutting down your PC manually on Tuesday nights: Click Start*Turn Off Computer*Turn Off in XP, and in Vista press the Windows key, then hit the left-arrow key three times, and finally type u.

Tomorrow: Sometimes a sleeping PC comes to life for no apparent reason, which can be enervating if the sound of a whirring hard drive wakes you up in the middle of the night. And it can be downright disastrous if it happens to a laptop stored in a bag, unless you're looking for a reason to get acquainted with your local PC repair shop after the machine overheats. Another common standby/sleep problem is a dozing system that doesn't want to wake up. I'll cover both subjects in tomorrow's post.