Dell desktop falls asleep in a couple minutes, ignores power/screen saver settings

Question

My parents' Dell Inspiron tower goes to sleep within ~3 minutes of inactivity, despite every power setting in Windows (screen saver, turn off screen, go to sleep, turn off hard-disk, etc.) either turned off or set to 60 minutes.

This answer claims that Dell has been known to bundle their computers with software that can override these settings, but doesn't give any details (the problem for that user was being unaware of the advanced settings; I am aware of those). The only Dell software I can find running on the computer is Dell Backup & Recovery, which certainly doesn't seem a likely culprit.

Checking the Event Viewer for sleep events, I find that it is just an event by Kernel-Power saying "The system is entering sleep. Sleep Reason: System idle."

Full event report:

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date:          11/23/2017 3:59:02 PM
Event ID:      42
Task Category: (64)
Level:         Information
Keywords:      (1024),(4)
User:          N/A
Computer:      WINDOWS-IN93UH3
Description:
The system is entering sleep.

Sleep Reason: System Idle
Event Xml:

<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />
    <EventID>42</EventID>
    <Version>3</Version>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>64</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8000000000000404</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2017-11-23T20:59:02.222727900Z" />
    <EventRecordID>11322</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="11984" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>WINDOWS-IN93UH3</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="TargetState">4</Data>
    <Data Name="EffectiveState">5</Data>
    <Data Name="Reason">7</Data>
    <Data Name="Flags">0</Data>
    <Data Name="TransitionsToOn">24</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

The results of powercfg -l

Existing Power Schemes (* Active)
-----------------------------------
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced) *
Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c  (High performance)
Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a  (Power saver)

And powercfg -q

Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced)
  GUID Alias: SCHEME_BALANCED
  Subgroup GUID: 0012ee47-9041-4b5d-9b77-535fba8b1442  (Hard disk)
    GUID Alias: SUB_DISK
    Power Setting GUID: 6738e2c4-e8a5-4a42-b16a-e040e769756e  (Turn off hard disk after)
      GUID Alias: DISKIDLE
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0xffffffff
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: Seconds
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000e10
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000258

  Subgroup GUID: 02f815b5-a5cf-4c84-bf20-649d1f75d3d8  (Internet Explorer)
    Power Setting GUID: 4c793e7d-a264-42e1-87d3-7a0d2f523ccd  (JavaScript Timer Frequency)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Maximum Power Savings
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Maximum Performance
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

  Subgroup GUID: 0d7dbae2-4294-402a-ba8e-26777e8488cd  (Desktop background settings)
    Power Setting GUID: 309dce9b-bef4-4119-9921-a851fb12f0f4  (Slide show)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Available
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Paused
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

  Subgroup GUID: 19cbb8fa-5279-450e-9fac-8a3d5fedd0c1  (Wireless Adapter Settings)
    Power Setting GUID: 12bbebe6-58d6-4636-95bb-3217ef867c1a  (Power Saving Mode)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Maximum Performance
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Low Power Saving
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Medium Power Saving
      Possible Setting Index: 003
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Maximum Power Saving
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002

  Subgroup GUID: 238c9fa8-0aad-41ed-83f4-97be242c8f20  (Sleep)
    GUID Alias: SUB_SLEEP
    Power Setting GUID: 29f6c1db-86da-48c5-9fdb-f2b67b1f44da  (Sleep after)
      GUID Alias: STANDBYIDLE
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0xffffffff
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: Seconds
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000e10
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000384

    Power Setting GUID: 94ac6d29-73ce-41a6-809f-6363ba21b47e  (Allow hybrid sleep)
      GUID Alias: HYBRIDSLEEP
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Off
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: On
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

    Power Setting GUID: 9d7815a6-7ee4-497e-8888-515a05f02364  (Hibernate after)
      GUID Alias: HIBERNATEIDLE
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0xffffffff
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: Seconds
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

    Power Setting GUID: bd3b718a-0680-4d9d-8ab2-e1d2b4ac806d  (Allow wake timers)
      GUID Alias: RTCWAKE
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Disable
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Enable
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Important Wake Timers Only
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

  Subgroup GUID: 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3  (USB settings)
    Power Setting GUID: 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226  (USB selective suspend setting)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Disabled
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Enabled
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

  Subgroup GUID: 4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347  (Power buttons and lid)
    GUID Alias: SUB_BUTTONS
    Power Setting GUID: 5ca83367-6e45-459f-a27b-476b1d01c936  (Lid close action)
      GUID Alias: LIDACTION
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Do nothing
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Hibernate
      Possible Setting Index: 003
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Shut down
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

    Power Setting GUID: 7648efa3-dd9c-4e3e-b566-50f929386280  (Power button action)
      GUID Alias: PBUTTONACTION
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Do nothing
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Hibernate
      Possible Setting Index: 003
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Shut down
      Possible Setting Index: 004
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Turn off the display
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000003
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000003

    Power Setting GUID: 96996bc0-ad50-47ec-923b-6f41874dd9eb  (Sleep button action)
      GUID Alias: SBUTTONACTION
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Do nothing
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Hibernate
      Possible Setting Index: 003
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Shut down
      Possible Setting Index: 004
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Turn off the display
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

    Power Setting GUID: a7066653-8d6c-40a8-910e-a1f54b84c7e5  (Start menu power button)
      GUID Alias: UIBUTTON_ACTION
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Hibernate
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Shut down
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

  Subgroup GUID: 501a4d13-42af-4429-9fd1-a8218c268e20  (PCI Express)
    GUID Alias: SUB_PCIEXPRESS
    Power Setting GUID: ee12f906-d277-404b-b6da-e5fa1a576df5  (Link State Power Management)
      GUID Alias: ASPM
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Off
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Moderate power savings
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Maximum power savings
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002

  Subgroup GUID: 54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00  (Processor power management)
    GUID Alias: SUB_PROCESSOR
    Power Setting GUID: 75b0ae3f-bce0-45a7-8c89-c9611c25e100  (Maximum processor frequency)
      GUID Alias: PROCFREQMAX
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0xffffffff
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: MHz
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

    Power Setting GUID: 893dee8e-2bef-41e0-89c6-b55d0929964c  (Minimum processor state)
      GUID Alias: PROCTHROTTLEMIN
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000005
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000005

    Power Setting GUID: 94d3a615-a899-4ac5-ae2b-e4d8f634367f  (System cooling policy)
      GUID Alias: SYSCOOLPOL
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Passive
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Active
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

    Power Setting GUID: bc5038f7-23e0-4960-96da-33abaf5935ec  (Maximum processor state)
      GUID Alias: PROCTHROTTLEMAX
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000064
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000064

  Subgroup GUID: 7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99  (Display)
    GUID Alias: SUB_VIDEO
    Power Setting GUID: 3c0bc021-c8a8-4e07-a973-6b14cbcb2b7e  (Turn off display after)
      GUID Alias: VIDEOIDLE
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0xffffffff
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: Seconds
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000e10
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x0000012c

    Power Setting GUID: aded5e82-b909-4619-9949-f5d71dac0bcb  (Display brightness)
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000064
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000028

    Power Setting GUID: f1fbfde2-a960-4165-9f88-50667911ce96  (Dimmed display brightness)
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000032
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000032

    Power Setting GUID: fbd9aa66-9553-4097-ba44-ed6e9d65eab8  (Enable adaptive brightness)
      GUID Alias: ADAPTBRIGHT
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Off
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: On
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

  Subgroup GUID: 9596fb26-9850-41fd-ac3e-f7c3c00afd4b  (Multimedia settings)
    Power Setting GUID: 03680956-93bc-4294-bba6-4e0f09bb717f  (When sharing media)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Allow the computer to sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Prevent idling to sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Allow the computer to enter Away Mode
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

    Power Setting GUID: 10778347-1370-4ee0-8bbd-33bdacaade49  (Video playback quality bias.)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Video playback power-saving bias.
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Video playback performance bias.
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

    Power Setting GUID: 34c7b99f-9a6d-4b3c-8dc7-b6693b78cef4  (When playing video)
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Optimize video quality
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Balanced
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Optimize power savings
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

  Subgroup GUID: e73a048d-bf27-4f12-9731-8b2076e8891f  (Battery)
    GUID Alias: SUB_BATTERY
    Power Setting GUID: 637ea02f-bbcb-4015-8e2c-a1c7b9c0b546  (Critical battery action)
      GUID Alias: BATACTIONCRIT
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Do nothing
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Hibernate
      Possible Setting Index: 003
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Shut down
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002

    Power Setting GUID: 8183ba9a-e910-48da-8769-14ae6dc1170a  (Low battery level)
      GUID Alias: BATLEVELLOW
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x0000000a
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x0000000a

    Power Setting GUID: 9a66d8d7-4ff7-4ef9-b5a2-5a326ca2a469  (Critical battery level)
      GUID Alias: BATLEVELCRIT
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000005
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000005

    Power Setting GUID: bcded951-187b-4d05-bccc-f7e51960c258  (Low battery notification)
      GUID Alias: BATFLAGSLOW
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Off
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: On
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000001

    Power Setting GUID: d8742dcb-3e6a-4b3c-b3fe-374623cdcf06  (Low battery action)
      GUID Alias: BATACTIONLOW
      Possible Setting Index: 000
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Do nothing
      Possible Setting Index: 001
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Sleep
      Possible Setting Index: 002
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Hibernate
      Possible Setting Index: 003
      Possible Setting Friendly Name: Shut down
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

    Power Setting GUID: f3c5027d-cd16-4930-aa6b-90db844a8f00  (Reserve battery level)
      Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000
      Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064
      Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001
      Possible Settings units: %
    Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000007
    Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000007

Does it also happen if you keep moving the mouse (aka using the pc)? if so, then its possibly an overheating issue — LPChip, Commented Nov 23, 2017 at 21:01
@LPChip No, only when idle. Overheating also is rather unlikely in their setup and usage — KRyan, Commented Nov 23, 2017 at 21:02
Look in event viewer for the sleep and wake events. It’s in the SYSTEM log. It will tell you exactly why the system sleeps or wakes. There you will find your answer. — Appleoddity, Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 5:07
@Appleoddity Thanks for that tip, but I don't think the information therein really helps matters very much. Included it just in case, though. — KRyan, Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 14:49

Appleoddity · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-24 15:29:00Z

The contents of your event log entry shows:

Description:
The system is entering sleep.

Sleep Reason: System Idle

This would seem to indicate that you do have a power plan in place telling the system to sleep after a period of idle time. In your case, probably around 3 minutes or 180 seconds.

Start by running powercfg -q from a command prompt. What you will see are all the settings for the active power plan for the logged on user. The first line of the output will tell you what that plan is named, followed by all of the individual settings. You're probably interested in the Sleep After value, which is listed in seconds hexadecimal - 3 minutes would be B4. Double check any other time related entries to see if any others might correspond with the approximately 3 minute sleep cycle that was missed.

If not found above, you can use powercfg -q to list available power plans on the computer. You can copy and paste each power scheme GUID in to the powercfg -q <guid> command to see the settings for any other power schemes on the system.

Here is an example of querying the Power Saver scheme:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>powercfg -l

Existing Power Schemes (* Active)
-----------------------------------
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced) *
Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c  (High performance)
Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a  (Power saver)

C:\WINDOWS\system32>powercfg -q a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a
Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a  (Power saver)
  GUID Alias: SCHEME_MAX
  Subgroup GUID: 0012ee47-9041-4b5d-9b77-535fba8b1442  (Hard disk)
    GUID Alias: SUB_DISK
    Power Setting GUID: 6738e2c4-e8a5-4a42-b16a-e040e769756e  (Turn off hard disk after)
...

It's possible you have missed something, or have mistaken what the active power plan is. But, the event log entry is pretty clear that it is an idle timeout value putting the system to sleep and not some other piece of software or driver, etc.

The Dell Power Manager and Dell Command | Power Manager are only installed and used on laptops. You indicated you have a desktop, so there isn't any bundled power management software and it is unlikely any other power management software would be on a desktop computer.

powercfg -l indicates that Balanced is the selected setting (matching the GUI), and powercfg -q indicates that the Sleep After value is 0xe10 (3600 s, matching the 1 h selection in the GUI). The Sleep After DC value is 384 (15 minutes), but the computer isn't waiting 15 minutes either, it's definitely less than 5 (nor does it make sense for a desktop to ever use a DC-power value). In fact, none of the time-related power settings are set to anything less than 0xe10. — KRyan, Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 15:41
Ok, just to confirm, are there any other active users on the computer that may be logged in but in a suspended state? Is there a user logged in when the computer sleeps? You could also try booting in safe mode to try to eliminate a driver or software (Hold SHIFT when you click restart for advanced boot options in Windows) but I’m really thinking that is unlikely here. It would still be good to check the values of the other plans - it’s possible you’ll find something that would be a clue. Each user and the system can have different active power plans. That’s why. @KRyan — Appleoddity, Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 15:46
No, only one user configured on the machine; that user is logged in but needs to enter a PIN to enter the computer (i.e. computer sleeps, not just turns the screen off, but we knew that from the event log). I know how to use safe mode and eliminate drivers or software, but I'm not spending the entirety of my long weekend trying each one-by-one. The other plans are Energy Saving (which still gives 10 minutes before sleep) and High Performance (which doesn't sleep at all while plugged in). — KRyan, Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 15:56
@KRyan I’m not saying you have to go through an elimination process, but it only takes a few minutes to test in safe mode if it still sleeps after 3 minutes. If not then we know it might be a driver or software. Then you can decide what you want to do next. — Appleoddity, Commented Nov 24, 2017 at 16:00

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