Why does Windows 7 sometimes forget to turn off my display after X number minutes, even though the power settings are specifically set that

Why does Windows 7 sometimes forget to turn off my display after X number minutes, even though the power settings are specifically set that way?

This is not just a problem with Windows 7 - I know I've been experiencing this same issue all the way back through XP. Basically, you set your screen to turn off after 5 or 10 minutes, you walk away, the screen turns off after 5 or 10 minutes. Then 2 or 3 days later, for some reason, the screen stays on at all times despite this setting.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 418

Total answers/comments: 2

Comments display order:

Guest [Entry]

"Could be a lot of possible reasons, here are my guesses:

It could depend on your mouse, I've had mice that even while completely still on a table send a very minor cursor movement signal back to the PC. Try unplugging the mouse to see if that's the cause.
There are applications that actively prevent windows from turning the screen off, full screen video is the obvious one, there may be something else you have running, check your background applications."

Guest [Entry]

"I found this site to be very useful in solving this problem for me, using Windows 8.1:

Windows 7 Screensaver and Power Options Not Working?

The solution for me was Method 4 – Disable Wake Features.

I was able to quickly use the command prompt, with the command

powercfg /devicequery wake_armed

to discover that my network adapter was set to wake up the computer all the time. I changed that setting and my problem was solved. I tested it by setting my display to turn off in one minute, sat back for a minute, and presto! it turned off nicely."