Windows 10: Monitor turns off after 2 minutes of inactivity

ugh. I messed with so many settings trying to figure out the problem that I wouldn't know where to begin to see if you're missing something. I'm also NOT a regristry expert (took me awhile just to figure out how to run the regedit file.

One thing I didn't mention above when I changed the "System unattended sleep timeout" was that I set the time to "0" not to something like 10 or 15 minutes. Hope that helps.

 

I set mine to 3600 (60 minutes in seconds). I should go back and set it to zero since zero worked for you and 3600 seconds didn't help me much at all.

To make it easier, you could have downloaded the script (there's one for set and another for unset), changed the time using a text editor like notepad (I use notepad++), and then after saving the modified script, just click on the file.

A safer approach would be to use regedit to find the current setting, or the next higher setting that exists. Then export it inorder to save the current settings incase you need to revert.

You already experience3d regedit, so it would be a shame to not learn this utility. You can likely find a tutorial her, or on Microsoft TechNet. Here in San Francisco, we can access most tech manuals on the web, with just a library card.

 

I have a similar problem but I didn't find a solution. My display is turning off after 2 minutes or more, even I play a game or do something else. I\ve changed on power management all setting to never, high plan settings etc, nothing helped. This computer sleep or whatever it is, it's happens at least one time per day. Any solution?

My specs: i5 4460, Asrock B85M-DGS, Saphire dual X R7 265 2GB, 8GB ram.

 

I have not been able to fix this annoying problem yet, although I would expect more uproar ad a MS fix if it affected everyone. What makes my system different?

• I updated from Win 8.1 Pro with Media Center, rather than doing a clean install.
• My machine is in my Small Business Server 2011 R2 domain.
• I use global group policies, but I haven't created one for Win 10 Pro (x64) primarily since I haven't found how to create the appropriate WMI filter.

 

I hope this helps everyone --

I resolved this using Ceaser's way, only I didn't use regedit. I did at first, and changed what I thought was the appropriate setting (I followed the path outlined by the script I downloaded from the site he gave; I don't like to run scripts, so I opened it in notepad to use as a guide), but that didn't work. So I decided to have yet another go at the power settings, and this time I noticed something I hadn't noticed before: in the advanced power settings (system -> power and sleep -> additional power settings -> choose when to turn off the display -> change advanced power settings) there is a link at the top that says "Change settings that are currently unavailable." I clicked on that, and then the System Unattended Sleep Timeout setting showed up under the Sleep setting, with both battery and plugged in set to 2 minutes. I changed plugged in to 20 minutes and clicked OK, then waited ... and waited ... and happily waited ... and joyfully waited some more ... and after the full 20 minutes my monitor turned off.

 

barrisagent's fix didn't solve my problem.

I did an in place upgrade from win 8.1 x64 Pro with Media Center to Win10 Pro x64. For those of us (not me) who fixed this problem, what version of Win 10 are you running and did you do a in-place upgrade?

 

I started with 8 Home 64 bit, upgraded to 8.1 Home 64 bit, then to 10 Home 64. I don't know what you mean by "in place"; both of my upgrades were DL'd from M$.

 

Sorry if I made-up some terminology. My bad.

I meant to ask if you let Microsoft Update download the Win 10 upgrade and then let it apply that download to your existing system (in place), as opposed to installing Win 10 on a cleaned disk.

I apply and verify the registry updates cited in this discussion, but my Win 10 Pro x64 still seems to turn-off all of the monitors after 2 minutes of inactivity. An exception is if I'm watching a video in full-screen.

 

That's what I assumed you meant, but wasn't sure.

The registry fix didn't work for me either. It wasn't until after I noticed the link on the advanced power settings panel that I was able to clear the two minute timeout.

 

This thread helped solve the problem for me! Thanks to all.

Like others, I looked at all the obvious settings with no luck. Next, I tried to simply change advanced settings in power options by clicking 'Change settings that are currently unavailable' but that did dot allow access to 'System unattended sleep timeout'.

I looked at the registry key by searching on my own. I found it easily, but it was not clear what attribute value to set. The attribute is not a time setting, it is in fact an attribute of the key that describes what that key should allow/disallow. Thanks to the link earlier in this thread I found that someone already figured out that the attribute should be 0x00000002 (decimal 2 is easier to type in).

That little nugget of info told the OS to show the 'System unattended sleep timeout' setting. I changed it from 2 minutes to 25 and sure enough - it worked just fine. That is a simple fix for Microsoft if they already know about it. Not even a code bug, but a settings feaux pax.

Hope this thread helps others. That silly glitch was KILLING me as I try to evaluate Win 10 for my business.

 

i have tried everything that is listed. except to trying the entry myself and change it.

 

None of the above "fixes" do no fix the problem on my machine. I keep hoping that Microsoft will provide a fix, but that hasn't happened. My guess is that most people have no problem increasing the non-activity screen timeout beyond two minutes. I live in a studio apartment and can't get up to urinate without having to log onto my system again. It is very aggravating.

I would find it very useful to know if people who fixed this problem upgraded to Windows 10 without wiping their disk. I upgraded my Windows 8.1 Professional with Media Center x64 using Windows Update. It may be that Windows 10 inherited some windows 8.1 registry settings that are causing some conflict.

 

I manually changed the registry key and AFTER that, the 'System unattended sleep timeout' option was available in the Power Option dialog box. Previously, that option was absent even after click the 'Change setting that are currently unavailable'

This is on an old-ish Toshiba labtop Intel i3 that was upgraded from Win 7 Home.

 

Here is the solution that worked out for me:

1. Click on the windows icon
2. Type regedit
3. Right-click on regedit icon, click Run as administrator
4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0
5. Double click on Attributes
6. Enter number 2.
7. Go to Advanced power settings (click on Windows button, write power options, click on Power Options, in the selected plan click on the Change plan settings, click on the Change advanced power settings).
8. Click on the Change settings that are currently unavailable
9. Click Sleep, then System unattended sleep timeout, then change these settings from 2 Minutes to 20 for example.
That's it!

 

Nothing mentioned above worked for me until I found Interactive logon:Machine inactivity limit and machine account lockout threshold in the local security policy. The screen will still often go blank after 2 minutes, but not always. The big improvement for me is that it doesn't require me to enter my userid/password to continue working.

I believe Microsoft didn't enforce consistent screen saver and power options criteria.