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I am running Windows 10 Pro, build 10586, on a Lenovo T-520. Fairly recently a behaviour has appeared, where the screen locks, and goes blank, after about 2 minutes of not using the PC.

I have checked all power settings, every single one, and nowhere, when on mains, is the PC set to hibernate or sleep after a time shorter than 2 hours.

What could be causing this very quickly triggered screen lock? To unlock, I must use the keyboard or wiggle the mouse to show the lock screen, then click the mouse to show the password input.

ProfK
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    Have you checked the screen saver settings? How to Find and Set Screen Savers on Windows 10 – DavidPostill Dec 24 '15 at 14:03
  • @DavidPostill I hadn't checked them until now, but on finding that screen, I switched a screen saver on with a delay of 5 minutes to see if anything changes. Maybe a buggy Win 10 was showing the "(none)" screensaver after 1 minute for some reason, and now it should show "mystify" after 5 minutes. – ProfK Dec 24 '15 at 14:24
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    What happens if you now set it back to (none)? – DavidPostill Dec 24 '15 at 14:26
  • @DavidPostill I said I had set a screensaver with a 5 minute delay, not that I had actually achieved one. The only differense setting that screensaver made was that now the screen doesn't go blank when it locks, it shows the lock screen, not the 'Mystify" pattern I chose for the screen saver. I have been away, and not able to time the locking, but the screen saver is definitely not working as it should. – ProfK Dec 24 '15 at 18:10
  • @EddieDunn I said I wanted to "see if anything changes". I don't know how you can read into that that I fixed it. David, I will now set it back to (none), again to see if anything changes. – ProfK Dec 24 '15 at 18:13
  • haha, ok must have misread the bit about is showing (none) screen saver...I have a Turn off display after under Display in advanced power settings. Did you check that as well? – Eddie Dunn Dec 24 '15 at 18:32
  • @EddieDunn Hehe, no problem. Yes, on for the "On power" settings, those range from a minimum of 4 hours. – ProfK Dec 25 '15 at 02:18
  • Here is what I am talking about: http://imgur.com/79VAT17 – Eddie Dunn Dec 25 '15 at 03:18
  • @EddieDunn My setting there is 240 minutes when plugged in. – ProfK Dec 25 '15 at 08:05
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    Try removing an Lenovo power/battery management software installed and see if that helps. – FiZi Jan 13 '16 at 06:27
  • Are you using a monitor? If so the settings on your monitor may be the problem. – Peter Warrington Jan 17 '16 at 16:27
  • @I'monstackexchange I don't see how anything on the monitor can tell the PC to lock. The comms channel, i.e. VGA, between them is strictly one way, from PC to monitor. If the monitor just went blank, I would consider this, but the PC goes to lock screen. How can a VGA channel make the PC do that? – ProfK Jan 17 '16 at 22:51
  • @ProfK I wanted to check, since I didn't see you mention it. What power plan is it set on? I have actually had the dell power plan do the exact same thing (even though every setting was different), so to fix the issue I changed the power plan to something else (balanced in my case) and set the settings the way I wanted again. Try that to see if it helps, but remember after changing the plan to go and change all those settings in the power plan to prevent it from turning off the screen, going to sleep, or hibernate. It's worth a shot if the power plan is causing the problem. – dakre18 Jan 18 '16 at 16:52
  • @ProfK does the standalone screen have settings of it's own(TV screen or something)? And try installing the latest driver from Lenovo. I saw I'm on stack exchange's comment, maybe the monitor switches off(monitor's settings), the computer detects it and locks (the VGA cable needs to complete the circuit I guess) or the acpi lid driver is malfunctioning. This might help https://www.displayfusion.com/ . – Varad Mahashabde Jan 19 '16 at 14:25
  • @FiZi I'm with you. I have had many problems with the Lenovo Power Manager in the past. Just for kicks, can you try your laptop with another external monitor? – root Jan 19 '16 at 16:48
  • A BIOS update couldn't hurt either. – FiZi Jan 19 '16 at 17:00
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    I wanted to give you a couple things to read just in case you find anything helpful in resolving the problem you describe... bada bing: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-disable-the-windows-10-lock-screen/ and bada boom: http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-lock-screen-windows-10... this may be the same or have overlap in the other article or what others have suggested, but in any case, look over just in case the answer lies within... – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Oct 11 '16 at 00:29
  • Did you check under "System Settings => System & Security => Energy Option => Change Energy Options and from there Extended Energy Options => Power and Close Lid."? Give it a look to this answer for the opposite problem. It seems that the Lenovo power management can conflict somehow. – Hastur Oct 12 '16 at 12:24

8 Answers8

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After searching around for a while I stumbled across this:

"I think I finally found the problem. There's a setting called "System unattended sleep timeout" However, in Windows 10 it does not show up in the Advanced Power Settings.

I had to add it through a registry edit from here (the Windows 7 regedit works on Windows 10) http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/246364-power-options-add-system-unattended-sleep-timeout.html

So far it has not gone to sleep after two minutes when I wake it with my mouse.

So, it looks like a Microsoft problem, not hardware." by CaesarMagnus

After changing the registry using the link he provided, I was able to change that setting, and it fixed my issue. Hope that helps.

user870042
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  • The regedit is locked behind a (terrible) account creation process. The reg file to set this right contains: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0] "Attributes"=dword:00000002 – benk Apr 19 '23 at 14:46
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I know this is strange, but do you happen to have any finger print drivers installed? I read an article online, saying the Lenovo finger print driver has been causing some issues with the power settings.

JoPete19
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  • I had to award the bounty due to the time limit, and this is the only answer that raises a question I have not already investigated and found to not be the cause of the problem. – ProfK Jan 21 '16 at 05:49
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I dont have enough reps to comment so adding as an answer.

I am not quite sure of the issue, but just wanted to add my cents. Have you checked the "Choose what closing the lid does" option in Power settings..? See screeenshot: https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cjggl.jpg

Hopefully this gives you some idea.

Sid_Hussey
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This is a bug/feature of the Lenovo Battery Safer Software. Try to uninstall it or configure it(i dont know if there is an option for it). I'm working with several Lenovo Notebooks(of any kind and any Model) on my work and we noticed some problems with the built in lenovo software.

CentrixDE
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Just to throw in another symptom, this has started happening to me, but only when the computer is under load. I can fairly consistently reproduce by setting off a render in Premiere, and watching a YouTube video in Chrome at the same time.

Inactivity doesn't matter, I can be in the middle of typing when it happens. Computer locks itself and goes to sleep. I then have to press the power button for it to come back up, and it just continues from where it was.

I'm guessing it's some kind of overheat/overload protection kicking in to keep my laptop from melting. The only solution I've found is to just leave the computer alone while doing intensive tasks.

Alex J
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Your organization requires you to...

This confounded me for a long time; I had tried everything in every troubleshooting guide and more.

Turns out it was because I linked my Microsoft (company, eg. @microsoft) account to my personal device.

To fix this, just go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school and remove your work account.

Must have some sort of secret lock-computer-after-1-minute policy to protect your extremely important emails from, idk, your dog? Your wife? (I know, I know, a malicious Apple spy at the cafe.)

They could have at least had a message show up in the power settings...

Daniel Thompson
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I can help fix your problem, just follow these steps and you will be able to shut your laptop lid and the screen will not turn off.

  1. Right click the battery in the bottom left and then click "Power options"
  2. On the option you have active, click "Change plan settings"
  3. Click "Change advanced power settings"
  4. Find where it says "Power buttons and lid" then click it
  5. Click "Lid close action"
  6. Change "On battery:" and "Plugged in:" to "Do nothing"

Link to what it might look like:

enter image description here

This should make it so when you close your laptop lid, the laptop screen will stay on and it will not fall asleep like it usually does.

Have a good day!

Journeyman Geek
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SimpleAnswerzZ
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    Welcome to Super User! On this Q&A site we try to provide good answers to questions people ask. Part of providing an answer is fully reading the stated question. In this case, the question states that OP already checked all power settings. As such your answer does not contribute any useful information that might help in resolving this issue. Please update it to suggest a possible solution that hasn't been posted yet, or remove the answer. – Cas Oct 12 '16 at 11:43
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Go through this link to solve your problem:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/Machine-always-goes-into-standby-mode-after-1-min-of-being-idle/ta-p/414093

user744133
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  • Link-only answers are not helpful. Please edit your answer, and include all relevant information, be sure to quote and cite any sources you might use for that information. – Ramhound Jun 30 '17 at 19:26