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I have this problem at my helpdesk:

On a Windows 7 computer the screen goes into standby mode just a few seconds after a key is hit or the mouse is moved.

Looking into the Power Options in the Control Panel, I find that the option Turn off the display is set to less than a minute. This is strange, because normally it isn't possible to choose a lower value. This answer on SU even suggests that it is impossible to set a value lower than a minute. It also shows clearly that it isn't the user that changed this setting without knowing.

As this is a recurring problem I hope to find the cause of this unexpected changes to this setting.

Can this setting be changed somewhere else than in Power Options ? What could be the cause for this strange behavior ?

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  • You were right - I deleted my post because it's wrong. I'm sure there is another setting somewhere for turn off times, but I can't seem to find it and I'm out of time.
    – Arthur
    Dec 1, 2014 at 14:31
  • If this is a work computer, ensure there are no group policies (probably Preferences) setting the power options. Really though, if this IS a work computer then there's not much we can do to help, it's up to you to talk to your IT provider/staff.
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    Dec 1, 2014 at 15:05
  • @Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 It's a work computer, but it is a remote office, and as such not connected to a domain. Oh and the IT staff, it's me :(
    – Lorenz Meyer
    Dec 1, 2014 at 15:41

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Group Policy allows values in seconds. In Local Group Policy Editor check under:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Video and Display Settings

It's also possible that a rogue application is changing the setting. Media players come to mind...

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  • Thanks. Am I right that this will disallow the user or a rogue application to change the setting ?
    – Lorenz Meyer
    Dec 4, 2014 at 12:05
  • Yes, use Group Policy to lock the setting down. So long as your user(s) can't/don't log in as Administrator or give elevated privileges to an application, the setting will be locked.
    – misha256
    Dec 4, 2014 at 17:50
  • A little beyond my understanding but, if your users use domain accounts to log in to PCs, you can set up Group Policy settings at the domain account level (via Active Directory). The policies are applied per user or group, whenever users log on to a PC, overriding whatever local Group Policy settings the PC may have. Again I stress this is beyond my understanding but well worth looking into if you're managing a whole bunch of users.
    – misha256
    Dec 4, 2014 at 17:56

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