Search

Problems with Standby (Sleep)

Introduction

Standby, also known as Sleep or "Suspend to RAM", is a power-saving mode that allows your laptop to conserve energy when not in use. However, laptops can experience a variety of issues during Standby mode, including random failures to wake up, unexpected overheating, and spontaneous waking up.

Standby issues can arise from a variety of factors, such as mismatching drivers pushed through Windows Updates, third-party system software, and incompatibility between drivers and new Windows Updates. The highly integrated nature of laptops makes them particularly susceptible to these problems, as there are many components that must work together seamlessly for a successful Standby experience.

How did the introduction of Modern Standby (S0ix) contribute to the prevalence of Standby issues?

Modern Standby (S0ix) replaced Legacy Standby (S3) in most new laptops around 2021. Being the successor to what was previously named "Connected Standby" (CS), this technology (in theory) faster wake-up times and more flexible Standby usage. Modern Standby somewhat blurs the line between Idle and Standby by allowing the system to power down certain components while still displaying an image on screen or by being able to receive push notifications (e-mails, voice calls) or voice commands during periods of sleep.

To understand how complex Modern Standby has become, you can read some original documentation from Microsoft here:

Modern Standby requires deeper integration between hardware and software, which can lead to more issues if any components, drivers or software are not fully compatible with the new standard. As a result, the potential for Standby-related problems has increased.

How can missing or incomplete device drivers cause Standby issues?

Device drivers are essential in making sure that the system can perform the more advanced functions such as Modern Standby. Considering the analogy of a chain only being as strong as its weakest link, any single device driver that is malfunctioning or misbehaving can occasionally bring down the whole system. Related article: How can I check if all my device drivers are properly installed?

How can third-party system software contribute to Standby issues?

Third-party system software, such as security, networking, monitoring, and tuning applications, can interact with your laptop's hardware and operating system in unpredictable ways. Some of these applications may not be fully compatible with your laptop's power management features or may interfere with the communication between your laptop's components, causing Standby issues. Related article: How can I prevent certain software from starting automatically with Windows?

Is it possible to revert to "Legacy Standby" (S3) to avoid the issues with Modern Standby (S0ix)?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: due to its deep integration with hardware, firmware, and drivers, disabling Modern Standby through registry tweaks or other hacks may introduce further stability or reliability issues, and thus is not recommended. The following list attempts to explain this situation in more detail:

  • Modern Standby (S0ix) is not only an operating system feature but is also deeply ingrained into the hardware and firmware, including chipsets, mainboard layouts, and other system components. Both Intel and AMD have completely dropped support for Legacy Standby (S3) in their current mobile (laptop) CPU platforms.
  • The shift towards Modern Standby (S0ix) has affected hardware, firmware, and drivers of key components such as networking, audio, and USB controllers. As a result, reverting to Legacy Standby may not be compatible with these components and could lead to other issues.
  • Potential risks of disabling Modern Standby: While there may be tutorials or registry tweaks available to disable Modern Standby, using such methods on modern systems may introduce stability or reliability side effects. Therefore, attempting to disable or hack Modern Standby is generally not recommended.

Instead of tampering with the underbelly of Microsoft's power architecture, it may be better to focus on resolving any issues with Modern Standby or switching to alternative power-saving methods that may work better with the current state of your system. Related articles:

Is Standby (Modern Standby) inherently broken?

Standby seems to work very well on Mac OS, iOS and Android, while the PC/Windows platform seems to be riddled with issues with things seeming to be getting continuously worse.

Screenshot of Google search, looking for: notebook power drain heat standby

15.4 million search results cannot lie..

It could be argued that a certain number of factors contribute to Standby on modern Windows systems being inherently broken.

  • The virtually unlimited number of possible hardware and peripheral configurations.
  • The multiple sources of automated or semi-automated driver updates.
  • A lack of enforcement of sensible system administration (i.e. Windows does not warn the end-user when device drivers are missing; users have to proactively look it up in Device Manager).
  • The feature creep of cramming more and more power saving features into laptops (i.e. panel self-refresh) while at the same time demanding more and more features and services to be working in the background (i.e. push notifications, unattended Windows updates, voice commands).
  • The intentional obscurity in Windows' default settings (i.e. Power Button and Sleep Button performing the same default action; Hibernate being initially hidden from Start Menu).
  • A lack of comprehensive, built-in troubleshooting options (i.e. troubleshooting is distributed across various expert-level console commands).

Similar points are mode in this review from YouTube channel LinusTechTips from 2022.

Additional articles and discussions:

Responsibility and warranty

Ultimately, system vendors have some responsibility in making sure that features that are advertised with a product work correctly. However, the line between the vendor's and user's responsibility will always be a bit burry in an open and unregulated environment such as the Windows/PC platform. Therefor, we may be able to provide detailed guidance for troubleshooting Standby issues, but we may not be able to fully guarantee that Standby will always work in all system and software configurations, for all users, at all times.

Troubleshooting and workarounds

Please check out the following FAQ articles: