Thread: PC insomnia
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Old December 28th 17, 06:21 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Paul[_32_]
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Posts: 11,873
Default PC insomnia

Optimist wrote:
Why is it that very often the PC keeps awake? The monitor switches off OK, but whereas sometimes
the PC's light blinks indicating sleep, very often it just keeps going, sometimes for more than 24
hours.

I know W10 has to do housekeeping tasks like creating backups of the operating system but surely
these tasks can't take all that time?

I have looked at the task monitor during those times and apart from the time when it was downloading
a W10 update, there hasn't been excessive internet traffic which would might indicate a malware
infection.

I use the balanced power plan, with the recommended settings. I now use Kaspersky Internet
Security, but the behaviour occurred when I used AVG.

Any ideas please?


Windows 10 has various diagnostic reports.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

You could also look for strange stuff in Reliability Monitor.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

*******

In Settings (Gear Wheel in start menu), you should
check your Windows Update status (Update & Security : Windows Update).
It could be that you've stopped receiving Windows Updates,
the SoftwareDistribution folder has gigabytes of data, and
updates are jammed up. Maybe that would account for
24 hours of feverish activity.

Windows Update has a history link, and what you're looking
for in there, is failed updates.

*******

You can right-click the Start orb and select Run and enter

winver

That gives you the patch level. If you're reasonably up to
date, it will say "16299.125".

Here is an example of what things should look like. I have
included Windows Update History, as well as pasting in the
output of "winver".

https://s17.postimg.org/dmcioefen/updates.gif

Each entry has a KBxxxxxxx number and "Success" or "Failure"
status. If there is a failed numbered entry followed by a success
numbered entry, then no further action would be needed. The most
recent entries are at the top of the list.

However, if the same KBxxxxxxx fails over and over again,
with no success KBxxxxxxx above it, then your Windows Update
is jammed up. You can go to catalog.update.microsoft.com
and download the corresponding .msu file with your web
browser. That's an executable you click, which will
do the install in an independent manner.

After the .msu file is completely downloaded, you can:

1) Select shut down from the menu.
2) Unplug the network cable (or turn off your Wifi router
for a few minutes). The purpose of doing this, is to
prevent the computer from using wuauserv until you've
had a chance to run the .msu file.
3) Execute the .msu file.
If you have multiple .msu files, don't select Restart
if a Restart button is present. Do as many .msu files as
it will eat, *then* click the Restart button. You can batch
up the ones that say Restart, and don't have to Restart
for each one individually.
4) When the system comes back up, plug in the network cable
and/or turn on your Wifi again.

If you think the problem is solved at that point, you
can select Windows Update from the Settings window
(Update and Security). And go check whether you're up
to date.

In terms of components:

1) Patch Tuesday Cumulative - one of these will bring up
up to date in one shot, on patches. A "catalog" download
for the December one, might be 500MB in size.

2) Adobe Flash Update - used by IE11 and MSEdge browsers.
Comes from Adobe, Microsoft delivers automatically.

3) Windows Defender definition updates. It's possible these
updates continue to be delivered, even if you're running
KAV. I just use Windows Defender here myself. There is also
a completely separate Microsoft web page with a 100MB download
file for this.

4) MSRT or MRT (Microsoft malicious software scanner).
This is *not* Windows Defender, but a separate package
which scans for the top 50 pests. Microsoft uses the
information gathered, to keep track of how many people
are infected. You would think Windows Defender or KAV
would be enough, but this is an independent check run
once a month. The program can also be run manually,
from the system folder. The output syntax is a bit
disturbing (it may complain during the run, then not
show the nature of what it's seen at the end), but you
should try it at least once "for fun".

You're probably jammed on (1), or maybe you're running
15063 version of Windows 10, and are missing the
equivalent of a Service Pack. Since Windows 10 is a
rolling release, they don't call them Service Packs and
they're OS Upgrades instead. But I just wanted to give
the impression there is a "bigger update" than a
Patch Tuesday, and it changes the major version number
of the OS (15063 -- 16299).

*******

Also, don't forget that Control Panels has a Troubleshooter
panel, and in there, you can type "Update" in the search box
in the upper right hand corner, and have the Windows Update
subsystem debugged. The main outcome of this, would be
deleting the contents of SoftwareDistribution. If there
are 5GB of stuff in there, one would hope the size would
drop after "cleaning" by the Troubleshooter.

C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution (~450MB today)

And if you say "where did my control panels go?", there
is a fix for this, for the time being. This will make
the control panels appear on the screen:

Right-click Start : Run : Enter the word "control" then press return

and then the Control Panels should appear. On the Task Bar,
right click the Control Panel icon and select "Pin To Taskbar".
That will leave your Control Panels in easy reach, until
Microsoft messes around, yet again :-)

HTH,
Paul
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