PC only comes out of sleep with power button, not keyboard (?)

My wife's Mac Mini is so old Apple will not update the OS, stating the hardware is too old. I think Apple just wants us to purchase a new Mac. We didn't. I built her a new PC with a mix of older, but still good hardware.

So far so good but I have hit a snag. I can only wake the PC out of sleep when pressing the power button, not by pressing "any key" on the keyboard or mouse which I thought was normal.

We will use a USB type keyboard soon but for now the keyboard is an older Microsoft brand which uses a PS/2 connector, not a USB. I don't know if that might be the issue or maybe some power setting I've missed. In Power Options, Balanced is selected & under "Choose what the power button does" is set to "Shut down". I use these settings on my PC as well & pressing any key on the keyboard bring my PC out of sleep.

Any suggestions?

FreeBooter said:

The Keyboard item in Control Panel is not configured to wake the computer when you press a key on the keyboard.


The system should ideally wake up if the mouse is moved, however you can follow the steps mentioned below which will also help:

Open Device Manger by typing Devmgmt.msc into Start Menu
Expand Keyboards from Device Manger
Right click your keyboard or mouse , select Properties
Under the Power Management tab you will see the "Allow this device to wake up the computer " Check that , apply and save the setting .


Examine the BIOS settings of your computer for power features that disable or reduce power to ports that are used for your keyboard or mouse. Because BIOS access varies by computer, to resolve this issue, see the documentation that is included with your computer. Alternatively, contact your computer manufacturer for information about how to configure the BIOS.

Thanks for the reply. Left click the mouse wakes the PC. I couldn't find any reference in Device Manger/Keyboard/Properties for Power Management. In BIOS there was some options in keyboard settings that didn't fix the issue. I'm guessing once the USB keyboard is installed keyboard wake will work. I use the exact keyboard on my PC that will be installed later.

FreeBooter said:

Lets hope new keyboard will resolve the issue if it does not let us know please.

Will do. I've had time to build her PC, install software & transfer data while she closes out her Mac Mini. This has been the only issue & her current keyboard should fix that.

stormy13 said:

Wouldn't happen to have used an MSI motherboard for that build would you?

If so then there is nothing you can do from Windows to get it to work, and will have to look in the bios to fix it. I had the same thing with my MSI motherboard and not waking from sleep without using the power button. Turns out that there is a setting or two in the bios,

Can't Wake Computer

that is disabled by default. Before this MSI board I had a string of Asus motherboards and settings like that were all enabled by default. Wasn't until I found that thread on the MSI forums and made the necessary changes that both the keyboard and mouse would wake the computer.

Even if it isn't a MSI motherboard it could still be something similar.

Thanks. No, it's a Gigabyte GA-P67-UD3-B3 board. I build a Win 7 with it in 2011.

In BIOS / Power Management Setup, there is a setting for "Power On By Keyboard" with options of "Disable" (default), "Password" & "Keyboard 98". I did try Keyboard 98 a few days ago but it didn't help. I'm going to look elsewhere as you suggested.

USB keyboard fixed the issue! Didn't need to do anything in BIOS. Thanks