Windows10 Entered Sleep Mode while Doing Windows Update

Hi all


About a month ago, while doing a long Windows Update, surprisingly, my Windows10 entered Sleep Mode,
because I didn't touch my Laptop for a while, as defined in the Power Settings for Sleep Mode.


It was really scary to see Windows entering Sleep Mode during an important operation (that involves writing to the SSD, and updating critical components), and I truly wish no damage happened.
(the laptop works well, but who knows If some file(s) got corrupted..)


This made me wonder:

Doesn't Windows have some built in API, that enable programs to request not to sleep during a certain operation?

Something like:
TemporaryPreventSleepMode_Start()
TemporaryPreventSleepMode_End()


It seems like quite basic and useful functions,
and it seems more than logic that Windows Update itself would use it..


So doesn't this exist?

What do you guys do to prevent this?
(change your Power Profile before you do Windows Update, and then change back after Windows Update finished?)


Thank you

No you won't get any hardware damage from that. The worst case scenario is that it may cause a corruption in the Windows update files. Similarly how if you were unfortunate to get a power cut during an update.

If in doubt you can use sfc /scannow by opening CMD as Administrator and check if there are any integrity violations.

Worst case is that you may need to reinstall Windows. But if there aren't any integrity violations and you're not experiencing any issues then you can leave it as it is. If you are not getting Blue Screen of Death or any other issues such as crashes, temperature issues, hangs, freezes, etc then it means your laptop is operating correctly.

If you are worried about Sleep Mode during windows update. You can disable Sleep mode next time while you are updating Windows. You can also disable turn off hard drive and hibernation and just leave for example the monitor going to sleep.

Thank you BLaZiNgSPEED

BLaZiNgSPEED said:

If you are worried about Sleep Mode during windows update. You can disable Sleep mode next time while you are updating Windows. You can also disable turn off hard drive and hibernation and just leave for example the monitor going to sleep.

Yes I understand.

But I wonder to myself, didn't Microsoft already create some mechanism, to automatically prevent entering to Sleep Mode,
to programs doing critical stuff that should not get Sleep Mode in the middle of it?

It seems such a basic thing, and I find it weird to see a computer, in 2021, with the latest Window OS, behaving like that.

Also laptops are so prevalent,
it's not some rare computer type, that no-one in Microsoft stumpbled upon, and so did not experience this problem himself,
ir order to decide that this should automatically prevented, programatically..

(and not relying on users, to remember to switch a Power Profile before Windows Update..)

Well indeed it should be like that. But if as you say your Windows went to sleep mode during an important update then it just goes to show that this mechanism wasn't in place.

Now I never set my computer to go to sleep apart from the monitor. But I do notice that during windows updates and system restore process the screen turns off as I have set it to go to sleep in 10 minutes. But I have no experience with setting computer to go to hibernation and then doing a windows update at the same time.

Usually speaking I use a Windows Update blocker tool and remain at that position forever, until I genuinely need to update my PC/laptop.

My principle is if it's not broke, don't fix. Windows update tends to sometimes mess up the computer more than it helps. Like in the case of 20H2 it has given me nothing but headache, couldn't disable windows defender, telemetry turns itself back on, reverted task schedules back to default, etc. I went back to 1903 and there I stay there. No headache or worry about further updates.

BLaZiNgSPEED said:

Now I never set my computer to go to sleep apart from the monitor.

You're on a Desktop and not a Laptop?

BLaZiNgSPEED said:

Usually speaking I use a Windows Update blocker tool and remain at that position forever, until I genuinely need to update my PC/laptop.

Interesting.
This tool can get more than the Maximum # of days that Windows 10 enables to postpone updates?
If yes, can you please tell me what the name of this tool is?

BLaZiNgSPEED said:

My principle is if it's not broke, don't fix. Windows update tends to sometimes mess up the computer more than it helps. Like in the case of 20H2 it has given me nothing but headache, couldn't disable windows defender, telemetry turns itself back on, reverted task schedules back to default, etc. I went back to 1903 and there I stay there. No headache or worry about further updates.

Yes I understand you..
That's why I create Disk Images of C: from time to time.

Hello, yes I am on a desktop PC, not on a laptop.

Windows Update Blocker v1.6

This is what I used. For 2 years I didn't update windows and all was fine and I remained at 1903 version. This tool disables all task schedules related to Windows Update and Update Orchestrator Service.

That way Windows never scans for updates or offers you new updates unless you turn the settings back on. If you disable and go to Windows Update it will not find new updates. This is basically permanent.

You will also no longer see USOCoreWorker.exe running randomly in the background. These are task schedules that are impossible to manually disable yourself. You'll get permission issues. But with this tool it manages to set these task schedules to disabled.

Only problem is that if you install a new device that requires drivers via windows update, you will need to turn the service back on temporarily to install new drivers such as mouse, gamepad, printer, etc. But once the drivers are installed you can safely disable Windows update again until future.

Thank you for it.

Amazing how Microsoft agressively decide for its users.
Such a bad attitude by them.

Indeed, there is another alternative method to stay on the current build version of Windows without it forcefully upgrading to the newer version.

That option is this..
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] "ProductVersion"="Windows 10"
"TargetReleaseVersion"=dword:00000001
"TargetReleaseVersionInfo"="1903"

By specifying the target version as 1903, which is what I have done. Windows 10 will remain at 1903. I only found out about this last week when I reinstalled Windows 10 Pro 1903.

What this will do is only install all the cumulative updates for 1903 but will not offer you 1909 or 20H2, etc.

This is another sure way of remaining at the current version. Only thing I will miss is the security updates as this version is now retired, but who cares.

For example let's just say you decided to install 1909 and you want to remain only at 1909. You first download an ISO for 1909 remove the LAN cable/WiFi and install that version whether from DVD or USB memory stick. Before reconnecting the internet you type in "TargetReleaseVersionInfo"="1909" then reconnect the internet and Windows will only update 1909 to the final version and you remain at that version.

Unfortunately Microsoft don't tell you these hidden solutions. This way technically you don't need Windows Update Blocker tool. But the blocker tool will at least disable the services and the periodic scanning.

You're fine. Nothing bad will come from this other than maybe having corrupted update files. Now, if you updated your motherboard BIOS/UEFI and the power went out, then you would have hardware problems. But software? Easy fix. If you are really concerned about it then backup your data and information to an external drive (flash or HDD/SSD) and do a fresh install. I would also recommend disabling sleep mode with the charger plugged in to prevent future panic.