Question I can't get Windows to turn off my monitors after a set time ?

[Greywolf74]

My main PC is a Windows 10 system and I cant get it to shut the monitors off after X amount of minutes. I don't want it to go to sleep, just turn the displays off. One of my Windows 11 machines was having this issue and I figured out that the Steel Series software was preventing it from turning the monitors off also. I told it to stop auto-starting with Windows and problem solved. Im assuming that is the same thing that this Windows 10 machine is doing as well but if it is, I cant seem to locate what program is keeping it from turning off the monitors.

I also tried binding the power button to manually shut off the displays which does work for about half a second and then all 4 monitors come right back to life. Anyone have any suggestions for tracking down this issue? I feel like Ive exhausted all possible options via a Google search and Ive turned off everything I felt like I didnt need to auto start but if its some process as opposed to a program then I have no idea where to begin because there are so many and most of them I have no idea what they actually do.

 

[Lutfij]

If the time to your display turning off has been set, I would first try and flip the mouse over so a jittery sensor isn't causing the panel to stay up as the OS is seeing an input. I would then try and work with another keyboard in case one of your keys is depressed.

I'd go as far as using DDU, remove all GPU drivers then manually reinstall in an elevated command, with the latest GPU driver from GPU chip maker's support site.

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

 

[ubuysa]

I found that if Steam is running in the background my monitor won't turn off. Now, I always exit Steam when I'm done and the monitor turns off as expected.

 

[Greywolf74]

If the time to your display turning off has been set, I would first try and flip the mouse over so a jittery sensor isn't causing the panel to stay up as the OS is seeing an input. I would then try and work with another keyboard in case one of your keys is depressed.

I'd go as far as using DDU, remove all GPU drivers then manually reinstall in an elevated command, with the latest GPU driver from GPU chip maker's support site.

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

I appreciate the response and next time I will try and provide more system info.

You were correct in that it was a peripheral preventing the monitors from staying off. Its a Razer Tartarus game pad. So heres my next question. Is there a batchfile or something I could make to disable the gamepad so I dont have to climb under my desk and disconnect/reconnect it every time? I guess worst case I can buy a usb extention cable so I can get easy access to be able to unplug it but Id rather just have a batch file or something I can click on to disable/enable it.

I found that if Steam is running in the background my monitor won't turn off. Now, I always exit Steam when I'm done and the monitor turns off as expected.

I have Steam running and it works fine if my game pad isnt plugged in. Thanks for the suggestion tho.

 

[Greywolf74]

*UPDATE*

Originally when I unplugged the game pad the monitor would turn off and stay off but a little while later it stopped doing it. I went back and disabled all of the various updaters for adobe etc and now it seems to be working again if I also unplug the game pad. Just in case someone else is having this same issue. I still need a way top disable the game pad though.

 

[Blackink]

I have my 4 monitors plugged into a power strip. I have a small 2' long pole that I use to turn the power strip on and off with.

 

[Greywolf74]

Just for future reference in case someone else is trying to figure out how to do this heres the powershell code. Youll have to change your hardware ID to match your device(s) that you want to enable/disable but this will get you in the ballpark. In my case I was trying to disable a Razer Tartarus gamepad because my monitors wouldnt turn off when it was plugged in. I discovered that I had to not only disable the device under "keyboards" in device manager but I also had to disable the hardware ID for it that showed up under "Human Interface Devices" as well.

# Self-elevating PowerShell script to toggle the enabled state of a device
# Check to see if we are currently running "as Administrator"
$currentPrincipal = New-Object Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal([Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent())
if (-not $currentPrincipal.IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator)) {
# We are not running "as Administrator" - so relaunch as administrator
# Create a new process object that starts PowerShell
$newProcess = New-Object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo "PowerShell";
# Specify the current script path and name as a parameter
$newProcess.Arguments = "& '" + $script:MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition + "'"
# Indicate that the process should be run as administrator
$newProcess.Verb = "runas";
# Start the new process
[System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start($newProcess);
# Exit from the current, unelevated script
exit
}

# Function to toggle the device state by Hardware ID
function Toggle-DeviceStateByHardwareID {
param (
[string]$HardwareID
)

$device = Get-PnpDevice | Where-Object { $_.HardwareID -like "*$HardwareID*" }

if ($device -eq $null) {
Write-Host "No device found with Hardware ID: $HardwareID."
return
}

foreach ($dev in $device) {
if ($dev.Status -eq "OK") {
# Device is enabled, so disable it
$dev | Disable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false
Write-Host "Device '$($dev.FriendlyName)' with Hardware ID: $HardwareID is now disabled."
} elseif ($dev.Status -eq "Error") {
# Device is disabled, so enable it
$dev | Enable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false
Write-Host "Device '$($dev.FriendlyName)' with Hardware ID: $HardwareID is now enabled."
} else {
Write-Host "Device '$($dev.FriendlyName)' with Hardware ID: $HardwareID is in an unknown state."
}
}
}

# Toggle the devices using their Hardware IDs
Toggle-DeviceStateByHardwareID -HardwareID "USB\VID_1532&PID_0208&MI_01&JS_02"
Toggle-DeviceStateByHardwareID -HardwareID "HID\VID_1532&PID_0208&REV_0200&MI_02"