[SOLVED] Windows 11 - Disable Sleep/Hibernation Permanently?

[Dylan Beckett]

Hello


I need to know how to Disable Sleep/Hibernation and anything related Permanently so that I can be absolutely certain that they are definitely off for good!

I just did a fresh install of Win 11 and spent a long time installing everything else when I decided to try the 'sleep' option instead of shutting down fully.

Big mistake - never do this!



After I clicked on sleep - it would not let me boot up or login to Windows again...

When you try to boot up - you just get a black screen with the white mouse cursor but you can't do anything other than wave the mouse cursor around the screen!

Even trying to get around this to get to Safe Mode or Bios etc failed the majority of the time and I just got the same Black screen with the white mouse cursor.

This is the infamous glitch related to Sleep/Hibernate in Win 10 and Win 11 (not sure about earlier versions)



I've read online this is an infamous issue in Win 10 also - but I've never used 10 (jumping up from 8.1) so I had no idea!

I'm pretty frustrated that they still haven't fixed this or at least removed the feature until it is fixed!


If you haven't disabled these options in your Windows installation - I highly recommend you make sure you do so now to save yourself a lot of grief!
No one ever expects long painful problems like this to happen to them - and then it does!


I tried all the different instructions online to disable Fast Startup/Fast Boot, I rebooted/Power up/Shutdown 20-40+ times at least over 1-2 hours. I could only get it to start up into the safe mode to login like 1/6th the time when I tried to start it up.

In the end I had to simply start over with another fresh install - massive waste of time and effort.

I have Macrium installed now and will get a Macrium Rescue USB Key AND a Recent Full System Drive IMAGE ready to avoid this in the future.
That's my other tip to save yourself some pain!

I think it was USAFret (?) who had a good guide on this - maybe he can repost it right here in the OP?


Now you can see why I want to be damn sure this will never happen again.


So can you please tell me how can I do this in a way that is utterly fool proof - as I explained above - even though I followed all the different methods pre windows (eg BIOS etc) and in windows (in safe mode etc) - none of it would fix my problem and boot up normally more than once.

Please provide as much detail and or links/videos as you can - it would be greatly appreciated!


For the record; Windows Update was fully updated, I've updated all the drivers etc for all my PC parts etc too including the BIOS.

I hadn't changed anything else recently (eg I don't think it was the graphics driver etc) and it's a completely new build which was working perfectly until I chose the sleep option.

So I'd bet that that is almost certainly the cause of my pain!

Hope this helps someone else avoid my mistake.



Thank you for your help

 

[USAFRet]

 

[USAFRet]

For hibernation, in the Control Panel.

How to Enable or Disable Hibernate Mode on Windows 11

Hibernate mode in Windows 11 lets you shut down while saving your work. It allows you to pick up where you left off. But, it's not enabled by default. Here's how to enable it.

www.groovypost.com

 

[punkncat]

I may not be understanding here, what exactly is happening when you try to resume from sleep?

I have had zero issues with sleep on any of the machines I have installed 11 on, and can't recall any issue with the 10 machines either.

 

[Colif]

What is the windows 11 sleep problem? what happens? why did it force you to reinstall windows?
Is problem it doesn't wake up again?

generally sleep problems are caused by drivers not behaving right.

I don't use it so I am not aware of any.

 

[Alabalcho]

At least, hybernation is easy: From elevated command prompt
powercfg /hibernate off

 

[Dylan Beckett]

@USAFRet
@punkncat
@Colif
@Alabalcho


To be clear - I've tried like 5-8+(?) different ways listed online to turn off Fast Startup/Fast Boot to disable Sleep/Hibernation and any related Hybrid Modes - and none of them fixed the problem.

That's why I'm concerned they aren't really entirely turned off using these kinds of settings - and it really worries me that this could happen again!

That's why I'd like to be totally certain all three are killed off for good - both Sleep and Hibernation and any Hybrid Modes.

It's the Hybrid Modes which I'm starting to worry about more so as they seem more murky and aren't mentioned as much - (disabling them that is).


I've tried various methods just like the ones you guys have suggested and more including via Command Prompt with Admin, Group Policy Editor, Registry, Power Settings, Safe Mode etc etc etc.

Done that - but it concerns me that the Sleep option still appears when you go to shut down the computer - I'd love to find a way to remove that option completely as that would make me feel more at ease thinking that it's really sorted then?



Already

For hibernation, in the Control Panel.

How to Enable or Disable Hibernate Mode on Windows 11

Hibernate mode in Windows 11 lets you shut down while saving your work. It allows you to pick up where you left off. But, it's not enabled by default. Here's how to enable it.

www.groovypost.com

As I said - tried loads of ways to turn these things off and they didn't work or at least didn't fix the problem.

I may not be understanding here, what exactly is happening when you try to resume from sleep?

I have had zero issues with sleep on any of the machines I have installed 11 on, and can't recall any issue with the 10 machines either.

I've clarified this in the first few paragraphs in the OP - so please see that to save duplication.
And for the record - you were lucky!

What is the windows 11 sleep problem? what happens? why did it force you to reinstall windows?
Is problem it doesn't wake up again?

generally sleep problems are caused by drivers not behaving right.

I don't use it so I am not aware of any.

See the comment above to punkncat

At least, hybernation is easy: From elevated command prompt
powercfg /hibernate off

Tried this; as well as a second way of doing the exact same thing in Command Prompt which was just the same thing written out in a slightly different way..



Thanks for your help so far - I hope we can find a bulletproof way to finally lock all these things down once and for all!


Cheers

 

[USAFRet]

Done that - but it concerns me that the Sleep option still appears when you go to shut down the computer - I'd love to find a way to remove that option completely as that would make me feel more at ease thinking that it's really sorted then?

That is the Sleep setting on my personal PC.
It Does. Not. Sleep.
The monitors go off after an hour, but that's it.

My current Win 11, and all the Win 10 systems are like that. Have been for years.

Same with hibernation.

 

[dwd999]

Does this not work on your computer: Control Panel, Power Options, Choose what the Power buttons do, Change settings that are currently unavailable, Uncheck Sleep shutdown option.

 

[punkncat]

You don't happen to be utilizing a WD Green as your OS drive, do you?

 

[zesun]

Sleep glitch? Never heard of it. While i do not question your issues, i have never had any with win 10 or win 11 and i use sleep constantly on my laptop.

You can remove them from showing in your power button here:

 

[shafted]

I have the same issue. I have it disabled but I can't get rid of the hiberfile.sys taking up a large amt of space on my NVME drive. Even removed it (NVME) and deleted it from another PC and windows 11 still recreates it. Disabled thru cmd prompt (normal prompt said not recognized, had to use different one), registry and power options but the file still persists. I've never had this issue getting rid of hibernation before. I have 2 more PC's with 11 and no problem with them. This is a fresh install. Fast boot is disabled for those that go there. No programs on it yet, other than windows itself. Has MS done something to prevent it's removal?

 

[USAFRet]

I have the same issue. I have it disabled but I can't get rid of the hiberfile.sys taking up a large amt of space on my NVME drive. Even removed it (NVME) and deleted it from another PC and windows 11 still recreates it. Disabled thru cmd prompt (normal prompt said not recognized, had to use different one), registry and power options but the file still persists.

Done correctly, it will NOT recreate itself.

Turn hibernation OFF:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/t.../deployment/disable-and-re-enable-hibernation