Vaio laptop busy overnight

[rburton74uk]

Can anyone help me out with this issue, it's driving me crazy!

I have a Sony Vaio VPCEB4X0E laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with AVG Internet Security 2012, MS Defender and MS Security Essentials.  I have a standard user account with Administrator permission locked so that the password is required every time.  I also have a separate Administrator account which I only use for installing new software and doing updates.

I usually leave the laptop to go to sleep then hibernate itself, or put it in to hibernate when I've finished using it at night.  I close the screen lid and leave it (either plugged in or unplugged from mains).

At random times, I will notice that the fan has started running and I can hear HDD noise from the laptop.  When I check it, the power light is green and when I open the screen it is on.  If I log in and start Task Manager, I briefly see that the CPU is 30-50% busy on the Performance page (CPU Usage), but when I switch to the Processes page to see what is running and using the CPU, it goes straight back to idle.  Laptop will be quite hot.  I also wake up in the morning to find that the laptop is on.

I only ever use the laptop on WiFi to my home broadband, never wired LAN.  Bluetooth is switched off all the time.  This happens if I leave the WiFi switch on, or off - it doesn't matter.

I have tried checking through all of the settings I can find for Task Scheduler and have switched off all automatic checking and testing in all applications, programs and services (e.g. Defrag, disk clean-up, sync tools, etc.) that I can find, but this is still happening.

I keep AVG and MS anti-virus up to date and have run many full deep system scans with all checks switched on, but it's still happening.  This is the first and only Windows 7 laptop that I have had and I have no other system to compare with.  No one else that I talk to has this issue with their Windows 7 PC.

What I would like to know is:

1) What is making the laptop start up?

2) What process / program / service is running?

3) How do I stop it happening?

If I leave the laptop not connected to the mains power, it regularly runs the battery totally flat when left in Hibernate.  When I try to use the laptop again, I can't switch on without mains power connected and then get the Windows black screen crash recovery screen due to total power loss!

Many thanks for any help!

Yours in frustration

Rob.

[rich912]

Hi Rob,

I experienced this problem a few months back and it took some time to narrow it down. In my case it was Windows Media Center waking the notebook to download the latest TV listings.

Your problem may be totally different but I eventually discovered the cause by examining the System Windows log in Event Viewer for details of activity at the time the computer woke from sleep.

You could also make sure that the wireless adaptor is not set to allow the computer to wake (Device Manager > Wireless adaptor > properties > Power Management tab).

Rich

[rburton74uk]

Thanks Rich!  You're right of course - it's bound to be something completely different!

I never use Media Centre, but I do see it's icon in the task tray trying to download updates occasionally, so it could be related.  I've cleared all the Event logs earlier today and will monitor that more closely from now on.

Just wondered if there was some Sony bundled app that was tryiing to do something, or if any one else had come across the same Windows process.

I'm fairly sure it's not a virusy-type thing, but you never know...

[rich912 · Accepted solution]

Hi Rob,

If the update icon for Media Center appears in the system tray then it could possibly be the same problem I experienced.

To disable WMC from downloading updates you need to do two things:

1 Open Task Scheduler and expand Library > Microsoft > Windows > Media Center. For every process listed click the ‘Conditions tab and make sure that ‘Wake the computer to run this task’ is unchecked.

2 Open WMC > Settings > General > Automatic Download Options – select Manual Download and save.

I’m not aware of any Sony bundle app that would cause the problem unless Task Manager (conditions tab) is set to ‘wake computer to run task’. A virus is an unlikely cause but always worth carrying out a FULL scan occasionally...

Rich

[rburton74uk]

Thanks for the detailed instructions Rich!

I finally got around to checking those settings and can confirm that number 1 in your post was relevent.  I've amended the run time to later in the morning and set it to stop after 30 mins, not wake from sleep, and only run if WiFi is available.

I will monitor it for a couple of days.

Regards

Rob

[rich912]

Hi Rob,

I also initially tried changing the run time for the process and not to wake from sleep but it reset itself back to the early hours of the morning - presumably because WMC was overriding this. The only solution I found was to also disable automatic downloads within WMC.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

Rich

[rburton74uk]

Hi Rich

Well, after a week, I haven't had the problem recur! So, it appears to have been fixed by part 1 of your reply.

I did check part 2 out as well, but the option was already set as you described, so I didn't change anything.

Many thanks!

[rich912]

You're welcome Rob