Apparently, Windows 8 Pro RTM automatically locks the computer after several minutes at idle. We have a Win 8 machine that we MUST be able to keep running with the display active.

It's also running a webcam that monitors a room. That MUST remain running, too. When the computer locks, the video freezes; sound continues (which seems odd). Webcam is using MS drivers.

I've found lots of articles describing how to disable the lock screen (in favor of the password screen) but can't find anything on the web telling me how to disable this timeout. Besides, the lock screen itself isn't the problem; the timeout that locks the computer is the problem. Also lots of articles about how to disable the timeout that powers off the display...again, that's not the problem.

Clarifying:

• Screensaver is set to None, and On resume, display logon screen is turned off.
• Machine is a workgroup member; no group policies are applied.
• Power management is disabled.
• Win 8 was JUST set up on this machine and the webcam and its software are the ONLY things that have been installed, so the machine should be at or very close to default settings.

[Edit] Now preventing the lock screen timeout from elapsing by running a utility that sends a keystroke every minute, but would still like to know if this can be configured.

• Edited by JRV529088 Saturday, January 19, 2013 9:36 PM

Hi,

Try to open power option, then select a power plan, click change plan settings, set put the computer to sleep to Never, click Safe Changes

Thanks for your reply, Leo.

Already done, and the computer isn't going to sleep. There is a timeout that activates the lock screen, but the computer remains running. It is the same behavior as when On resume, display logon screen is enabled in Screen Saver properties...except it is not enabled and the screen saver is set to "None".

FWIW, I also tried setting the Screen Saver timeout to 9999 minutes; the machine still locked after approx. 10 minutes (I didn't time it; that's a guess).

• Edited by JRV529088 Monday, January 21, 2013 9:15 AM

Hi,

How about disable lock screen:

Click on the Edit Group Policy option and the Group Policy editor will open. Under the Local Computer Policy, expand the tree to the following path:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization

Set Do not display the lock screen to Enable

If it doesnt help, try to create another administrator account and login to see if the same issue occurs.

Thanks for your reply.

I changed the setting. With this setting enabled, the computer goes directly to the password screen instead of to the lock screen. And that is exactly what the setting's documentation says it will do.

But the objective isn't to eliminate the lock screen, it is to eliminate the idle timeout that causes the lock screen to be posted.

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

Since Partner Support was unable to answer, my speculation is that the timeout is hard-coded and cannot currently be disabled. Whether my speculation is correct remains to be seen. But absent any other answer--and that from a source that would be reasonably expected to have one--it is hard-coded for all intents and purposes.

Meantime, I have found that the "caffeine.exe" freeware utility from this web page--

http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/caffeine/index.html

--will prevent the idle timeout from occurring, thereby working around the problem.

So I will mark this reply as the "Answer". But only because there's no "Mark As Clumsy Workaround" button.

• Marked as answer by JRV529088 Wednesday, February 06, 2013 5:23 PM

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

Since Partner Support was unable to answer, my speculation is that the timeout is hard-coded and cannot currently be disabled. Whether my speculation is correct remains to be seen. But absent any other answer--and that from a source that would be reasonably expected to have one--it is hard-coded for all intents and purposes.

Meantime, I have found that the "caffeine.exe" freeware utility from this web page--

http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/caffeine/index.html

--will prevent the idle timeout from occurring, thereby working around the problem.

So I will mark this reply as the "Answer". But only because there's no "Mark As Clumsy Workaround" button.

• Marked as answer by JRV529088 Wednesday, February 06, 2013 5:23 PM
• Unmarked as answer by JRV529088 7 hours 50 minutes ago

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

Since Partner Support was unable to answer, my speculation is that the timeout is hard-coded and cannot currently be disabled. Whether my speculation is correct remains to be seen. But absent any other answer--and that from a source that would be reasonably expected to have one--it is hard-coded for all intents and purposes.

Meantime, I have found that the "caffeine.exe" freeware utility from this web page--

http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/caffeine/index.html

--will prevent the idle timeout from occurring, thereby working around the problem.

So I will mark this reply as the "Answer". But only because there's no "Mark As Clumsy Workaround" button.

• Marked as answer by JRV529088 Wednesday, February 06, 2013 5:23 PM
• Unmarked as answer by JRV529088 Saturday, February 15, 2014 3:57 AM

I thought this behavior was enforced by Exchange policy when the email app is configured to sync to an Exchange server.  That's just a guess though, I just remember that when I setup my email it told me that policies from my Exchange server would be enforced.

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

MS released a KB about this this:

Monitor powers off after 1 minute when PC is locked

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2835052

Could this be a Windows 8 Pro-specific thing?

I ask, because I have a Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation VM that I leave running sometimes for days, and with the power management stuff disabled it never goes to a lock screen - the desktop just stays displayed.

I don't use a clumsy workaround.

 

It's a power management thing in general. As Noel suggested, you can disable the power management settings completely. Alternatively, you can enable the 'Console lock display off timeout' by editing the registry settings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZVbq1T_1jo

and then navigating to:

Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\Choose when to turn off display\Change advanced power settings\Display\Console lock display off timeout

and changing the setting to 9999999 minutes. So, unless you leave your computer on for the next 20 years, it shouldn't be a problem. There is a full guide here too:

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windows8/windows8_disable_lock_screen.htm

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

Meantime, I have found that the "caffeine.exe" freeware utility from this web page--

--will prevent the idle timeout from occurring, thereby working around the problem.

So I will mark this reply as the "Answer". But only because there's no "Mark As Clumsy Workaround" button.

I also had to resort to using Caffeine for quite a while, but I finally found the offending (new to Windows 8/Server 2012) GP this week.

The policy that fixed it for me was "Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Interactive logon: Machine inactivity limit", setting this to 0 fixed my problems. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj966265.aspx 

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

Meantime, I have found that the "caffeine.exe" freeware utility from this web page--

--will prevent the idle timeout from occurring, thereby working around the problem.

So I will mark this reply as the "Answer". But only because there's no "Mark As Clumsy Workaround" button.

I also had to resort to using Caffeine for quite a while, but I finally found the offending (new to Windows 8/Server 2012) GP this week.

The policy that fixed it for me was "Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Interactive logon: Machine inactivity limit", setting this to 0 fixed my problems. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj966265.aspx 

• Marked as answer by JRV529088 7 hours 50 minutes ago

For lurkers, here is what I learned on the Partner support groups: Microsoft doesn't know how to disable the lock screen timeout, either.

Meantime, I have found that the "caffeine.exe" freeware utility from this web page--

--will prevent the idle timeout from occurring, thereby working around the problem.

So I will mark this reply as the "Answer". But only because there's no "Mark As Clumsy Workaround" button.

I also had to resort to using Caffeine for quite a while, but I finally found the offending (new to Windows 8/Server 2012) GP this week.

The policy that fixed it for me was "Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Interactive logon: Machine inactivity limit", setting this to 0 fixed my problems. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj966265.aspx 

• Marked as answer by JRV529088 Saturday, February 15, 2014 3:56 AM

Simon, I've never been happier to click "Mark as answer".

I no longer have the scenario described in my original post. But it will come up again in a few months and now I have the CORRECT solution for it when it happens, more than a year after I started this thread.

Thanks!

Jeff

P.S. I knew it was going to be a security setting, not a UX setting! And definitely not a power setting.

• Edited by JRV529088 7 hours 49 minutes ago

Simon, I've never been happier to click "Mark as answer".

I no longer have the scenario described in my original post. But it will come up again in a few months and now I have the CORRECT solution for it when it happens, more than a year after I started this thread.

Thanks!

Jeff

P.S. I knew it was going to be a security setting, not a UX setting! And definitely not a power setting.

• Edited by JRV529088 Saturday, February 15, 2014 3:58 AM

I made the policy change but that didn't stop the timeout / password issue from happening.