By default, Windows 7 is set to enter the sleep mode if the system has been idle (no user input) for ten minutes. This can be a problem if you set Windows to run a task for a long time (like downloading something off the internet). Of course, you can change the power configuration settings from the Control Panel. But an easier solution would be temporarily stopping Windows to sleep, shutting down, hibernating or logging off etc. For this, you can use Don’t Sleep, a freeware tool which can help you stop your system from powering down, sleeping, hibernating, restarting and more.
You can download Don’t Sleep from http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/DontSleep. The download is a portable program which does not need to be installed on your computer and you can run it right away. Just extract the executable file from the downloaded ZIP archive and double click on DontSleep.exe to run it. When it is running, it would automatically stop your Windows from shutting down, running screensaver, logging off etc.
In the main window, you can choose the options like which things Don’t Sleep should stop. You can check the checkboxes in the Blocking category. You can choose to block standby, hibernation, shutdown, logging off and running screensaver etc. You can also quickly enable or disable Don’t Sleep by selecting the radio buttons Enabled or Disabled.
If you want to disable the shutting down, sleeping etc. for only a specified period of time, then you can use the timer function. Just check the checkbox labeled Timer and set the time. You have to choose what to do after the set time is reached from the drop down listbox. This is specially useful if you are setting the computer to download something and know that you would return in an hour or so.
If you find yourself Don’t Sleep using on a regular basis, then you can make it auto-start with Windows. To set Don’t Sleep to automatically start with Windows, click on the Options button and select Start Don’t Sleep with Windows. This would make Don’t Sleep to start everytime you start your computer.
You can click on the To Tray link on the top-right to minimize the program to the notification area (system tray), to save your Windows taskbar space. If you click on the Exit link, then the program closes down and no longer stops Windows from shutting down, logging off etc.
The Don’t Sleep is a free and very useful tool that lets you quickly stop Windows from turning off monitor, sleep, hibernate or shut down. This can be useful if you are not the administrator of the computer and cannot change the system power configuration settings. You would find it useful if you want your computer to keep performing some tasks in the background without any user input.