How to Schedule Windows 10 Wake from Sleep

Will Windows backup wake up computer?

Advanced power settings 'allow wake timers' is set to enable. But my scheduled backup on 4:00 AM does not start automatically. Then, I check the conditions tab in the task scheduler, and make sure 'Wake the computer to run this task' is checked.
What else should I do to wake up my Windows 10 wake from sleep? TIA for any help you can offer!

- Question from Microsoft.

This is always a problem that plagues users like you. To resolve this problem, can go to BIOS and check if the “High Precision Event Timer (HPET)” is enabled or if the BIOS has any pending firmware update. It’s a tested method.

Meanwhile, many users still don’t know what to do. This is why I write this article. In the following, I’ll briefly introduce you the common used methods, then specifically describe the 2 simpler methods.

Windows 10 not waking up from sleep – how to run a task

As a matter of fact, there is no way to create a scheduled task just to wake up the computer. Some users may report that setting the power option to never sleep works. Honestly, It’s not a recommended method. That’s because leaving your computer on for a long time will add wear and tear to your computer component.

Thanks to “Start a program” in Task Scheduler, wake up the computer cloud be simpler. This feature allows you to use a script or program, cmd.exe, for example.

By comparison, the former cloud be much complex. Because your need to disable hybrid sleep/hibernation (it will interfere with auto wake script) and write a wake up and sleep script subsequently before configuring auto sleep and wake task in Task Scheduler. But if you use cmd.exe, you can directly configure, without doing anything else.

Besides, you can still turn to a trust and reliable backup program like AOMEI Backupper Standard. All you need to is set a schedule backup task with wake the computer to run schedule tasks. Then, it will wake up your computer 2 minutes early.

Then, let’s have a closer look at Windows 10 schedule sleep and wake. In the following, I’ll include Task Scheduler with cmd.exe and AOMEI Backupper.

Task Scheduler wake the computer to run this task

Before you start any operation, we need to get to know the basic of Task Scheduler:

Task Scheduler is a built-in tool that can automatically start programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals on a chosen computer, previously called job scheduling or task scheduling.

All you need to do is set criteria and trigger event for your task, such as, wake from sleep when a particular system event occurs, when a user log on etc, then it will run automatically when the criteria are met.

Now, let’s start to wake the computer to run the task. If you want an easier way to wake up for backup, you can directly go to next part.

Step 1. Type "task scheduler" in the search box and select it from the list result.

Step 2. Click “Create Task” under the Actions tab. Then, you will see 5 tabs you need to set below.  

Step 3. In the General tab, name the task as Wake Up and tick “Run whether user is logged on or not”, “Do not store password”, “Run with highest privileges”, then select Windows 10 next to the Configure for option.

Step 4. In the Triggers tab, click “New” to create task and configure settings.

Select “Daily” under Settings, set recur every day or longer, tick “Stop task if it runs longer than” and choose 30 minutes, then check “Enabled” and click “OK”.

Step 5. In the Actions tab, click “New” to create task for auto wake in Windows 10.

Select “Start a program”, type cmd.exe under Program/script and /c “exit” next to Add arguments (optional) and click “OK”. This operation will close the command immediately while leaving the computer on.

Step 6. In the Conditions tab, tick “Wake the computer to run this task”.

Step 7. In the Settings tab, tick “Allows task to be run on demand”, “Stop the task if it runs longer than” and set it as 1 hour, “If the running task does not end when required, force it to stop”, then click “OK”.

Step 8. To ensure this operation will work, you still need to enable wake timer in Windows 10. 

Go to “Control Panel” and “Power Options”, click “Change plan settings” next to the selected plans, and “Change advanced power settings” in the new window, then navigate to “Sleep” and “Allow wake timers”, set both “On battery” and “Plugged in” enabled, click “OK”.

This is the entire process to set auto wake in Windows 10, many steps and very troublesome. But I want to tell you that using a script to wake from sleep mode requires more steps. This is why I describe this method instead of script.

Note: To create Task Sheduler sleep event in Windows 10, there is no better way, you can only use a script.
You need to create a .bat file, open it with notepad, copy and paste the following command to the script file, click "File" and "Save as", then select "All files *.* ". After that, create a sleep task at a certain time in Task Scheduler.
Rundll32.exe Powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Sleep

Easier way to Windows 10 schedule sleep and wake

To make the auto wake in Windows 10 simplier, you could consider using AOMEI Backupper Standard, a free and easy-to-use backup and restore software, which can also wake up your computer to run schedule task. All you need to do is to tick “Wake the computer to run scheduled tasks” while creating a schedule backup or sync. Now, let’s see the specific steps.

Step 1. Download AOMEI Backupper Standard, install and launch it. Click “Backup” and Select “Disk Backup”. To create other backup types, click “System Backup”, “Partition Backup”, “File Backup”, “File Sync” as instead.

Step 2. Click “Add Disk” to select the disk you want to backup and click “OK”.

Step 3. Click the folder shaped button and select a backup path for your disk. You can backup to external drive, USB, network drive and cloud storage like Google Drive.

Step 4. Click “Schedule” and select one or more settings. Then, tick “Wake the computer to run scheduled tasks” at the bottom.

• Daily/weekly/monthly: This feature allows users to backup your disk, system, partition or data continuously, so your will never miss the newly installed apps on this disk or modified data.

• Incremental and differential backup: This feature is only used to backup newly added or modified data, and every backup is a copy. It helps you save backup time and disk space.

Step 5. Confirm everything is OK and click “Start Backup” to move on.

Wrapping things up

Reading here, you may already know how to perform Windows 10 schedule sleep and wake. It’s not difficult to see that the second described way is simpler and easier. From backup to wake up your computer, the entire process is completed only in one software.

Also, AOMEI Backupper is a great software with many practical features, such as, daily/weekly/monthly backup to make the task continuously, backup hard drive from command prompt, USB plug in for users who save data to USB and take it everywhere, Event-triggers to let users backup at a specific event etc. Please note some features are only available on the higher verision, AOMEI Backupper Professional, for example.