In both 7000x64 and 7100x64, Sleep Mode works properly for me, but Away Node has a significant problem. When the PC awakes (from S3) to perform a scheduled task (such as TV recording or disk defragmenting), it enters Away Mode. But Away Mode has a bug with regard to the monitor: (1) The monitor should remain asleep. Instead, it wakes and displays a blank (dark) screen. (2) The monitor remains in that state for the duration of the scheduled task, unless I supply input to the keyboard or mouse. If I do supply user input, then the monitor displays the login screen (as it should), and then goes to sleep (as it should) after the configured idle timeout period. But if I do not supply user input, the monitor does not sleep until the scheduled task finishes and the computer goes back to sleep (S3). Both of those behaviors are incorrect. In Away Mode, the monitor should not wake in the first place; and if it does, it should turn off after the specified idle time, even if no user input is ever supplied. This problem has existed in both the Beta and RC, with the Vista64 video drivers (182.50), the Windows7x64 beta WDDM drivers (185.81), and the Windows7x64 WHQL WDDM drivers (185.85). (All other drivers in my system are supplied automatically by Windows.) I don't know if it's a problem with the drivers or with the Away Mode specification. If it's a driver problem, then the drivers should not be WHQL-certified; correct power-management behavior should not be optional. I recognize that Away Mode is not a power-saving mode per se. Still, there is no excuse for throwing energy away by turning on the monitor just to display a blank screen (my monitor burns 120W). And it's especially unfortunate that Away Mode suppresses the idle timeout that would ordinarily turn the monitor off again. Microsoft should be aware that this is a significant flaw. It took years before power management worked properly in XP on my main home PC. Vista's power management never worked properly on desktop PCs I've seen. Although I am otherwise pleased with Windows 7, I would hesitate to purchase the released product unless power management is first shown to work properly in an update to the RC. Some details: in the Power Options, Multimedia Settings, Away Mode is not selected (Allow Sleep is selected instead). Media sharing is disabled. Wake on LAN is disabled. There is no Away Mode BIOS support. I tried to disable Away Mode via: powercfg -setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_sleep 25dfa149-5dd1-4736-b5ab-e8a37b5b8187 0 powercfg -setactive scheme_current reboot but it had no effect on the problem (even though powercfg -qh shows that the setting did change). GA-P35-DS3Lr2(F8) Q9450 OCZ8500(4GB) GTX260(WDDM1.1/185.85) 3xWDGreenPower(1TB)SATA WinTV1600 GGW-H20L 3007WFP(2560x1600) 6.1.7100x64 Avast4.8.1335

Thats just great. Vista exhibits this exact same behavior(with or without service packs)and I was hopefull Windows7(on pre-order) would correct this issue. The ability to perform this correctly in a media share or HTPC environment is crucial.I've been researching this issue on and off for months and never found resolve. Heck I don't even know where the problem lies, countless drivers and setting changes later and I can only conclude that its an OS problem.