Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Resolved Question

Wake up from sleep mode for file sharing

by Jan 14, 2012 4:33AM PST

I have a Dell Dimension E521 PC running Vista Home Premium. I am in the process of making it a NAS for other laptops in the house. I would like to turn on the sleep mode to conserve power. But how do I wake it up for NAS application?
I have been using my PC as a Logitec Media Server for my streaming players. When I turn on a player, it will wake up the PC. So I know my PC can enter sleep mode correctly.
However, with the filing sharing, I cannot figure out how to wake up the PC. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

vett93 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
10 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details

Best Answer

- Collapse -
I'm just guessing here
by Forum moderator Jan 14, 2012 7:40PM PST

as I am no technician.

Since this is a Dell Dimension it is a Desktop, meaning it has a separate monitor.

Instead of sleep mode, why not just turn off the monitor and hard disk? On my Win 7 Desktop I have the power settings to turn off the display after 2 hours but "Never" put computer to sleep. In Advanced Power Settings my hard disk gets turned off after 90 minutes. In truth I am never away from the computer for anything like that long when it is running and if I am away, I power down completely, but I see why your setup needs to be different.

Again guessing, I suspect that the monitor draws the most power and the desktop minimal, especially if the hard disk is powered down after any period of non-use. I assume then that the OS would just 'twiddle it's thumbs' in the background until it is required.

Mark

- Collapse -
the difference is about 100 watts
by vett93 Jan 15, 2012 2:36AM PST

I recently got a new APC UPS that can display the output power. My PC was previously configured as you described. It turned off the monitors and hard drives after periods of idle time but the PC itself did not go into sleep mode. Since the PC was mainly used for streaming music files to the Logitech players, the PC was not active that much. So I experimented the sleep mode and was impressed by the power saving. It worked well for the intended application.
Then I wanted to make this PC a NAS for backing up the files on 3 laptops and to provide files to a Western Digital streaming media player (for photo and video) using Windows' file sharing functions (SMB/CIFS). This is the time that I have problems in waking up the PC. I have tried to send "Wake on LAN" packets to the PC but it did not work.
100 watts of power is non-trivial to waste. So I'll continue to find a solution. Until then, I am cheating by using the remote control of the Logitech player to turn on the player which in turn wakes up the PC first, and then I can do the file backups......

- Collapse -
What you can do
by Jimmy Greystone Jan 15, 2012 2:55AM PST

What you can do is go in and remove anything that you don't absolutely need. Like disconnect any internal DVD drives, take out any video cards besides an integrated chipset, and any other PCI cards that are not needed for what you're trying to do. Just strip the unit down to the bare essentials needed to boot and serve up files. That will help keep power consumption down, but ultimately if power consumption is a concern for you, you're just not going to be able to beat some NAS appliance device.

May not be what you want to hear, but maybe what you need to hear.

- Collapse -
You are probably right
by vett93 Jan 18, 2012 3:26PM PST

I need to have it on 24x7. Using sleep mode is just too cumbersome for serving the 3 purposes: laptop backups, music server for Logitech players, and video/photo server for WD TV Live Streaming Media Player. So I'll just leave the PC on and not go into sleep/standby mode.

- Collapse -
Answer
I'm not sure
by Jan 14, 2012 6:14AM PST

I'm not sure if this would work or not, but you could look into WOL (Wake-on-LAN) to see if that might be a viable option. If nothing else, you might be able to find some references to other possible solutions while looking into that one.

- Collapse -
WOL is on already
by vett93 Jan 14, 2012 9:09AM PST

My Logitech players can wake up the PC which runs Logitech Media Server already. It just does not work with Windows' file sharing function yet. I did search on WOL but did not find a solution yet.

- Collapse -
Answer
I needed something similar.
by Forum moderator Jan 14, 2012 11:05AM PST

My solution appeared a few years ago when Netbooks rolled out. As the newer ones with the better north or south bridges arrived my "server" pulls a paltry 7 Watts now.
Bob

- Collapse -
7 watts in standby or operation mode?
by vett93 Jan 14, 2012 11:22AM PST

Does it include HDs? I assume the screen is off....
Thanks Bob for directing me not to buy a dedicated NAS. I now just have to figure out how to wake up my PC from sleep mode so that my PC is not on 24X7.

- Collapse -
Re: wake up
by Kees_B Forum moderator Jan 15, 2012 2:53AM PST
- Collapse -
Yes it can
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 15, 2012 4:33AM PST

The onboard 250GB drive is running and for my needs that fine most of the time. Cost was 228 bucks which rivaled NAS of that day by far. If I add another HDD, then that's whatever Watts that is. Usually small since I'll use the laptop green drives.
Bob

Back to Windows Vista forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info