Surface Pro 4 battery drain while OFF

Anonymous
2017-07-05T14:02:24+00:00

I have a HUGE battery drain while power off (not hibernating)  at least 5-10 percent per day.   I windows updates done.   I used to think it was because of the keyboard being attached. but I have switched to a Brydge Keyboard.  Does anyone else have this issue or know how to fix?

Thanks!

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2017-08-04T04:59:28+00:00

Thanks Victor_S

Another solution I've found is to shut down the computer the old way - regular shutdown instead of hybrid shutdown.

You can use this shortcut:

C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /s /t 3 /c "Full Shutdown"

  • shutdown.exe can execute the various sleed/hibernate commands, including the regular shutdown.
  • /s means "shutdown". If we shutdown the normal way, it is a hybrid shutdown (/hybrid)
  • /t 3 means after 3 seconds. If you skip this it's 30 seconds by default.
  • /c "Full shutdown" is a simple comment that will appear in various places as the reason for your shutdown.

Keep in mind it takes a little longer to shutdown this way, and it takes a little longer to start afterwards, but I think the computer doesn't keep some systems active, thus you should see almost no battery drain, even for prolonged times.

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Anonymous
2017-07-05T14:59:17+00:00

That is a good question because the screen will be off.  Before shutting down and all programs are closed, you can do a CTRL+ALT+DEL and select the task manager and look at the processes that are still running at that moment and you may find 'something' but doubtful.

The power sub-system could also have a defect causing that as well and not actually shutting off the machine when it is supposed to be off.

The task manager may give you a clue when all programs are shut down.  If you can't find anything listed, it is possible you may need to contact customer support to get the machine swapped out.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-09-18T13:59:25+00:00

    One other thing regarding the registry hack of disabling modern standby.  If it's true that this hack was disabled two builds ago, it should be noted that earlier in the thread during the time BEFORE that prior build, near the start of this year, in this support thread, I reported this battery drainage issue happening both before the hack and after the hack.  Again, modern standby is NOT the issue.  I cannot reiterate this enough.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-09-18T13:51:29+00:00

    None of you folks seem to understand, a sleep study report is necessary in order to diagnose problems with power drain.  And even that will be of no help if you have Windows responsible for the Network Connection in the Settings-Power & sleep-Network connection.

    Anyone who has "disabled" the modern standby configuration is using an unsupported configuration so nothing can be expected to behave as designed.  In addition, that registry hack was disabled two builds ago.

    I cannot say the problems being seen are not a design problem from Microsoft.  What I am saying is show us the facts so we can help make that determination.  The situation where there may be two batteries involved, whose charge and drain will switch from one to the other, also complicates results.

    In response, sleep study reports have already been provided and documented in this support thread by myself and others throughout the months that this thread has existed.  We're LONG past that already.  It all comes down to Microsoft properly addressing this matter, and apparently they won't.  Not good.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-09-18T03:38:02+00:00

    None of you folks seem to understand, a sleep study report is necessary in order to diagnose problems with power drain.  And even that will be of no help if you have Windows responsible for the Network Connection in the Settings-Power & sleep-Network connection.

    Anyone who has "disabled" the modern standby configuration is using an unsupported configuration so nothing can be expected to behave as designed.  In addition, that registry hack was disabled two builds ago.

    I cannot say the problems being seen are not a design problem from Microsoft.  What I am saying is show us the facts so we can help make that determination.  The situation where there may be two batteries involved, whose charge and drain will switch from one to the other, also complicates results.

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