What sleep timeouts do you use?

[itskdog]

Hi all,

 

Thought there's already be a topic on this but a search didn't bring anything up.

 

What timeouts do you use on the school PCs? We currently have both display off and sleep set to 30 minutes (enforced by policy after complaints over the Windows default of 5 minutes), but teachers are still reporting that it's turning off in the middle of a lesson if they leave some instructions on the board, and as it's going to sleep it's longer than just waking from screen off.

 

How do you balance the need for teachers keeping the screen on in situations like this while also ensuring security for when people walk away from their computer without locking them, e.g. at break or lunch?

[NegativeKillDeath]

5 minutes here but a full screen media application will prevent it so teachers present with a Powerpoint if need be. They can also freeze the screen if they must (normally those teachers that fear extended desktop).

[paulkerton]

Display off is the key.... as long as it kicks in that they need a password I wouldn't worry TOO much about the sleep. (We give the energy saving concern reasoning for that one, rather than a security concern!)

We originally instituted 7 minutes (the ChromeOS default, which we mirrored to Windows) but we had complaints over that, so we've pushed it out to 15 minutes. We then had a complaint asking us to make it 480 minutes, which we obviously did not do. We have still had some issues with users leaving machines unattended and that 15 minutes being enough for a student to nip onto things, but that's a lesson the teacher will learn.

No more than 15 minutes. Any longer than that then you're going to be inviting security problems. There's always the projector/IWB freeze button if this is about instructions on the board. Windows, MacOS and ChromeOS all recognise full screen media being played and the screen lock won't kick in - just to head off that reasoning!! 

Edited October 14, 2025 by paulkerton

[itskdog]

11 minutes ago, NegativeKillDeath said:

a full screen media application will prevent it so teachers present with a Powerpoint if need be

Will need to test if this works with ActivInspire as well if put into full screen. Will do research and investigate. Same goes for any class timer websites.

 

However, I can still see a laptop left with ActivInspire (or even PowerPoint) open full screen between lessons from teachers that open up every flipchart they will use for the whole day first thing in the morning.

 

10 minutes ago, paulkerton said:

15 minutes being enough for a student to nip onto things

We're a primary school, so less of a concern as students won't be inside during break/lunch without a member of staff anyway.

 

11 minutes ago, paulkerton said:

There's always the projector/IWB freeze button if this is about instructions on the board.

Unfortunately, we have ActivPanel 6 IWBs, which unfreeze when HDMI signal is lost (and glitch out when the resolution changes when switching to/from extended display while frozen, too).

 

Our NEC projectors in the school hall do that as well, from past experience, but that's less of an issue.

[Primus]

3 minutes ago, itskdog said:

23 minutes ago, paulkerton said:

15 minutes being enough for a student to nip onto things

We're a primary school, so less of a concern as students won't be inside during break/lunch without a member of staff anyway.

What about at the end of the school day - cleaners etc?

[paulkerton]

18 hours ago, itskdog said:

We're a primary school, so less of a concern as students won't be inside during break/lunch without a member of staff anyway.

That's an assumption you really cannot afford to make. Also you're assuming other staff have no malicious intent. I've had many instances over the years where staff will nip on and look at something, or send an email as the person...

[itskdog]

1 hour ago, paulkerton said:

That's an assumption you really cannot afford to make. Also you're assuming other staff have no malicious intent. I've had many instances over the years where staff will nip on and look at something, or send an email as the person...

 

I would agree with you, but I don't make those calls.

 

I'm mainly asking this for advice on how to avoid setting the timeout to unlimited like we used to have on AD before we moved to Intune over the summer.

 

I've been able to do some testing with ActivInspire today, and it seems like that doesn't prevent sleep when full screen, unfortunately.

Edited October 15, 2025 by itskdog

[mavhc]

15 mins until screen locks, 5 if I find your computer left unlocked and I put you in the Special Group

[paulkerton]

1 minute ago, itskdog said:

 

I would agree with you, but I don't make those calls.

 

I'm mainly asking this for advice on how to avoid setting the timeout to unlimited like we used to have on AD before we moved to Intune over the summer.

 

I've been able to do some testing with ActivInspire today, and it seems like that doesn't prevent sleep when full screen, unfortunately.

Well, when one year 6 goes on a wrecking spree, at least you'll have the "I told you so" lines prepared.

Let's not underestimate kids either, it's school age children who are getting arrested for the hacks on things like Coop and Kido.

[itskdog]

My understanding so far seems to be that the solution here without disabling the timeout would essentially be telling staff they now have to wiggle the mouse every 15-20 minutes if they've got a timer on the board or a longer activity in the exercise books?

[mavhc]

Just turn on Presentation Mode when presenting. It's in Windows Mobility Centre, or search in Settings for "presentation", or run PresentationSettings.exe

 

PresentationSettings /start

PresentationSettings /stop

 

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