Disable screen shut off for specific software

Question

I have a PC with windows 10 and use it for multiple purposes. One of them is monitoring a finances software — which doesn't need my input most of the time.

I know there's a way to stop my screen from turning off after X minutes, but I want this feature to work when I'm not using this specific software.

I want the screen to turn off normally when my PC is idle, EXCEPT when I'm using this software.

Is there a way to do it? Thanks.

Answer 1

Windows 10 64-bit.

Change power settings, open program, restore power settings:

How to write a one line Windows shortcut, or a cmd batch file to change your power settings (display timeout, sleep timeout, hard disk timeout, ...), open any program, and restore your original power settings when you close the program. Does not require log off or restart. Can be run w/o admin privileges.

Power timeouts are between 1 minute and 9999999 minutes.

The four most common AC/DC power settings and their default Windows 10 timeouts:

• monitor-timeout-ac 10 monitor-timeout-dc 10
• disk-timeout-ac 20 disk-timeout-dc 20
• standby-timeout-ac 30 standby-timeout-dc 30
• hibernate-timeout-ac 30 hibernate-timeout-dc 30

I like to start shortcuts like this minimized. See pic at bottom. Change your path to your program. Do not start your program like this:

start "" "C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe.lnk"

One line shortcut for a desktop. Change monitor timeout to 60 minutes, open program, and restore monitor timeout to 10 minutes after program closes:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 60 &"C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe" &POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 10

One line shortcut for a laptop both AC and DC:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 60 &POWERCFG /CHANGE/MONITOR-TIMEOUT-DC 60 &"C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe" &POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 10 &POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-DC 10

If you want a batch file:

On a desktop:

@title Change power settings, open program, restore power settings
@echo off 
setlocal enableextensions
rem change timeout from 1 - 9999999 minutes
POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 60
rem do not use:
rem start "" "C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe.lnk"
"C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe"
POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 10
exit /b 

On a laptop both AC and DC:

@title Change power settings, open program, restore power settings
@echo off 
setlocal enableextensions
rem change timeout from 1 - 9999999 minutes
POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 60
POWERCFG /CHANGE/MONITOR-TIMEOUT-DC 60
rem do not use:
rem start "" "C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe.lnk"
"C:\Program Files\Finance Software\FinanceSoftware.exe"
POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-AC 10
POWERCFG /CHANGE /MONITOR-TIMEOUT-DC 10
exit /b

How to change Windows 10 power settings from the command line

Powercfg examples

Shortcut to Power Control Panel:

C:\Windows\System32\control.exe powercfg.cpl,,23

For more info from cmd:

powercfg /change /?

Run minimized:

How to customize your power settings for any program you want to run with a windows shortcut or a cmd batch file. Disable screen shut off for specific software. Enable screen shut off for specific software. Disable sleep for specific software. Enable sleep for specific software. Disable disk sleep for specific software. Enable disk sleep for specific software.