Turn screen on/off

[dromenox]

I need some things to be running on my laptop at night and want to turn off the screen to avoid problems with the video. I found this script that does what I want. It works well, but if I get enough time with the screen off the screen does not turn on anymore and I have to force shut down the notebook.

 

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to not have this problem?

 

expandcollapse popup

Global Const $lciWM_SYSCommand = 274
Global Const $lciSC_MonitorPower = 61808
Global Const $lciPower_Off = 2
Global Const $lciPower_On = -1
Global $MonitorIsOff = False

HotKeySet("{F11}", "_Monitor_OFF")
HotKeySet("{F10}", "_Monitor_ON")
HotKeySet("{Esc}", "_Quit")

While 1
   Sleep(10)
WEnd

Func _Monitor_ON()
    $MonitorIsOff = False
    Local $Progman_hwnd = WinGetHandle('[CLASS:Progman]')

    DllCall('user32.dll', 'int', 'SendMessage', _
                                                'hwnd', $Progman_hwnd, _
                                                'int', $lciWM_SYSCommand, _
                                                'int', $lciSC_MonitorPower, _
                                                'int', $lciPower_On)
EndFunc

Func _Monitor_OFF()
    $MonitorIsOff = True
    Local $Progman_hwnd = WinGetHandle('[CLASS:Progman]')

    While $MonitorIsOff = True
        DllCall('user32.dll', 'int', 'SendMessage', _
                                                    'hwnd', $Progman_hwnd, _
                                                    'int', $lciWM_SYSCommand, _
                                                    'int', $lciSC_MonitorPower, _
                                                    'int', $lciPower_Off)
        _IdleWaitCommit(0)
        Sleep(20)
    WEnd
EndFunc

Func _IdleWaitCommit($idlesec)
    Local $iSave, $LastInputInfo = DllStructCreate ("uint;dword")
    DllStructSetData ($LastInputInfo, 1, DllStructGetSize ($LastInputInfo))
    DllCall ("user32.dll", "int", "GetLastInputInfo", "ptr", DllStructGetPtr ($LastInputInfo))
    Do
        $iSave = DllStructGetData ($LastInputInfo, 2)
        Sleep(60)
        DllCall ("user32.dll", "int", "GetLastInputInfo", "ptr", DllStructGetPtr ($LastInputInfo))
    Until (DllStructGetData ($LastInputInfo, 2)-$iSave) > $idlesec Or $MonitorIsOff = False
    Return DllStructGetData ($LastInputInfo, 2)-$iSave
EndFunc

Func _Quit()
    _Monitor_ON()
    Exit
EndFunc

 

[BrewManNH]

Shut the lid, but turn off the power option that puts the laptop to sleep when you do that.

[JSBach]

You should just find the option for the laptop to do nothing when the lid is shut.  Setting your laptop to this option will still turn the screen off, but will leave the computer running as usual (you can check this by peeking at the screen with the lid closed almost all the way).  You can also play a YouTube video and close the lid to verify that the laptop is on.  I can show you how to change this setting on Windows 7 below:

1. Open "Control Panel".

2. Go to "Hardware and Sound".

3. Click on "Power Options".

4. Then go to  "Choose what closing the lid does".  ( this can be found on the menu on the left side of the window)

5. From here, you can set the option for the laptop to do nothing when the lid is closed (from the drop-down menu that should be defaulted to "sleep".

Enjoy! I hope that I helped. 

P.S. Alternatively, there are programs that turn your screen off.  I have used a program called "Turn Off Monitor" that works well.  However, you should note that these programs will typically turn the screen back on when they detect activity such as the mouse moving or the pressing of a button.

Edited December 19, 2014 by JSBach