USB keyboard 'shuts down' when holding keys

When I do not create a keyboard event (i.e. pressing or releasing a key) for more than 5 seconds, the numlock and other LEDs on my keyboard go off. When I'm holding a key for more than 5 seconds and the keyboard 'shuts down', I also hear the device disconnected sound in Windows 8.1.

I've never had this until I got this new keyboard, a "microsoft wired keyboard 200". My USB mouse still seems to work properly even when the keyboard shuts down.

It's really annoying because I can't hold any key (including Shift or Backspace) for more than a few seconds and I constantly see the LEDs flashing.

When I press or release a button, the keyboard will go on instantly again, but when it's done by releasing a key, the "release event" will not be sent to the PC, causing the key to be "stuck" while it actually isn't pressed. This is solved by pressing it again.

Does anyone know a solution for this problem?

Solution 1:

Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers

Right click on your USB Keyboard, go to Properties, then the Hardware tab.

Highlight USB Input Device (this is the part that doesn't show up under Device Manager) and click on Properties. Click on Change settings.

Go to the Power Management tab and uncheck 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'

That should do it. The keyboard wont shut off after not using it, and it wont shut off from holding down a key for 5 seconds.

UPDATE: as it was asked in comments Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

It clearly shows that you can’t adjust the mouse which is an external hardware device; to be turned off / on while not in use. So how to change this settings? Well, a registry manipulation will help you to fix this. This fix is applicable to the devices supporting Plug-n-Play (PnP) capabilities. Here is how:

• 1) Open Device Manager, by pressing Windows Key + R key combination and inputting devmgmt.msc in the Run dialog box and hit Enter.

DEVMGMT.MSC Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

• 2) In the Device Manager, expand the Mice and other pointing devices, right click on the device and select Properties for which you’re facing the issue.

Cannot turn off Mouse 4 Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

• 3) Now in the Properties window, switch to Details tab, select the Property as Driver Key. Copy the key as shown below. The last portion after \ of the Value so copied is device number which is 0000 in our case.

Cannot turn off Mouse 5 Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

• 4) Moving on, press Windows Key + R combination, type put Regedt32.exe in Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

REGEDIT Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

• 5) Navigate to the following location:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\Driver Key

Where you have to substitute Driver Key obtained in step 3.

Cannot turn off Mouse 6 Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

• 6) In the right pane of this location, you’ve to look for the DWORD named PnPCapabilities. If the DWORD doesn’t exists, you can create it using right click -> New -> DWORD Value. It must be having the default Value data set to 0, which means that the device is getting power even while not in use. Double click on the same DWORD to modify its Value data:

Greyed Power Mgmt 2 Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

• 7) In the above shown box, input the Value data to 24 in order to enable computer to turn off the device while it is idle. You may now close the Registry Editor and reboot the machine to make changes effective.

That’s it!