Are you trying to control the coming out of sleep by mouse - using the Bios settings ?
Maybe those settings were reset somehow. Also you could check to see that the Bios is up to date.

ps : I used to have the opposite problem : I'd set it for mouse movement to wake the computer, but tiny tremors in the house (from outside city traffic ?) would wake it up all the time.

Not sure about Bios settings. I don't know that I ever made any changes there for this behavior. FYI, I have Windows 7 Pro and recently had my relatively new HD put in a fully updated computer box (i.e. all new hardware except HD). Would this mean the Bios is up to date? Or do I have to check it some other way?

In any case, in general, yes, I'm talking about using the mouse (usually just clicking one of the buttons) to wake the computer -- something other than using the power button all the time. :-)

First, how are you controlling the mouse (w/ respect to sleep) right now ?
Then . . .

It's worth a checking on the Bios. How well do you know your way around computers ?

If someone updated all the hardware, including the motherboard, there's some chance they updated the bios, but that could have reset everything to defaults as well. There's no way to know except to check, and if it was me, I'd definitely check that out, and check the settings too.
Actually, check the settings first before getting into any Bios updating.
You can get into it using the keyboard shortcuts for that computer, which are usually displayed at startup.
If you're not comfortable with this let us know so we can guide you through it.

For bios versions check you can run something like the free CPU-Z program which will show the Bios version, on the Motherboard tab. Then check on the motherboard or computer's website to see if it's the latest version.
---> CPU-Z download page

Linux is like that -- you have to push the power button to wake from sleep.

Windows' advanced power settings have "allow wake timers" that I <i>think</i> is the setting that allows me to click the mouse button (but mouse movement alone doesn't wake it) or hit a keyboard key & bring out of sleep. But that setting seems like the cause of your network card issue, so prb'ly not helping.

Instead, in device manager, look at your network devices' properties to see if there is a "power management" option for it. That may help find a solution.

I finally dug up the settings :

In Win7 it's pretty well buried.
For the mouse it's in Control Panel >> Mouse >> Hardware tab >> (find the right mouse in the list) then Properties >> General tab >> Change Settings >> Power Management tab.

For the keyboard, it's more or less the same.

Almost led you astray.

If that doesn't work, maybe Snidely has the best idea.

Wow! Thanks for the additional replies!

kbarb,

Right now the mouse isn’t working for waking at all. It is set (in the settings
you noted in your most recent comment) to wake from sleep but is failing to do
so.

I did find that in installing new hardware, my computer guy installed a
different brand of motherboard (Foxconn). This, I suppose, could be the issue
(though I don’t know all the details of why it wouldn’t be allowing me to use
the mouse to wake from sleep. Anyway….). I checked the version and it does seem
to be the latest version.

Also, FWIW, I checked some websites (message boards) that encourage users to be
extremely careful about updating BIOS because of the possibility of really
messing up your computer. (E.g. this page [http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/6440-45-tomshardware#t925887]; it’s an old thread, but those interested might want to read the first comment
made by bbb_forever (2011) which is food for thought.)

beng12,

Yes, I’ve got the network adapter’s ability to wake disabled. But keyboard and
mouse enabled with no good results.

Snidley,

When he gets back from vacation I’ll likely contact him, since this issue
(though not a deal-killer by any means) appears to involve things that I don’t want to
risk screwing up royally. He does have the TeamViewer software in this
computer, so whatever settings he can check/repair by remoting in will be the first
course. If nothing is resolved that way, and if I’m too anal about the whole thing to
let it drop, I’ll have him come by in person.

Honestly, though, my real concern is that I wanted to avoid using the power
button all the time and just use the mouse. It’s easier to replace an over-used
mouse than do without a computer while a new power button (and whatever else) is
installed due to excessive wear and tear on the old one. :-)

Anyway, thanks again to all for the input!

Hmm, Foxconn - that's pretty much a second or third tier motherboard - little bit worrisome there. Anyway . . .

One thing you could try is unsetting the Windows mouse power management setting, clicking through the "Oks", then going back in and resetting it. Sometimes settings get "stuck" the wrong way.
I doubt it's going to work, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

That Windows setting probably talks to the Bios, so if your friend remotely manages your computer, he won't able to get into the bios with that method of management.

I've updated Bios' many times and never had them fail an update, but it always makes you slightly nervous. But if it's actually up to date, that wouldn't be necessary anyway.
But I would want to check the Bios' setting for mouse (re power management), as, if it's set the wrong way, it could prevent Windows from enabling/disabling it's power management features. I'm not sure about that, but I'd want to check.

Just a few ideas.

-Kent

Thanks for the further input, Kent.

As it happens my computer guy is back and responded to my email. It turns out the motherboard is completely up-to-date and it's just the nature of the case that it requires pushing the power button to wake from sleep. No mouse or keyboard option. :-( Odd, to have a choice like that taken away from a user, but I guess it was due to loads of complaints about how easy it was for a computer to come out of sleep unintentionally -- as you yourself mentioned above.

Oh, well. I was just looking for a way to keep from over-using the power button, but if I must, I must. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out to outlast the rest of the computer!

Thanks again for all the helpful comments!

Actually, it's more a function of the motherboard and its bios. The mouse plugs directly into headers on the motherboard, never interacting with the case. You don't really even need to use a case, and the case is not limiting. I have a friend that built a computer into a suitcase actually, and everything worked as normal.

I can't say I'm totally convinced yet that it's not in the Bios. Because Foxconn undoubtedly contracts to use a bios like Phoenix or Award - they don't produce their own. And any modern bios producer would have that feature in there, this day and age. As well, the motherboard would have to be built so as to execute the command via an interrupt, whatever.
You could always just enter the bios and have a look around. As long as you don't do "Save" at the end it wouldn't matter even if you changed something. Anyway, it's not the end of the world I guess.