I am running W7 x64 Pro. If I have uTorrent running my system will not go into standby at night, after my standby inactivity value is exceeded, which is correct. However, if I am running an Ad-aware scan then it goes into standby after the inactivity setting expires. Not a big deal but curious if this is because network traffic versus internal disk traffic affects standby rules differently?
uTorrent is actively blocking standby. Options->Preferences->General When downloading->"Prevent standby if there are active torrents" It's quite easy to do programatically. When standby is requested (by timeout, closing a laptop lid, or pressing a standby button) Windows will send a message to open applications ($WM_POWERBROADCAST). The application simply has to respond "f**k off" ($BROADCAST_QUERY_DENY). I always set my machines to never standby as it's always inconvenient when it does it on me. I enter standby only when I press the button.