# Having a problem with the sleep mode on my computer

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by Musical Ambition (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Thursday, 27-Jul-2006 12:24:17

Hello everyone,
well, as the title says, I'm having trouble with the sleep mode on my computer. I used to be able to put it to sleep whenever I wasn't using it, but now, for some reason it doesn't do it anymore. I like to put it to sleep when I'm not using it, that way it's not constantly running for no reason, but like I said, it doesn't work anymore. It'll go in the sleep mode, but it won't stay there. It'll only stay in that mode for a few seconds. I have no clue why it all of a sudden stopped staying in that mode when I put it there. any suggestions on what to do? Thanks.

## Post 2 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Thursday, 27-Jul-2006 15:06:53

Read it a bedtime story? Pat it on the head and promise ice cream the next day if it will just go to sleep now? Offer it a Tylenol pm?

## Post 3 by sparkie (the hilljack) on Thursday, 27-Jul-2006 19:52:29

Lol maybe it isn't tired?
In all seriousness, check the power options under the control pannel to see if any of them has changed.
Troy

## Post 4 by frequency (the music man) on Friday, 28-Jul-2006 1:42:24

If the computer is sleeping and waking up after a few seconds, something on the computer is waking up. This could be a hardware or software issue. Have you installed any programs or are you doing anything different with your computer?

## Post 5 by Musical Ambition (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Friday, 28-Jul-2006 12:12:59

I checked the power options, and nothing seems to have been changed. As far as doing anything different on the computer, no, I haven't. Like I said, it used to go in the stand by mode and it would stay there, but now it won't. I have no idea why. I'm not doing anything differently.

## Post 6 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Friday, 28-Jul-2006 21:33:46

Hmmm, I love cat's suggestion.... works every time for my machines. The ice cream gets a little messy but hey! that's hwy I keep lots of those handy wipes near the computer. Here's a rather drastic thought to try well maybe two. First, try putting the machine in to hybernate rather then standby and see if it will stay there. It should since hybernating dumps the contents of memmory to the HD and powers down the machine. Then wake it up and see if it returns to it's normal state. Then of course try standby again. sometimes doing somethinkg different is enough to shake windows back to reality. Also, try putting it to sleep without running your assistive technology(ZT,Jaws,Window-Eyes) and see if it will stay asleep. I am agreeing with troy that somethinkg is waking it up such as a program or a service. The next thing you could try(and this is the drastic part) is go in to M-S-Config by pressing Windows-R to open the run dialog and type msconfig and press enter. You will be placed in a multipage dialog box. Press ctrl-tab to move through the pagest until you hear startup and click disable all and reboot the this may result in somethinkgs not working because what you are doing is turning off all of the programs that are starting automaticly either in the registry or the startup folder. Don't wory, you can return everythinkg to it's original state by going back in to ms config and on the startup tab clicking enable. It's a great diagnostic utillity one that has helpped me find much. Lastly, there is the possibillity of spyware or viruses. I would suggest getting the latest versions of spybot and Addaware from: www.jfwlite.com and clicking the programs link. you will also find excellent scripts that make Addaware very friendly. Make sure these programs are updated and then run them and remove all objects that show up.

## Post 7 by Amethyst Moon (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Saturday, 29-Jul-2006 0:53:54

I put mine in hibernation since standby has the same problem, only standing by for a few seconds. I love hybernation because it acts like it's shutting the whole computer down and when you get back, everything's open where you left it... well, Win Cramp doesn't like hibernation but that's only a petty matter. Easiest way to do so is to open your start menu, then hold down shift and press h. All you have to do to get out of hibernation is press the main power button on your computer.

## Post 8 by Musical Ambition (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Saturday, 29-Jul-2006 15:56:00

Nachtmusik, I tried putting the computer in hibernate, the way you said to, but it didn't work. What else can I do to put it in hibernate? Thanks.

## Post 9 by Amethyst Moon (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Saturday, 29-Jul-2006 20:49:41

Are you using XP and what style do you have for your... I don't know what they call it... the dialog where you can either restart or shutdown or standby... there's the three button type of style or there's the other with the drop down menu. I'm using Home Edition so I have the three button style where standby/hibernate is on the left, shut down is in the middle, and restart is on the right. Maybe you weren't holding down the keys long enough or something. I usually hold down shift first for a moment until I know it's switched from standby to hibernate then I press h.

## Post 10 by bozmagic (The rottie's your best friend if you want him/her to be, lol.) on Sunday, 30-Jul-2006 17:25:54

I wouldn't do it that way Gemini. My PC often switches on when someone calls our landline and this is when I've shut it all down. It doesn't use much electricity if you just walknoff and leave it if you need to go away from it for any length of time. My PC has "turn off computer" as oppose to "shut down" and as with all our PCs in the UK, all the various buttons are like in a grid, either one below the other or next to each other along the grid. My on/off, restart, Standby and Hybernate buttons are in a vertical line down the screen when I shut down the PC. The only other explanation I have is that you could have something like MSN or Skype running and someone is either calling you or sending you an instant message, or Itunes can cause the machine not to shut down properly. That's happened on here a few times as I also have Itunes because I have both a smart phone and an Ipod Nano which I import all my CDs on to fairly frequently.

## Post 11 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Sunday, 30-Jul-2006 17:36:43

Usually, on a laptop pressing the power button will execute either a shutdown or hybernate. you can actually set this up by going in to the powermanagement settings under the advanced tab. It will allow you to set up how the machine behaivs when you either press the powerbutton, close the lid or press the sleep button which some machines have. I have my laptop set to hybernate when I close the lid. When I open the lid i press the power button and it happily wakes up.

## Post 12 by b3n (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Sunday, 30-Jul-2006 18:20:42

If you put it onto standby, aka sleep and move the mouse, it'll wake up.
I kno that if you have a belkin wireless card, you can not put your computer to sleep unless you disconnect from the network.
hth, BEN.

## Post 13 by Musical Ambition (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Sunday, 30-Jul-2006 20:18:49

Well, I'm using a desktop computer, and it has windows XP running on it. The computer has a sleep button, and that's what I'd push to put it in that mode (or, sometimes, I'd just leave it, and it'd go in the mode automatically). But, it just won't do it anymore, no matter what I do.

## Post 14 by frequency (the music man) on Monday, 31-Jul-2006 0:27:52

This is very odd. If you have a network and/or a phone line hooked up, try unplugging that. Put it in standby then and see if it still won't do it. If it doesn't wake up, it has something to do with certain packets that are sent which makes the computer think it's being accessed via the network. This problem is a little more complecated to fix.

## Post 15 by Musical Ambition (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Monday, 31-Jul-2006 0:37:41

Nope, don't have a phone line hooked up to it. It's through the cable company.

## Post 16 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Monday, 31-Jul-2006 20:29:58

Try disconnecting your cable modem and see what happens. The packet idea is a good one and remember, your cable connection is always on. Also, neglected to ask if you are running a router. If that is the case just take the cable that gos from the router to your machine out for a while and put the machine in standby and see what happens.

## Post 17 by Musical Ambition (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Monday, 31-Jul-2006 22:28:51

Nope, not running a router, and I've tried disconnecting the cable and reconnecting it, but it didn't do a thing.