Sleep Mode effects how computer operates (XP)

Hello, I am having some trouble with my Windows XP Machine, and I would like to see if anyone can help me.

First off, my machine is a Acer Aspire AST135, running Windows XP w/ SP2, About One and a half years old.

Problem: I just recently started using the computers "sleep mode" function, while I am away from the computer. I will use it usually about once or twice during a typical day. I've never used sleep mode on this computer until two weeks ago, and then I am having this issues: My computer is going corrupt.

After I started using sleep mode, my computer stops loading Norton Antivirus and other Acer related media software at startup. Sometimes I get error messages stating I need to reinstall software or certain files cannot be located. In I.E. 6, I've lost my MSN icon on the icon menu ontop of the address bar, and it won't load MSN anymore. The computer refuses to run Norton Antivirus, saying it did not load correctly or its missing files. I've also noticed my Quick Launch menu on my XP Taskbar get reorganized sometimes when waking from Sleep Mode.

Also in IE6, whenever i hit VIEW SOURCE, it opens up my Instant Messanging Application, Trillian.

I've had this issue for a while now, and no research I've done has brought me to any conclusions.

Thanks,
Jake

 

Suspend or Hibernation?
I am assuming you mean Hibernation. When a computer goes to 'sleep', the contents of your RAM is written directly to the harddrive in one big file. When awakened, the contents of the file is loaded directly to memory, this is where you are getting problems. The reason for this is Windows is NOT doing a normal bootup, those things in your startup are not being run. Things are not being loaded into memory as they normally would be in a regular bootup, it is all being loaded in at once.
Returning from Suspend mode or Hibernation has been hit or miss for quite a few machines.

"Also in IE6, whenever i hit VIEW SOURCE, it opens up my Instant Messanging Application, Trillian "

Go into Internet Options, click on Program tab, change your preference for HTML Editor there.

 

Thanks. I meant Stand-by. Is their anyway to reverse any of this damage? Should I stop using Stand-by?

 

Hi,
My first question would be:
1.How much RAM do you have?
Too low and not all data may be captured.
2.Are the following up-to-date:?
BIOS,video drivers,mobo drivers or more generally,all device drivers.
3.Are your settings in the BIOS correct? ACPI related.

When you say:.... "my computer stops loading Norton Antivirus
and other Acer related media software at startup. "
Do you mean cold startup (after being completely shut off)
or startup from Standby?

As to reversing the "damage" :If you have been running the System Restore
service,you may have a restore point to before you started using Standby.
If you do,see if you can do a successful restore.

Some links re Standby problems
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907477
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_standby.htm

Pete.

 

#1) I have 512 MB of RAM.
#2) I do not know. Is their a way to check to make sure they are up-to-date? I know I have not messed with any drivers or settings. I reinstalled Windows, I'd say in July of last year, so everything should be current to then.
#3) Like said, you'll have to tell me how to check that also.

When I say :.... "my computer stops loading Norton Antivirus
and other Acer related media software at startup. ", I mean when I turn on my computer. (Like in the morning, not after I wake from sleep mode). When I did go in sleep mode, I closed all running applications before going into stand-by.

I will probably have to do a system restore to fix whats happened, will it effect any of my Applications that I have installed since then, or any documents I have on my hard disk?

Thanks.
Jake

 

Hi Jake,

I would increase that to 1Gig(1024MB)
You will find that things will run a lot smoother,especially with videos and graphics.

Yes,you can.You have to find out about your system.
There are numerous free utilities out there that will do that .
One is already on your computer:System Information
To open System Information, click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type msinfo32.exe.
Another one is Belarc Advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Print this if you can - it will be a good reference.
Like I said there are many others,everyone has their favorite.

Once you know what's on your computer,check the website of your machine.
They may have updates.They should.If not go by components.
Motherboard > BIOS,graphics controllers etc
The mobo manufacturer should have all this listed.
Other hardware will have some updates too.
Check each one and the corresponding websites.

This does not necessarily update your your hardware drivers or firmware
and BIOS.

You did the right thing.It's just peculiar that your problem cropped up.

Yes it will effect what you installed but not your documents,provided they were saved under an account in Documents and Settings\My Documents
Everything there is protected.
If you're worried about it,do a backup of the folder(s).
Also backup the setup files of the programs you installed since the trouble started.You could re-download them,but if you have them,why not save them.Save any registration keys or codes if the programs required them.
Back all this stuff up to a USB drive etc.

Some of the updates in the service packs SP1 and SP2 for XP were meant to take care of some of those glitches re Standby,but yours may be for different reasons.

So to summerize, do the System Restore first (there is no sense to update
the hardware and BIOS and then do the Restore )
If things are working,do the machine updates.
Set a Restore point - preferably at each step and after your finished.
If things are working ok,you can try the Standby again (Restore point first)
If not OK,avoid using Standby for now.

Peter.

 

To sleep or not to sleep...

I had a machine with a monitor and hard drive that weren't completely compatible to Stand By Mode. The documentation said that they were. For short periods they would awaken along with the other pc components.

One day, I left that computer in Stand By for half a day. When I tried to awaken it the hard drive was sluggish rising from its sleep. The monitor would not awaken at all! I had to press the Reset switch thereby invoking Scandisk.There were some cross linked files and data loss as a result. I decided that for that particular computer the convenience was not worth the aggrivating data loss. Stand By, Sleep were disabled.

Now on my latest build, I have absolutely no problem with Stand By. I can invoke it by keyboard or, automatic Stand By after 30 minutes of inactivity.

You too may decide that it's not worth it.

 

Computer enters sleep mode and hangs

My computer will enter sleep and hangs after a period of time,

whenever I surf the internet or type some Microsoft Words documents.

I had tried to click the mouse, press the On/Off button on the CPU casing and

press any keys on the keyboard, the computer will still be unable to resume

from sleep mode.

My computer specifications are as follows:

Motherboard: ASUS P5PE-VM

Processor: Pentium D 2.8GHZ

RAM 512 MB

Hard Drive: 160 GB PATA hard drive

Graphic Card: Nvidia Geforce 6200

Power Supply Unit: 480 Watt