Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Okay guys, here's my problem. I am using a PC with Windows 7 Extended OS. Just recently when my computer goes to sleep I can't get it to wake up. Nothing seems to work, Mouse, spacebar etc. I have to do a hard shutdown and reboot. This seems to happen more often when it has been sleeping all night or for a extended period of time. I have never had a problem with this until recently, the computer is about 4 years old. Any suggestions on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Are we talking Desktop or Laptop? My old HP Laptop would often crash or freeze from heat build up. Eventually the screen would seem to go blank (black) but it was on, only the back-lighting was failing on the Laptop screen. I was still able to use it with an external monitor. I eventually replaced the whole thing with a DESKTOP TOWER. No more overheating. Also Windows Vista seemed to act like what you are describing as well. Going to sleep and not waking up.

You might run some diagnostics like a Disk Scan, Defrag, or Disk Repair "DOS" type thing. Might be a bad sector on your HDD where Windows resides.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Desktop PC

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Desktop PC

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Possible issue:

http://www.howtogeek.com/102897/whats-the-difference-between-sleep-and-hibernate-in-windows/

--Bob

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

As good as any reason to get a new one. 4 years- ancient history in computers.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Amazing how quickly computers can become old. I did my training on Windows XP. It was about 6 years ago. A friend still has it. No more updates or support. Not even sure if he can update to Windows 10 from XP. He says his intent is to buy a new one. Someday? Obviously this is not a young person.

wireman8 Loc: Toledo, Ohio

Shake it real gentle like, then scream in its ear

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Whether or not to replace/update a computer is dependent on things other than age, and 4 years is not that old. How much DRAM does the machine have and what processor? Most of the older XP machines cannot be well upgraded to Windows 7 or 10 because they were limited in supported DRAM to 1GB or less or the processor is outdated. If that's the case, short of updating the motherboard (which is certainly possible), you any wish to keep them for non intensive tasks such as Internet. XP may not be supported for the latest versions of Flash, Firefox or I.E., but they're plenty useful for email or simple internet access.

Whether to upgrade largely depends on whether the machine is a laptop or desktop machine. Laptops are difficult or impossible to upgrade in terms of memory/processor/video, (although HD upgrades are generally possible) and earlier fluorescent back lighted displays can be expensive to repair when they fail. On the other hand, a 4 year old desktop may have many years of useful life. On more recent machines using Intel Core I5s or I7s (which have been around since 2009/10) and support at least 8GB DRAM, they will work fine with Windows 7 or 10. You may wish to add more DRAM for performance (16GB minimum is a good # for memory-intensive aps ), but remember that you'll need a 64 bit version of your OS if you want your machine to be able to use more than 4GB.

From a hard disk perspective, if a too small hard disk is the issue, SATA has been around for well over 4 years, and whether it's 6Gb or 3Gb is largely irrelevant for spinning disk, since HDs (other than SSDs) cannot approach the performance of the I/O bus and are not the limiting factor. If you really want to up the performance on an I5 or I7 based machine, change the hard disk to SSD - it will generally do more to enhance your performance than any other change you can make. That leaves video and peripheral I/O such as USB or NICs. If that's an issue, either can be changed on a desktop by a simple card swap. A multi-port USB3 card can be had for $10, a GigE NIC for a similar amount, and a decent video card can be purchased for $50. Granted that there are continuous incremental improvements in processors, GPUs and peripheral/memory bus speeds, but 4 years is by no means the useful life of a desktop unless you don't feel competent to do simple upgrades or want the very latest in technology. While there were large gains with multi-core processors, faster side and peripheral bus speeds, 64-bit OS and cheaper DRAM in the last 10 years, those gains are beginning to asymptote.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Thank You for that explanation: Here are the specs on my computer.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

No need to replace that one! (although adding another 8GB of DRAM wouldn't hurt). Check out the link RMalarz posted above on sleep vs hibernation.

Tom DePuy Loc: Waxhaw, N.C.

throw a cup of cold water on it....that wakes me up

Erdos2 Loc: Vancouver, WA

A while back my mother's computer had the same issue. It turned out to be very weak batteries in the wireless keyboard and mouse. Odds of both going weak enough at about the same time is low, but it might be related to something like that.

The next thing I would try is suggestions that have been made to others with the same problem (ie: google it). The following has a list that might be helpful.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/computer-wont-wake-up-from-sleep/f4e52487-6808-425c-84e9-e81439578c93?auth=1

Jerry

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Thanks Everyone for all your help. I am working through the suggestions and will give you an update if the problem is resolved.

Bridgeman Loc: Missouri

I have had the same problem. Try the holding down the Ctrl, Alt, Delete keys at the same time. Works for me.