Hibernation problem

[Saudade]

I'm running XP professional on a Dell XPS. I have hibernation enabled, and
am able to schedule hibernation to kick in after the passage of designated
time periods. However, I want to be able to put the system in hibernation
manually. I am the only user of the system, so I don't log in per se and
there is no specific administrator. When I click "start" the only options I
have are "standby, "shut down" and "restart."

Is there any way I can set this up so I have a hibernation option? (better
yet, a hot key assigned).

Thanks,
s.

 

[Nepatsfan]

I'm running XP professional on a Dell XPS. I have hibernation enabled, and am
able to schedule hibernation to kick in after the passage of designated time
periods. However, I want to be able to put the system in hibernation
manually. I am the only user of the system, so I don't log in per se and
there is no specific administrator. When I click "start" the only options I
have are "standby, "shut down" and "restart."

Is there any way I can set this up so I have a hibernation option? (better
yet, a hot key assigned).

Thanks,
s.

Go to Start -> Turn Off Computer.
If you hit the Shift key, you'll notice that the Standby button turns into
Hibernate. You can now click on this button to place the computer into
hibernation.

If you hit the H key instead, the computer will go into hibernation immediately.
The process is Start -> Turn Off Computer -> H key.

Another approach would be to create a shortcut with the
following in the Target box.

%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState

Change the icon to the one in System32\shell32.dll on the
bottom row that matches Turn Off Computer on the Start menu.
You can leave the shortcut on the Desktop or drag it into the
Quick Launch toolbar so it's right next to the Start button.

I haven't tried this but thought I'd pass it along anyway.

When you click “Turn Off Computer” on the Start menu, the
Hibernate button does not appear in Windows XP Service Pack 2
or in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893056

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Saudade]

Thanks...one more question: Is there a downside to hibernation? Is any
aspect of Windows functioning compromised by repeated use of this feature?

S.

 

[Nepatsfan]

It's always a good idea to shutdown or restart your computer occasionally.
Windows performs a number of housekeeping chores, such as deleting temporary
files, during the shutdown and startup processes. Also, some program
installations as well as updates to Windows require a restart. That said,
hibernation can be used safely as often as you want.

One definite issue with hibernation can occur if you have a system that's
configured to boot into multiple operating systems.

Here's a web site with some information about hibernation that you may find
helpful.

Using Hibernate
http://www.theeldergeek.com/HT0_007.htm

Take a look here for other opinions on the downside of hibernation.

http://www.google.com/search?q=downside+to+hibernation&hl=en&start=10&sa=N

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Justin Thyme]

I also have a Dell XPS 210 with a problem related to Hibernation, and it has
to do with waking the computer up. Everything seems to go well when I
hibernate the system but activating the Start button produces some unusual
results. I have not yet figured out anything conclusive, but the desktop
shortcut icons never respond to a single- or double-click, and
right-click/open may or may not open the program. Sometimes when I select
an icon with a single click (I have used Tweak UI to act as double-clicks)
all the icons above the one I chose "light up" as if selected. Once, in
desperation, I clicked the icon repeatedly and rapidly and that produced the
desired results. Usually I shut down the computer and restart it.

Ken Bland

 

[Saudade]

Again--very helpful. Thank you Nepatsfan.

S.

It's always a good idea to shutdown or restart your computer occasionally.
Windows performs a number of housekeeping chores, such as deleting
temporary files, during the shutdown and startup processes. Also, some
program installations as well as updates to Windows require a restart.
That said, hibernation can be used safely as often as you want.

One definite issue with hibernation can occur if you have a system that's
configured to boot into multiple operating systems.

Here's a web site with some information about hibernation that you may
find helpful.

Using Hibernate
http://www.theeldergeek.com/HT0_007.htm

Take a look here for other opinions on the downside of hibernation.

http://www.google.com/search?q=downside+to+hibernation&hl=en&start=10&sa=N

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Nepatsfan]

You're welcome.

Nepatsfan

Again--very helpful. Thank you Nepatsfan.

S.

 

[Nepatsfan]

The behavior you describe isn't something I've ever come across. It's also not
related to the issues Saudade raised in either of his posts. If you're looking
for help with this problem, you might want to post a new question to the Windows
XP General newsgroup. Provide as many details as possible along with any
troubleshooting steps you've already taken.

That said, the best I can give you is suggestions on things to check out.

Dell usually provides an option to press a key when the computer boots to run
system diagnostics. You might want to run any tests that check your memory and
hard drive. The same diagnostics are also available on a bootable CD that may
have come with your computer. Check the documentation for your system to see how
to run these tests. You can view/download the manual for your system from Dell's
web site. I also believe you can obtain the diagnostic programs in the Drivers
and Downloads area of their site.

http://www.support.dell.com/

If those tests don't show any problems, you might want to run chkdsk /r from a
command prompt or the Recovery Console. I'd disable Hibernation before running
this test. That will delete the hiberfil.sys file from your HD. Once the disk
check is complete, enable Hibernation and see if the problems still exist.

How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

If the hard drive checks out, you can run tests on your system's RAM. Here are a
couple of programs that you may find helpful.

Windows Memory Diagnostic
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Memtest86 3.4a Release
http://www.memtest86.com/

To create a bootable CD from the .iso file, you'll need a CD burning program
that can handle this task. Here's a free one if you don't already have such a
program installed on your computer.

CDBurnerXP
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Good luck

Nepatsfan

I also have a Dell XPS 210 with a problem related to Hibernation, and it has
to do with waking the computer up. Everything seems to go well when I
hibernate the system but activating the Start button produces some unusual
results. I have not yet figured out anything conclusive, but the desktop
shortcut icons never respond to a single- or double-click, and
right-click/open may or may not open the program. Sometimes when I select
an icon with a single click (I have used Tweak UI to act as double-clicks)
all the icons above the one I chose "light up" as if selected. Once, in
desperation, I clicked the icon repeatedly and rapidly and that produced the
desired results. Usually I shut down the computer and restart it.

Ken Bland

<snipped>

 

[ctowers]

Again--very helpful. Thank you Nepatsfan.

Ditto. I have also found this thread to be very helpful.

 

[Stan Brown]

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:33:06 -0500 from Saudade

When I click "start" the only options I
have are "standby, "shut down" and "restart."

Is there any way I can set this up so I have a hibernation option?

Click Start | Turn off computer.

Press and hold the Shift key, and watch what happens to your three
choices.

 

[Justin Thyme]

Thank you for all your trouble. It may be a day or so before I'm able to
get around to all the recommendations you made, but I have printed them and
will get back with you as soon as I can.

Ken Bland

The behavior you describe isn't something I've ever come across.

<Remainder snipped>

 

[Justin Thyme]

My comment at the bottom.

The behavior you describe isn't something I've ever come across. It's also
not related to the issues Saudade raised in either of his posts. If you're
looking for help with this problem, you might want to post a new question
to the Windows XP General newsgroup. Provide as many details as possible
along with any troubleshooting steps you've already taken.

That said, the best I can give you is suggestions on things to check out.

Dell usually provides an option to press a key when the computer boots to
run system diagnostics. You might want to run any tests that check your
memory and hard drive. The same diagnostics are also available on a
bootable CD that may have come with your computer. Check the documentation
for your system to see how to run these tests. You can view/download the
manual for your system from Dell's web site. I also believe you can obtain
the diagnostic programs in the Drivers and Downloads area of their site.

http://www.support.dell.com/

If those tests don't show any problems, you might want to run chkdsk /r
from a command prompt or the Recovery Console. I'd disable Hibernation
before running this test. That will delete the hiberfil.sys file from your
HD. Once the disk check is complete, enable Hibernation and see if the
problems still exist.

How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

If the hard drive checks out, you can run tests on your system's RAM. Here
are a couple of programs that you may find helpful.

Windows Memory Diagnostic
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Memtest86 3.4a Release
http://www.memtest86.com/

To create a bootable CD from the .iso file, you'll need a CD burning
program that can handle this task. Here's a free one if you don't already
have such a program installed on your computer.

CDBurnerXP
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Good luck

Nepatsfan



<snipped>

Back at'cha Nepatsfan.

In short, and in spite of all your suggestions, the problem still exists.

I ran chkdsk /r first. Whoo! that takes quite a while for a 250GB hard
drive. Sometime tell me how to freeze or retain all the messages that flash
by at the conclusion of this test. There was one final short message (if I
remember correctly) that said everything was okay.

Then I ran all the Dell memory diagnostics, again a long time for a 4GB RAM.
At the conclusion the message said all memory tests passed.

Is it possible that the addition of 2GB to the RAM that came on this machine
is causing trouble? The installation went smoothly and the computer
recognized the larger memory (although restricted use to about 3GB, which I
had expected).

At present I don't know whether this is a Dell problem or a Microsoft
problem. I will continue to investigate.

Ken Bland

 

[Nepatsfan]

My comment at the bottom.


Back at'cha Nepatsfan.

In short, and in spite of all your suggestions, the problem still exists.

I ran chkdsk /r first. Whoo! that takes quite a while for a 250GB hard drive.
Sometime tell me how to freeze or retain all the messages that flash by at the
conclusion of this test. There was one final short message (if I remember
correctly) that said everything was okay.

Then I ran all the Dell memory diagnostics, again a long time for a 4GB RAM.
At the conclusion the message said all memory tests passed.

Is it possible that the addition of 2GB to the RAM that came on this machine
is causing trouble? The installation went smoothly and the computer
recognized the larger memory (although restricted use to about 3GB, which I
had expected).

At present I don't know whether this is a Dell problem or a Microsoft problem.
I will continue to investigate.

Ken Bland

To view the chkdsk results, do the following;

Go to Start -> Run and enter eventvwr.msc in the Open box.
Note: You can also access Event Viewer through Control Panel -> Administrative
Tools.
In Event Viewer, click on Application in the left hand column.
Look in the right hand pane for a recent entry with Winlogon as the Source and
1001 for the Event ID .
Double click on the entry to see the results.

It wouldn't hurt to remove the 2GB of RAM you installed and see if you can
initiate hibernation with only the memory that came with the computer. The only
other advice I can pass along would be to check Dell's web site and make sure
you're using the latest driver for your video adapter. You might also want to
check for a BIOS update that addresses this issue. There's no reason to update
the system's BIOS unless it fixes a problem you're having.

As I suggested in my earlier response, you might want to post this question to
the Windows XP General newsgroup.

microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

That newsgroup sees considerably more traffic than this one. That will increase
the chance that someone familiar with the problem you're having will see your
question.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Justin Thyme]

My comment at the bottom:

To view the chkdsk results, do the following;

Go to Start -> Run and enter eventvwr.msc in the Open box.
Note: You can also access Event Viewer through Control Panel ->
Administrative Tools.
In Event Viewer, click on Application in the left hand column.
Look in the right hand pane for a recent entry with Winlogon as the Source
and 1001 for the Event ID .
Double click on the entry to see the results.

It wouldn't hurt to remove the 2GB of RAM you installed and see if you can
initiate hibernation with only the memory that came with the computer. The
only other advice I can pass along would be to check Dell's web site and
make sure you're using the latest driver for your video adapter. You might
also want to check for a BIOS update that addresses this issue. There's no
reason to update the system's BIOS unless it fixes a problem you're
having.

As I suggested in my earlier response, you might want to post this
question to the Windows XP General newsgroup.

microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

That newsgroup sees considerably more traffic than this one. That will
increase the chance that someone familiar with the problem you're having
will see your question.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

Thank you, Nepatsfan, for all your time. I do not expect you to solve this
difficulty for me and I apologize for bothering you with this problem.

First: I found the Winlogon, source 1001 EventID, and read the information.
Everything was okay.

Second: The Event Viewer, however, has scared me owing to all the Red-X
Error lines. From 1,580 present entries, three or four hundred errors,
beginning with the day I began using this new computer, almost all of them
related to MsiInstaller. In fact, there were no more than a few
MsiInstaller entries identified as Information. The frequency or nature of
errors did not increase with the installation of the additional 2GB
memory -- that seemed to have nothing to do with it. Just about every error
in the entire listing was associated with MsiInstaller.

A Google search reveals that many people have had trouble with MsiInstaller,
but most of them caused hard errors or caused the machine to abort. In my
case, the computer just keeps on running fine. Some related services offer
to fix the registry for MsiInstaller errors, but I am reluctant to allow
that (unless you think it's safe). The term "MsiInstaller" only occurs in
the registry, and nowhere else.

I haven't yet posted my query on the windowsxp.general newsgroup, so I'll do
that now.

Thanks for your help.

Ken Bland

 

[Nepatsfan]

Second: The Event Viewer, however, has scared me owing to all the Red-X Error
lines. From 1,580 present entries, three or four hundred errors, beginning
with the day I began using this new computer, almost all of them related to
MsiInstaller. In fact, there were no more than a few MsiInstaller entries
identified as Information. The frequency or nature of errors did not increase
with the installation of the additional 2GB memory -- that seemed to have
nothing to do with it. Just about every error in the entire listing was
associated with MsiInstaller.

A Google search reveals that many people have had trouble with MsiInstaller,
but most of them caused hard errors or caused the machine to abort. In my
case, the computer just keeps on running fine. Some related services offer to
fix the registry for MsiInstaller errors, but I am reluctant to allow that
(unless you think it's safe). The term "MsiInstaller" only occurs in the
registry, and nowhere else.

I haven't yet posted my query on the windowsxp.general newsgroup, so I'll do
that now.

Thanks for your help.

Ken Bland

First off, don't try any of those offers to "fix the registry". Odds are you'll
end up with more problems than you have now.

Instead, open Event Viewer.
Double click on the MsiInstaller Error event.
Click on the link in the Description box.
Look under Details for suggested user action. This may provide helpful advice.

If that doesn't yield any productive information, do the following;

On the right hand side of the Properties sheet, you'll see a button with two
sheets of paper on it.
Hit that button. This will copy the contents of the Description box to your
clipboard.
You can now paste that information into a reply to this message.
I'll take a look at it and get back to you with my take on the situation.

Nepatsfan

 

[Justin Thyme]

First off, don't try any of those offers to "fix the registry". Odds are
you'll end up with more problems than you have now.

Instead, open Event Viewer.
Double click on the MsiInstaller Error event.
Click on the link in the Description box.
Look under Details for suggested user action. This may provide helpful
advice.

If that doesn't yield any productive information, do the following;

On the right hand side of the Properties sheet, you'll see a button with
two sheets of paper on it.
Hit that button. This will copy the contents of the Description box to
your clipboard.
You can now paste that information into a reply to this message.
I'll take a look at it and get back to you with my take on the situation.

Nepatsfan

Thank you once again, Nepatsfan, your instructions were very clear.

Regarding these particular errors, let me make one observation: They ALWAYS
occur in pairs, about eight seconds apart. I suspect this may have
something to do with the computer's Core 2 Duo Processor(?).

The Event Viewer Description box did offer a link to Microsoft Help &
Support but the information I received when I checked the Send box came back
this way:



Details
ID: 1002
Source: MsiInstaller

We're sorry
There is no additional information about this issue in the
Error and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at this time. You
can use the links in the Support area to determine whether any additional
information might be available elsewhere.


--------------------------------------------------------------------


Thank you for searching on this message; your search helps
us identify those areas for which we need to provide more information.





Now, here are the two associated MsiInstaller-1002 errors

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 1/29/2008
Time: 1:36:00 PM
User: KENNETH-BLAND\Ken Bland
Computer: KENNETH-BLAND
Description:
Unexpected or missing value (name: 'PackageName', value: '') in key
'HKLM\Software\Classes\Installer\Products\B97CF7F995034624490593BE63E82352\SourceList'

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Event Type: Error
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 1/29/2008
Time: 1:35:52 PM
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: KENNETH-BLAND
Description:
Unexpected or missing value (name: 'PackageName', value: '') in key
'HKU\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products\B97CF7F995034624490593BE63E82352\SourceList'

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


I certainly hope you can decode this for me.

TIA

Ken Bland

 

[Nepatsfan]

Thank you once again, Nepatsfan, your instructions were very clear.

Regarding these particular errors, let me make one observation: They ALWAYS
occur in pairs, about eight seconds apart. I suspect this may have something
to do with the computer's Core 2 Duo Processor(?).

The Event Viewer Description box did offer a link to Microsoft Help & Support
but the information I received when I checked the Send box came back this way:



Details
ID: 1002
Source: MsiInstaller

We're sorry
There is no additional information about this issue in the
Error and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at this time. You can
use the links in the Support area to determine whether any additional
information might be available elsewhere.


--------------------------------------------------------------------


Thank you for searching on this message; your search helps us
identify those areas for which we need to provide more information.





Now, here are the two associated MsiInstaller-1002 errors

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 1/29/2008
Time: 1:36:00 PM
User: KENNETH-BLAND\Ken Bland
Computer: KENNETH-BLAND
Description:
Unexpected or missing value (name: 'PackageName', value: '') in key
'HKLM\Software\Classes\Installer\Products\B97CF7F995034624490593BE63E82352\SourceList'

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Event Type: Error
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 1/29/2008
Time: 1:35:52 PM
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: KENNETH-BLAND
Description:
Unexpected or missing value (name: 'PackageName', value: '') in key
'HKU\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products\B97CF7F995034624490593BE63E82352\SourceList'

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


I certainly hope you can decode this for me.

TIA

Ken Bland

First off, it would appear that you're getting those errors in pairs due to
incorrect values in two registry keys related to the same installed program.

Just to be sure, check past errors in Event Viewer to see whether or not they're
pointing to the same program. As long as the "Unexpected or missing value" cites
the same registry key, then the problem is isolated to a single program
installation. The long alphanumeric portion of the key is what counts. If it's
the same in all pairs of errors, it's the same program. Let me know if the
errors are related to different programs.

To find out what program is causing the problem, do the following;

Go to Start -> Run and enter regedit.exe in the Open box. Click OK.
In the Registry Editor, click on the + sign in the left hand pane next to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Keep clicking on + signs to take you through Software -> Classes -> Installer ->
Products.
Locate the key named B97CF7F995034624490593BE63E82352 and click on it.
Look in the right hand pane for a value named Product Name.
That's the program that's causing this problem.
Go back to the left hand pane and hit the + sign for this key and click on
SourceList.
Look in the right hand pane for PackageName.
That's the name of the file that was used to install this program.

Do the same for the key in the HKEY_USERS branch of the registry editor. The
program name and installation file name should match.

Armed with that information, determine if this is a program installed on your
computer. If it is, you may want to uninstall and reinstall it to see if that
fixes the problem. If the program is not installed on your computer or you're
not sure exactly what you should do, let me know the information that you
obtained from the registry editor. The name of the program and the name of the
installation file may provide a clue as to what steps to take to correct the
problem.

Nepatsfan

 

[Justin Thyme]

Nepatsfan, (Is that New England Patriots Fan?)

Please allow me to summarize it for you and I'll get back with you tomorrow
when I have more time at the computer.

You nailed it, for sure!

All Event Viewer Application error types, MsiInstaller, event 1002, were
associated with the same registry keys, beginning almost immediately after
turning on this new computer for the first time back in October.

All registry keys were associated with "Microsoft Digital Image Library 9 -
Blocker"
The Source List didn't help me; they all read: "REG_SZ (Value not set)"

I couldn't find Digital Image Library 9 anywhere on the computer but I
removed "Digital Image 2006 Standard" from the computer and Restart or Power
Off / Power On now cause the error message to appear no longer.

(I have a full CD Works Suite 2006 that I ordered with this computer and
I'll reinstall it tomorrow when time is not so pressing. Then I should be
able to let you know if that fully solved the problem.)

This question started from an inability to resume from Hibernate, and I'll
check that out now. For the present, thanks more than I can express.

Ken Bland


<Remainder snipped>