PC not coming out of standby

[SharkD]

In the last month or so I have been (mostly) unable to get my PC to
come out of standby. I can put it *into* standby and the power LED
indicator blinks as per normal. however, when I try to get it to come
out of standby it instead completely powers itself off. Some times I
*can* get it to come out of standby, but this is rare.

At roughly the same time I did two things:

1. Installed (and promptly uninstalled) the Seven Transformation Pack
(theme to make XP look like 7).
2. Bundled cables together to tidy up my work area. I made sure to
bundle the power and IO cables separately to prevent line noise.

I don't know if either of these could be the culprit, but I noticed a
lot of bugs with the Seven Transformation Pack (which is why I removed
it). Unfortunately, I forgot to create a restore point prior to
installing it. Doh!

Any ideas?

-Mike

Windows XP SP3
1.5GB RAM
AMD Sempron 3000+
Comodo Firewall
Avast Antivirus

 

[SC Tom]

In the last month or so I have been (mostly) unable to get my PC to
come out of standby. I can put it *into* standby and the power LED
indicator blinks as per normal. however, when I try to get it to come
out of standby it instead completely powers itself off. Some times I
*can* get it to come out of standby, but this is rare.

At roughly the same time I did two things:

1. Installed (and promptly uninstalled) the Seven Transformation Pack
(theme to make XP look like 7).
2. Bundled cables together to tidy up my work area. I made sure to
bundle the power and IO cables separately to prevent line noise.

I don't know if either of these could be the culprit, but I noticed a
lot of bugs with the Seven Transformation Pack (which is why I removed
it). Unfortunately, I forgot to create a restore point prior to
installing it. Doh!

Any ideas?

-Mike

Windows XP SP3
1.5GB RAM
AMD Sempron 3000+
Comodo Firewall
Avast Antivirus

I know you said you didn't create a restore point prior to installing Seven,
but is there another recent one you might want to use? Are you getting any
error messages in the event log (Start, Run..., eventvwr.exe) ?
Do you have an external USB hub attached? I had to quit using standby and
start using hibernation because of mine. My symptoms were a little
different, but it was definitely the culprit in my case.

SC Tom

 

[Unknown]

What method do you use to come out of standby? Is your keyboard set to exit
standby?
Is your mouse configured to exit stanndby? Is your power on switch
configured to exit standby?

 

[SharkD]

What method do you use to come out of standby? Is your keyboard set to exit
standby?
Is your mouse configured to exit stanndby? Is your power on switch
configured to exit standby?

No, I just move the mouse or type on the keyboard.

I've noticed the problem does not occur if my MP3 player is plugged
into one of the USB ports.

-Mike

 

[SharkD]

I know you said you didn't create a restore point prior to installing Seven,
but is there another recent one you might want to use? Are you getting any
error messages in the event log (Start, Run..., eventvwr.exe) ?
Do you have an external USB hub attached? I had to quit using standby and
start using hibernation because of mine. My symptoms were a little
different, but it was definitely the culprit in my case.

SC Tom

There might be a restore point from a similar period in time, but it
will have been several months now, and I've installed lots of stuff
since then. There is a repeating system event error, but it doesn't
seem directly related.

"The Conexant's BtPCI WDM Video Capture service failed to start due to
the following error: The service cannot be started, either because it
is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. "

As for external USB hubs, do the ones attached to the front panel of
the case count? There's a multi card reader (SD, Compact Flash, etc.)
and a multi port hub (audio, FireWire, etc.), each with a set of USB
ports.

Is there a diagnosis tool I can use to determine problems, such as if
the OS thinks a USB port is in use or detached but actually isn't?

Thanks.

-Mike

 

[SharkD]

Forgot to add that when the computer powers itself off, it does so
gradually. I.e. the power led gets progressively dimmer before turning
off completely. It's why I suspect it's a hardware issue. I tried un-
bundling the cables and the problem still persists.

-Mike

 

[SC Tom]

Forgot to add that when the computer powers itself off, it does so
gradually. I.e. the power led gets progressively dimmer before turning
off completely. It's why I suspect it's a hardware issue. I tried un-
bundling the cables and the problem still persists.

-Mike

That's normal. The capacitors on board will bleed down slowly, so the LED
dims slowly until they are discharged.

Have you tried hibernation instead of standby, and what were the results
there? That at least should work since it's basically a "power off" state.

SC Tom

 

[SharkD]

Have you tried hibernation instead of standby, and what were the results
there? That at least should work since it's basically a "power off" state..

Hibernation seems to work OK. I put it in hibernation for about six
hours and had no trouble restoring it.

-Mike

 

[SC Tom]

Have you tried hibernation instead of standby, and what were the results
there? That at least should work since it's basically a "power off" state.

Hibernation seems to work OK. I put it in hibernation for about six
hours and had no trouble restoring it.

-Mike
=============================

Strange that it works fine with the MP3 player plugged in, but not when it's
unplugged. Do you use a USB keyboard and/or mouse? If so, try plugging one
of them into the port where you had the MP3 player and see if standby works
then. Is there any common program that is running whenever standby doesn't
work? I'm clutching at straws here; I really don't have any other ideas.
You could try a repair installation if you have a Windows CD at the same
service pack level you're at now. If not, you can slipstream one and try it.
Here's how to do the repair install:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

There are also links in that article about how to slipstream a SP into an XP
CD.

SC Tom

 

[SharkD]

Strange that it works fine with the MP3 player plugged in, but not when it's
unplugged.

I may have been mistaken. I just tried it again with the MP3 player
plugged in and it failed to come out of standby. I'll try again
tonight.

Do you use a USB keyboard and/or mouse? If so, try plugging one
of them into the port where you had the MP3 player and see if standby works
then.

No. My keyboard and mouse are both PS2.

Is there any common program that is running whenever standby doesn't
work?

Not that I know of, no.

I'm clutching at straws here; I really don't have any other ideas.
You could try a repair installation if you have a Windows CD at the same
service pack level you're at now. If not, you can slipstream one and try it.
Here's how to do the repair install:http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

What other consequences of doing this should I be aware of? I'm afraid
I'll have to reinstall all my applications. I'm using a development
machine of sorts, so there would be lots of little stuff to reinstall.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

-Mike

 

[SC Tom]

Strange that it works fine with the MP3 player plugged in, but not when
it's
unplugged.

I may have been mistaken. I just tried it again with the MP3 player
plugged in and it failed to come out of standby. I'll try again
tonight.

Do you use a USB keyboard and/or mouse? If so, try plugging one
of them into the port where you had the MP3 player and see if standby
works
then.

No. My keyboard and mouse are both PS2.

Is there any common program that is running whenever standby doesn't
work?

Not that I know of, no.

I'm clutching at straws here; I really don't have any other ideas.
You could try a repair installation if you have a Windows CD at the same
service pack level you're at now. If not, you can slipstream one and try
it.
Here's how to do the repair
install:http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

What other consequences of doing this should I be aware of? I'm afraid
I'll have to reinstall all my applications. I'm using a development
machine of sorts, so there would be lots of little stuff to reinstall.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

-Mike
========

Normally, a repair install will not bother your programs that are installed.
That doesn't mean it CAN'T happen just that it's not likely to.
Do a disk back-up before attempting it. Then if something does go wrong, you
can just restore it. I like Acronis True Image- boot from the CD and make an
image of your data and system. If the repair install does mess up your
programs, you can re-image the disk to where it was before the attempt.

SC Tom

 

[SharkD]

Normally, a repair install will not bother your programs that are installed.
That doesn't mean it CAN'T happen just that it's not likely to.
Do a disk back-up before attempting it. Then if something does go wrong, you
can just restore it. I like Acronis True Image- boot from the CD and makean
image of your data and system. If the repair install does mess up your
programs, you can re-image the disk to where it was before the attempt.

SC Tom

Will the program automatically span the data across multiple disks?

Also, I will take my PC into school tomorrow to swap out the power
supply and see if that's the problem.

-Mike

 

[SC Tom]

Normally, a repair install will not bother your programs that are
installed.
That doesn't mean it CAN'T happen just that it's not likely to.
Do a disk back-up before attempting it. Then if something does go wrong,
you
can just restore it. I like Acronis True Image- boot from the CD and make
an
image of your data and system. If the repair install does mess up your
programs, you can re-image the disk to where it was before the attempt.

SC Tom

Will the program automatically span the data across multiple disks?

Not sure about that. I've never tried it for anything other than one image
per drive. I have my C: and D: drives imaged separately. I don't think you
could make an image of 2 drives into a single image, but you can image them
one right after the other.

Also, I will take my PC into school tomorrow to swap out the power
supply and see if that's the problem.

Let us know if that works. That would be too simple if it did, wouldn't it?

 

[SharkD]

Not sure about that. I've never tried it for anything other than one image
per drive. I have my C: and D: drives imaged separately. I don't think you
could make an image of 2 drives into a single image, but you can image them
one right after the other.

Sorry, what I meant was, will the image (e.g. of one drive) be written
to multiple CDs automatically?

Let us know if that works. That would be too simple if it did, wouldn't it?

Didn't get around to it today like I thought. Maybe later in the week.

-Mike

 

[SharkD]

Let us know if that works. That would be too simple if it did, wouldn't it?

I replaced the power supply and standby now works without a hitch. I'm
still afraid it will happen again. It's not the first (or even the
second) time I've lost a PC component after messing with/touching the
power and IO cables. I can sometimes feel the hair on my skin tingle
when I climb underneath my desk and poke around the vicinity of my PC.



Mike

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I replaced the power supply and standby now works without a hitch. I'm
still afraid it will happen again. It's not the first (or even the
second) time I've lost a PC component after messing with/touching the
power and IO cables.

To static electricity? Do you ground yourself before touching anything
inside the case?

 

[SharkD]

To static electricity? Do you ground yourself before touching anything
inside the case?

I'm not touching the inside of the case. I'm just plugging/unplugging
cables, or bumping into them with my foot.

Mike

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm not touching the inside of the case. I'm just plugging/unplugging
cables, or bumping into them with my foot.

Mike

Your system isn't properly grounded via the electrical mains. The
defect could well be in your home's wiring; get it fixed.

--

Bruce Chambers

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