System doesn't Hibertante nor Stand By upon a specified time

[Urizen]

Hello!

I own a laptop running Windows XP Professional. In the past, the Power
Schemes located in the Power Options Properties, which enable to configure
when the laptop goes into "hibernation" or "stand by" upon a certain time,
used to work fine. However, a few months ago they stopped working altogether.
When the specified time is reached, the computer simply turns off the monitor
for either configuration ("System standby After..." and "System hibernates
After...").

The other Power Schemes configurations are working pretty well ("Turn off
monitor" and "Turn off hard disks").

Such situation happpens either when the laptop is plugged in or running on
batteries. Is there any way to restore the behaviour of the options that
enable the computer to Hibertante or Stand By upon a specified time, so that
they can work properly again?

I am thankful for any help.

Kind regards,
Rui Nunes

 

[Unknown]

Check for something running in the background such as a virus scanner.

 

[Urizen]

Thank you very much for replying back. There is no issue with any program
running in the background as if I order manually the laptor to hibernate or
sleep, it really does it.

Is there any way to restore the factory files of the Power Schemes located
in the Power Options Properties for the Windows XP Professional?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Rui Nunes

 

[John John - MVP]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913622
Power scheme options are unavailable on a Windows XP-based computer

John

 

[Unknown]

Answered in line.

Thank you very much for replying back. There is no issue with any program
running in the background as if I order manually the laptor to hibernate
or
sleep, it really does it

..
It may very well hibernate or sleep if you manually order it. BUT, if you
have it set for time such as
20 minutes but a virus scan occurs after 5 minutes of inactivity the
computer will not sleep or hibernate.
Display the task manager while waiting for sleep or hibernation to occur.

 

[Urizen]

Dear John,

I tried both approaches available at the website you advised. However, the
behaviour of the power schemes remains erroneous. The information on that
webpage only allows to import power scheme configurations from a different
user or from another computer running Windows XP.

It happens that I am able to change the powerscheme configurations manually.
What is happening is that when the set time for the computer to standby or
hibernate is reached, it doesn't do so. It only hibernates or goes into
standby if I manually order it to do so or if I set it to do so when the
battery reaches a critical level.

What I would like to do is to restore the factory files that are used to put
in action the definition of the Power Schemes located in the Power Options
Properties for the Windows XP Professional, and not the files that define the
Power Schemes configurations.

I also have a Desktop PC running Windows XP Professional and its problem is
that when I order it to Stand By, Hibernate or Shut Down, what it does is
restart the computer instead of doing the intended action. I also applied to
it both approaches available on the website you advised me but the same
problem still persists. In fact, also what this computer needs is a restore
of the factory files that are used to put in action available Power Options
for Windows XP Professional, and not the files that define the Power Schemes
configurations.

Maybe the way to solve the issue on both computers is the same.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you very much for all the attention given.

Best regards,
Rui Nunes

 

[John John - MVP]

Dear John,

I tried both approaches available at the website you advised. However, the
behaviour of the power schemes remains erroneous. The information on that
webpage only allows to import power scheme configurations from a different
user or from another computer running Windows XP.

Read the article again, you can use the Powercfg.exe utility to restore
the default power scheme, at a command prompt:

powercfg /RestoreDefaultPolicies

If the policies are still borked then copy them from another Windows XP
machine or do an in-place upgrade.

It happens that I am able to change the powerscheme configurations manually.
What is happening is that when the set time for the computer to standby or
hibernate is reached, it doesn't do so. It only hibernates or goes into
standby if I manually order it to do so or if I set it to do so when the
battery reaches a critical level.

It's because you have processes running in the background that prevent
it from hibernating, it might look to you like the set time has elapsed
but in reality the computer might have been doing 'stuff' in the
background which resets the countdown timer and prevents the computer
from hibernating or entering the Standby mode, as explained here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310601
Computer does not enter standby mode if Power Options profile is set to
standby after 45 or more minutes

What I would like to do is to restore the factory files that are used to put
in action the definition of the Power Schemes located in the Power Options
Properties for the Windows XP Professional, and not the files that define the
Power Schemes configurations.

I also have a Desktop PC running Windows XP Professional and its problem is
that when I order it to Stand By, Hibernate or Shut Down, what it does is
restart the computer instead of doing the intended action. I also applied to
it both approaches available on the website you advised me but the same
problem still persists. In fact, also what this computer needs is a restore
of the factory files that are used to put in action available Power Options
for Windows XP Professional, and not the files that define the Power Schemes
configurations.

Maybe the way to solve the issue on both computers is the same.

Do an in-place upgrade.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you very much for all the attention given.

You're welcome.

John

 

[Jose]

Dear John,

I tried both approaches available at the website you advised. However, the
behaviour of the power schemes remains erroneous. The information on that
webpage only allows to import power scheme configurations from a different
user or from another computer running Windows XP.

It happens that I am able to change the powerscheme configurations manually.
What is happening is that when the set time for the computer to standby or
hibernate is reached, it doesn't do so. It only hibernates or goes into
standby if I manually order it to do so or if I set it to do so when the
battery reaches a critical level.

What I would like to do is to restore the factory files that are used to put
in action the definition of the Power Schemes located in the Power Options
Properties for the Windows XP Professional, and not the files that definethe
Power Schemes configurations.

I also have a Desktop PC running Windows XP Professional and its problem is
that when I order it to Stand By, Hibernate or Shut Down, what it does is
restart the computer instead of doing the intended action. I also appliedto
it both approaches available on the website you advised me but the same
problem still persists. In fact, also what this computer needs is a restore
of the factory files that are used to put in action available Power Options
for Windows XP Professional, and not the files that define the Power Schemes
configurations.

Maybe the way to solve the issue on both computers is the same.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you very much for all the attention given.

Best regards,
Rui Nunes

It sounds like you are making this too complicated. Why, why, why are
you just trying things.

Does your system have installed Skype, MagicJack, RSS feeds, any kind
of Instant Messenger, any kind of malware scanners doing scans or
doing automatic updates like AVG, Norton, McAfee, Bit Defender?

Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee,
Norton, Spybot, AVG, MSE, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.

If any one of those "lots of items that are not doing anything" you
see in Task Manger causes the CPU to use 10% of CPU time (even for a
fraction of a second), the power down options countdown timers gets
reset (they start over).

If you have the timer set to 20 minutes and something happens that
uses 10% of the CPU every 10 minutes, you will never automatically
hibernate or stand by. Both will still work just fine manually
though.

If you just glance at TM, 99% idle could be the case, but you would
have to watch it for a while without even blinking and maybe see
something that uses 10% - even for a split second if you are lucky
enough to see it (doubtful).

 

[HeyBub]

Hello!

I own a laptop running Windows XP Professional. In the past, the Power
Schemes located in the Power Options Properties, which enable to
configure when the laptop goes into "hibernation" or "stand by" upon
a certain time, used to work fine. However, a few months ago they
stopped working altogether. When the specified time is reached, the
computer simply turns off the monitor for either configuration
("System standby After..." and "System hibernates After...").

The other Power Schemes configurations are working pretty well ("Turn
off monitor" and "Turn off hard disks").

Such situation happpens either when the laptop is plugged in or
running on batteries. Is there any way to restore the behaviour of
the options that enable the computer to Hibertante or Stand By upon a
specified time, so that they can work properly again?

I am thankful for any help.

Try assigning a password to the normal user. (I know, it sounds goofy, but
in the past scheduled tasks simply would not work without the user invoking
the scheduled task having a password.)