Windows 7 forum: My computer has fallen asleep and it won't wake up!

I started in this business in 1985, I agree not to use hibernate. I See no reason ever to turn a computer off if you do not want to. However I do believe from time to time a computer should be restarted. It is an odd event, but for some reason they do not like to be left alone for long periods. They will commit something egregious to themselves out of loneliness, I think interaction. None the less, you have to do something most every day. They do get old. Software is designed with the latest hardware abilities in mind. Processors, quad core, multi threading. Lots of cache. So eventually, they just need to buried in the back yard (so to speak).
If anyone has a real answer please post it.

My 4 yr old HP laptop has basically the same problem. It turns out to be a problem with the NVIDA chip and it is being replaced with a new ComPac computer under warranty. I don't know if this could be your problem, but it is worth looking into. Hope this helps.

i have the exact same problem except i don't put it in hibernate and the hibernate is off. i'll just not type for a while and it puts itself in sleep mode. sometimes, if i wait long enough, as long as 5 minutes intermittantly clicking the mouse, it'll come back but mostly, i, too, end up having to shut it off then on again. also has NVidia problems according to the messages i get on the screen. i'm looking forward to any cures! i'm tired of losing the work i was doing while i answer the phone or whatever.
i love toshibas. this is a qosmio, 2007, 2gig ram, xp w/service pak 3.

Do a little testing. First close you browser and restart your PC, then hibernate. See if you get the same message. Be certain you do a complete shut down at least once every few days and unplug the cord after so it just gets a complete chance to rest. Remove the battery and let it reset it's ROMs. If that works OK, then just try closing the browser and any open programs before hibernating. Some programs may not close properly when hibernating and, hence, the message. I sold systems beginning with old IBM using paper tape and the biggest rule then and still today is just shut everything down once in a while. Without seeing your PC, it's hard to know what you have running in the background but everyone has more things installed and running simultaneously than they realize. If you want to spend the time and money to have a "pro" analyize it, fine, but don't be surprised if, shortly after you do that, it happens again. Welcome to the wonderful world of infinite possibilities.

I checked out the power settings on my Toshiba. I have both hibernate and sleep. My Toshiba is set to sleep. What is the difference between hibernate and sleep?

how long has it been that you have reinstalled the operating system??.... if its more than 6 mnths ..thn try reinstalling the OS... it not only resolves this problem but also reinstalls evrythng on the laptop and all the small problems you hav with ur latop will also be resolved... n donot 4get to take the back up as os reinstallation wil clean up everything on ur laptop.....

My Toshiba is about 5 years old. Started same problem mentioned by others. In my case it's not hibernation, it's something to do with the screen waking up. When it first happened I turned off hibernation. However, if I even reboot, the screen will not come on at first. I can tell the computer is booting, there just is nothing on the screen. I have to turn it off and on 4 or 5 times and then it will act normally. If I don't reboot or shut it down it will run all day without a hitch. I've checked all connections, bios settings, done the "take the battery out and hold the power switch" trick, yet nothing has solved the problem. I'm basically having to leave it on most of the time. I dread updates or installs that require reboots. Maybe time for a new laptop.

I agree with everyone else here that have said don't use hibernation. I will make one suggestion: I know that Toshiba had a black screen issue with some of their models in the past and it was resolved with a BIOS update. You might want to check their web site for any updates to your laptop. If you don't find any now, keep checking; there may be one in the near future if they find this is a problem for your model.

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/home.jsp

Unless you absolutly require hibernation, I would disable it this way: display properties> screen saver> power> hibernate. Then make sure clause that says enable hibernation is unchecked. Hope this helps.

My Acer Win 7, AMD Athlon 64X2, 2 gig memory, laptop freezes, with the old picture on the screen, after leaving it for a half hour. Does not hibernate AFAIK, because I have that set for an hour.

Every laptop I have ever used (except IBM) has had a problem with hibernation. Just go in and turn it off. I have also had problems with desk top systems. Now one of the first things I do with any computer I get is turn off hibernation, screen savers etc. I just set the monitor(display)to turn off after a reasonable non-active interlude.

this could be bad sector true, but a bad sector wont be fixed by scandisk, scan disk will try to recover data from the damaged area, & save this data in a different area, then mark the damaged area as not useable.
This might temorarily resolve the issue but a bad sector like cancer will in most cases spread to infect larger & larger areas.
If you run scandisk, look & see if the report tells you there is data in bad sectors, & the higher the number the sooner you will need to replace the drive.
If no bad sectors then it is more likely to be simply an error in the way the file was stored on the drive & scandisk will often recover & resave any files not correctly stored, it will also try to correct errors in the File Allocation Table or FAT, & security index.

If there is no signal at all to the screen - screen black, monitor LED goes from green to amber etc - then it may be an overheating problem in the graphics card. Look for anything causing poor ventilation particularly around the air inlets on the graphics card itself. I recently spent hours trying to fix a similar problem on a very expensive machine sold by a major global PC manufacturer only to discover that the space saver case of the machine had one side panel completely blocking most of the air inlets on the graphics card.

Your problem could be due to Windows 7. Obviously judging by the spec and age of your machine I take it it didn't come with Windows 7 originally, XP or Vista maybe?

This could be where your problem is.

When you upgrade Windows there are always two routes for the upgrade -

1. to "upgrade" and install over existing software
2. to boot off the installation CD, wipe hard disk and install Windows from scratch (obviously backing up all documents, etc on the computer first)

Whenever I upgrade a computer I always chose the second option. If you went for the quick and easy first option you can sometimes find that Windows doesn't fully get rid of all the old OS and leaves bits hanging around.

These bits of items it leaves hanging around can cause numerous problems as some of them can be old DLL's that were only compatible with the old OS and not with the new one, old programs, improperly installed programs, corrupt registry entries, etc.

If you did install 7 by just upgrading over the top of the previous OS your best option is to back up all your documents and anything you want to keep (nb. programs will need to be re-installed so make sure you've got all your licence details and installation cds, etc)

Then insert your Windows 7 CD into the drive and reboot your computer.

As long as your BIOS is set up to boot from CD firstly you should get a message like "Press any key to boot from CD...", press any key.

If you didn't get this message at this stage it could be one of a few things - 1. if it goes straight into the Windows 7 installation program the disc has been modified to remove that message), 2. If it just starts booting Windows 7 and you have two CD drives (as it's a laptop I'm presuming it only has one, but if it does) try it in the other drive, and 3. Your BIOS isn't set up to boot first from CD, you need to access your BIOS (normally press DEL or F1 or ESC when you first turn the computer on, at the beginning there will normally be either a logo screen like the Dell logo or a black screen with text on it (with the memory count, and hard drive information) and somewhere normally at the bottom it will have the text "Press DEL to enter Setup" or something (of course not all manufacturers put that text on, in that situation it's a case of either look through the manual or keep trying different keys until you find the key that takes you into the BIOS - in that situation normally just run your hand across the keyboard and it works). Once your into the BIOS change the first boot device to CD instead of the hard drive (this is different for every BIOS but is usually quite obvious)

Once you've got your system to boot off the CD go through the installation of Windows 7, when it gets to the hard disk partition selection section screen (it's entitled "Where do you want to install Windows?", delete the existing partition (very important though - before doing this ensure you have backed up all your documents as this is the point of no return - also another important thing - make sure you are deleting the right hard drive, before starting unplug any external hard drives like USB drives, or memory sticks).

Sometimes on some computers you may notice you have two partitions, one called "Recovery" which utilises the FAT32 system, this partition is usually pre-loaded with the OS that was originally installed on your system, it is entirely your call as to whether or not to delete it. I normally delete it if I've got the Windows disc then I get the full use of the hard disc.

Once the partition is deleted the partition selection screen should show your hard disk as "Unpartitioned space". Select the unpartitioned space and click next. Windows will now inform you that it will create a new partition and ask if this is ok.

From then on just proceed with the installation. This is a fully clean install of Windows 7 and should remove problems you are having with the hibernate mode.

Most of the times this will fix this problem, however if it doesn't it could also be that due to the age of your computer it isn't fully compatible with modern Energy effeciency methods for energy saving, if this is the case you can either check to see if there is a BIOS update for your computer, and if there is install that and see if that makes a difference, or just turn off hibernate mode in the screen saver settings part of Windows 7 (it's in the Display options)

One other solution just noticed - you say you try moving the mouse, pressing keyboard to get it out of hibernate mode.

I presume you've actually tried just pressing the power button?

When Windows goes into hibernate mode it's not the same as sleep mode. Sleep mode will wake on keyboard/mouse events, where as hibernate mode will only wake if you press the power button. Before re-installing windows just try that.

As for numerous people saying hibernate doesn't work - I've used hibernate on numerous PC's and never found any problem with it.

Note: This post was edited by forum moderator to merge two posts into one. on 02/25/2011 on 10:52 AM PT

Many users of win7 are having problems with the USB recognizing external drives and/or thumb drives that work in Vista and XP. And other win7 users say they never had that problem.

You say in your post that you have never had a problem with hibernate. LMAO.

Sleep, hibernate and recover from crash all use the same method to save the existing mode, only the method of resolving specific exiting of the current screen and apps in restoring the screen and apps.

Doing a clean install with an upgrade version of win7 may not make recovering later because the update disk needs Vista files to boot from for the upgrade disk.

Do a restore to Vista if you did not delete those files.Then insert your win7 upgrade disk and follow the instructions. You will need the authorize code from when you first installed win7.

Try using sleep, closing the notebook by closing the lid and a forced shut down by holding the power button down for 5 or 10 seconds. If they work then the problem may be with the registry. Run a registry cleaner.