BleepingComputer.com: Sleep mode causes crash

So this is a brand new build. Win7-64 bit. I've noticed that whenever the computer sleeps, whether it's due to inactivity (power settings) or if I manually put it to sleep, it crashes. I catch a flicker of a blue screen - I assume a BSoD, but it's only up for an instant, then everything shuts off. Turning the computer on again brings up the black "Windows did not shut down properly" screen.

Is this a Mobo or BIOS issue? It seems unlikely that it would be on Windows 7's end if only because I haven't had a chance to really do anything with Windows beyond installing the OS last night. Normally I would suspect it had to do with a system update and I'd go back to a restore point, but since this is so brand-new, there's no restore point to go to.

-Tim

This post has been edited by tsquared56: 29 October 2011 - 02:30 PM

I might suggest going into the BIOS and changing the "sleep" or "standby" functionality. Most motherboards support changing between S1 (POS) and S3 (STR) -- POS = Power On Suspend. STR = Suspend to RAM. Power on Suspend is where the system maintains full power, but the BIOS can down-grade the power usage. It saves less power than STR, but generally is friendlier to Windows if it has problems. STR is where the contents of RAM are saved by providing only enough power to keep the RAM on, while the other components all shut down safely. This is the more quiet, power-saving sleep that most are expecting, with the power light blinking usually. When you sleep the computer, which occurs? If the machine stays with fans going and all, it may be on POS, and switching to STR may help.

Alternately, you may have some device, or bad driver, which does not handle suspend properly. Some USB devices are notorious for being unusable or even crashing Windows from a suspend.

Since this is a brand new install, I hesitate to say try with a clean install of Windows, but it could be a corrupt install. Try removing all non-essential things from the computer (start with just HDD, optical drive, video card etc internally, and just keyboard and mouse directly into USB 2 ports on the PC), and see if it does it then?

Are you using wireless devices? Try wired.

Good luck and let us all know how it goes!

Just actually went into windows update and it had a bleepload of updates it wanted to install, including updated drivers for a few Mobo items, including USB. Did all that, tried to put it into sleep and it appears to have gone to sleep properly.

I tried to wake it up and the normal windows desktop came back, but was totally frozen - only the mouse would move. It eventually restarted itself and I got the black "Windows didn't shut down properly" screen.

Did the BIOS change to S1 only - I'll see what that does.

I suggest using only default setups on BIOS usually on recommended settings. Desktops compared to Laptops are not build for this feature of sleep or hibernate. In my experience, those symptoms are exactly what I've faced with desktops unlike on laptops or notebooks. This is mostly a hardware problem plus a windows features software undocumented on this situation. This feature most likely fits only to Laptops.