Laptop Insomnia - Please Help!

Hi.

I've got a problem with my laptop - it won't sleep. Specifically, when I try and make it sleep, the screen turns off and I cannot interact with it at all - but the computer just keeps going. All the activity lights stay on, and while I can't see or do anything, the computer stays on and will not sleep, leaving me with no choice but to manually force shutdown. Sometimes if I leave it like this for a while, it will simply crash and shut down incorrectly.

I have gone into the power-plan settings and checked my advanced settings, but that hasn't worked. It's just come on in the last few days, but I haven't installed anything new in that time. I'm going to try a system restore now, but I don't hold much hope for it.

Any help would be massively appreciated.

(FYI, I'm using a Samsung R530, 32-bit Windows 7, Intel Pentium.)

 

Just to confirm, you also have the sleep option under Start?

It seems there is a lastwake command that may be useful to see what wakes the computer, try opening an elevated command prompt (run as Administrator) and enter the following command (removing quotes) 'powercfg lastwake'.
If it doesn't indicate a component, try going to device manager and making sure your network devices aren't set to wake the computer.

 

Got a wake history count of 0.

How do I check that in device manager? I click on the Properties for each device, but I don't see any section that refers to power options or anything like that.

 

Hi. Check all your options under "Power Options" in your control panel including "Advanced"

 

^As I said in the OP, I've tried that already.

 

When you close the lid does the screen stay on? You should be able to see the light coming between the lid and the base.

 

The screen turns off.

 

I know that you checked your power settings but have you restored them to the default setting and then started over?

When you open any network adapter using your device manager there is always a specific tab on top for power management for that device.

 

Just while you try resetting power settings and checking device manager, I'll add that it may be a device like a wireless mouse, bluetooth headset/device etc. Basically any wireless device maybe stopping your computer from sleep, so you should try disconnecting everything from your USB ports as well.

 

Yep, tried that.

Ah, yes, found it. The settings are fine there.

I'll try that now...

EDIT: Didn't work.

 

Just a note: Editing your post is never a good idea because your reply will not appear as a new post if the original has already been read.

I am starting to be concerned that this may be a motherboard issue but that is a bit beyond me. It may also be a corruption in the OS that is causing it to ignore your power settings. I m going to try to get a few more people involved.

 

BeeCeeBee has two good points there first one the editing can cause confusion as the edit may not be seen later, much better to post again to say you tried something and it didn't work, thanks for that BCB.
The other good point is that it is now looking like some corruption within Windows itself as just about everything else has been tried. Sleep or Hybernate are a part of the OS and in this instance it doesn't appear to be working fully, only getting half way by shutting off the screen but nothing else.

Have you tried looking in "Advanced Boot Options" and safe mode?

To get there, turn off the computer completely, and reboot it, as soon as you see the logo start tapping F8.
The Advanced boot options screen should come up,
"Repair your computer" is usually the first in the list, use the up and down arrow keys to select that if not already selected and click the enter key and follow the instructions for a repair of the system.

Not too sure myself how it goes from there in Windows 7, (Not needed it) but will have a look myself if you are not sure about something, or someone else may already know how it goes.

Nev.

 

Just posting back to add, that in my case my system actually froze and had to force a restart, so although I know there is a way to repair the operating system, it may be best to hang on till one of us can give you the best advice as to how to do it.

Nev.

 

It looks like TheVoid tried or was going to try a system restore (mentioned in first post), did this work as you never mentioned?

The only other things in recovery options via F8 (apart from System Restore) are Startup repair (probably won't help), Command Prompt, Windows Memory Diagnostic and System Image Recovery (only if you have used Windows Backup to create a system image which you can burn to a DVD).
I think the main repair option (repair system files etc) is always on a Windows install disc, so if you have that for your PC or another disc of the same operating system (matching 32/64 bit) that you can borrow from someone, then run that to try repair the OS as Nev mentioned.

 

There are many modes and variations of modes your PC/Laptop can go into:-
Look here for definitions http://en.wikipedia....tion_(computing)

It is very common for devices to have issues and most manufacturers have their own power option settings for this exact issue

If you still need help after reading the link then let us know, I havent used a Samsung laptop for a long time, but some of the manufacturers (Dell and HP that I know of) still offer power options through the BIOS and if they dont match in the OS then that is one of the reasons you can get issues if they conflict.

I would check if the laptop has its own power management settings from the manufacturer before you try anything else, if not look on their website under support and see if there is any additional software to control the power management