Win 7 PC "goes to sleep" without warning, won't wake up

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pontiac59

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May 9, 2022
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For the last couple days this older PC running win7 just seems to go into sleep mode, no warning, no rhyme or reason, it's an HP that has a blue LED display when powered on and it turns amber when sleeping.

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/N7HZ5BHVY1b8SiWJV1mQ1sQ


A couple of antivirus scans showed nothing, I opened it up and cleaned it with an air can (it wasn't too bad inside), changed from cordless keyboard to corded (it didn't work very well). I see it has some errors and junk in it but it doesn't seem to set an error when it goes to sleep, some logs show activity while it's "sleeping" (program looking for an internet connection but there isn't any). The only way to bring it back to life is pull the plug. Even then the LEDs remain lit for 20 seconds or so. Sometimes I can plug it right back in, sometimes I have to wait longer.


Some existing programs are having issues, Chrome would not start on one reboot so I downloaded it again. it ran, then the system shut down again. Iobit Uninstaller crashed on start, then would not run, then it shut down.


There's seemingly no rhyme or reason to it, it might run 20-30 minutes and shut down, it has run as long as eight hours before it went into sleep mode. This afternoon I powered it up, downloaded Ccleaner, started it, around 20% into it it shut down. Not a power setting issue, even have it set so the sleep button does nothing.


I don't know if it's a software issue, a malware problem, or a hardware issue.
 
Hello

Besides the new chrome install, did you install any other software prior to your issue's?
 
I didn't even install the Chrome before this started, only after several "sleeps" did Chrome fail to work and I reinstalled it. Entirely out of nowhere.
 
Even in safe mode running only CCleaner health check right now it won't run more than a few minutes. That was the only primary application running.
 
pontiac59 said:
I don't know if it's a software issue, a malware problem, or a hardware issue.
Click to expand...


We can check for malware/virus issues.


Prior to running FRST, please download Geekuninstaller,


Remove the following.
AVG
Mcafee
Spybot
iobit Malware fighter.
Iobit driver booster.


Then run the AVG and
Mcafee removal tools and reboot the computer, then run FRST.

Install AVG on your PC, Mac | AVG installation files

Find all PC and Mac installation files for AVG antivirus, VPN, and tuning app in one place, including the latest updates, and trials.
www.avg.com www.avg.com


Please download the FRST 32 bit or FRST 64bit version to suit your operating system. It is important FRST is downloaded to your desktop.

If you are unsure if your operating system is 32 or 64 Bit please go HERE.
Once downloaded right click the FRST desktop icon and select "Run as administrator" from the menu"
icon2.jpg
If you receive any security warnings, or the User Account Control warning opens at any time whilst using FRST you can safely allow FRST to proceed.
FRST will open with two dialogue boxes, accept the disclaimer.
frst disclaimer.jpg


  1. Accept the default whitelist options,
  2. If the additions.txt options box is not checked please select it.
  3. Then select Scan
frst.jpg
Frst will take a few minutes to scan your computer, and when finished will produce two log files on your desktop, FRST.txt, and Addition.txt. They will display immediately on the desktop, but can be reopened later as a notepad file.
2016-08-12_152002.jpg


Please Attach the contents of these logs in your next post for review by our Security Team
 
Last edited:
It won't run long enough to do all of that in one shot. I removed some of the AVG and some of the IObit, but it gave an error that the files for Iobit Uninstaller were corrupted, then shut down after the third try on that.

Sometimes it needs to sit unplugged for several minutes before it will even power on again.
 
It gets better, I uninstalled those things and some other stuff, it needed to reboot to finish the uninstall, I told it to go ahead and reboot, it started and not even 15 seconds into the reboot *poof* off to "sleep".


I have an even older HP PC here that I stopped using... well, 10 years ago, it had an issue where it had to be booted sometimes 3, 4 times to recognize the USB ports, and it was old by then anyways. I wonder if I could rob the power supply out of it and swap to this one. It would at least rule that out as a problem.
 
When you are in there, change the thermal paste, and reseat all components as well.


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THis morning it came up "your computer was unable to start" and went into startup repair.


Temps in there have been normal, 30' C or so.

Looking like i might have to instead remove the hard drive and put it in another machine.
 
I tried swapping in a power supply I had on hand from an older PC but some of the plugs are different (white plastic, fewer pins) and left no way to connect the drive that accepts CDS/DVDs. Going to have to source a used or buy a new one.
 
A peculiar problem,

If your computer is failing to start I would think that's pointing back to your OS.

Did you ever run SFC or DISM?

If not:
Right click on the Windows logo in the bottom left and select Windows Powershell (Admin)
Run these commands:


sfc /scannow


Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

From you BIOS and remove any settings you may have changed, overclocking or XMP if those were messed with.

Alternatively, you could run from scratch and attempt a operating system reset (while keeping files might be good for you) but I would recommend this as a last ditch effort.
 
I can't run anything on a computer that won't even boot. When it did boot last it would run about 20 minutes and shut off. It kicked into sleep mode as it started to reboot last night and when I attempted to boot it this morning it went into Startup Repair, when that finished and concluded it could not repair itself, some HP specific help came up, but before I could do anything with that it went to "sleep" again. So for a second time it shut down without even being booted.

At that point I unplugged it and began trying to swap out the power supply. However the one I had on hand has the wrong plugs and can't connect to the CDR drive.

I see no way an OS issue would cause it to stop 20 seconds into boot and go into a sleep mode. But if the power supply has some component overheating and shutting down, causing power output to drop to sleep level output, that makes sense to me. The rest of the issues are likely from the repeated power drop and my having to then disconnect all power to restart it.

Plus the crap that seems to be melted onto a coil inside the power supply, the smell it was making and the heat indicate an issue there.

There's no overclocking or any real changes recently. Possibly some antivirus updated itself, as I was having issues with a Host Process that would kick on, run 25% of the CPU and 5K memory, kick the fan into high speed and just never stop running unless I killed it in Task Manager. I was not able to identify the program causing it. It mysteriously stopped on it's own a few days prior to this. So I left it on Saturday night rather than put it to sleep when not using it, only to get up Sunday and find it shut itself down for the first time.

Once the power supply is resolved the problem will be repairing the damage the repeated crashes caused. It could even have other bad components inside from the voltage and output fluctuations. I may have a recovery disk somewhere, I vaguely recall making one, but after 10 years I have no idea what safe place it was put up in and forgotten about.

I found a local place will sell me a power supply, used with 30 day warranty for $20, I will go get one tomorrow.
 
Your OS will not boot, I think that certainly points to an issue with it.

Startup repair should give you options for a Safe Mode startup, this might allow you to boot successfully and run through those commands mentioned before.

the smell it was making and the heat indicate an issue there
Click to expand...

This would have been good to know, that does point to an overheating issue, as mentioned by other members your PSU is probably a good start. You might even be able to take it into a local shop and have them test it for you/find a suitable replacement, this is just another option for you.

I'm not sure what kind of power supply you can get for $20, I would be cautious with this, as it doesn't sound like a high quality unit.
 
It's a used unit from a local computer shop they're willing to warranty for 30 days. Probably the same as what was in it. I mean the only reason I'm even buying one is the one I had here has the wrong plugs to connect to some components. Or I'd have spent zero dollars for one.

So let's review. I started it in safe mode and deleted some files as was suggested by others. To finish clearing the programs it needed to reboot. I told it to reboot and within 20 seconds of this reboot starting it quit.

The next morning I attempted to boot again, only because I wanted to grab some passwords out of it. As usual it gave the options for safe mode, I chose no because the email program won't run under it. It then gave me the startup repair procedure.

The startup repair ran and concluded it could not fix the problem. At that point an HP specific help dialouge came up. Before I could choose anything, again it quit. I think it's likely the shutdown damaged files.

The bottom line is I cannot do anything about any files on the machine until I verify it has a functional power source. A similar power supply robbed from a junk computer is more than good enough to use to determine if this is the issue. If it turns out I cannot salvage the machine, I'm only out $20.

So I will replace it, put it back together, turn it on and see what happens. My guess is it will be unable to boot and may give me the repair process again. If it still quits in a short time, then the power supply was not the problem. If it does not quit, maybe I can play around with it long enough to get it to recover.
 
Sounds like a good plan,

If you can be out that money I would absolutely recommend it.
 
the melted plastic and smell absolutely points to you needing to replace the PSU.
some, or most, or your startup issues probably stem from the PC continually losing power mid-use.
but could also be due to the age of the drive, the whole rig after all is more than 10 years old.

the OS hasn't been reinstalled since Feb 2012, the BIOS is old with version 7.17 available as of 2020 but Pegatron drivers are hard to find, seems to be a HP mobo.

but yeah, all moot points until you can replace the PSU. :thumbsup:
 
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Once you change the PSU and are able to boot the machine, we can check for malware and run a few test on your HDD to make sure it is ok. :)

We may still be able to get the machine to Boot if it is stable enough to stay running after changing the PSU, so long as the HDD is not fried.
 
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If I remember right this machine is supposed to be set up with two hard drives, a very small one with the OS and the 1TB unit with most everything else. However inside if there is two the second one seems to include the CD drive and slots for SD cards. That was the only one the even more ancient power supply would not plug into. Other than the two plugs on the motherboard I think these were the only other two things the spaghetti off the PSU plugged into.

If I can get it to run long enough to just pull the important data and programs out of it that would be fine, but this new machine only has 1/4 of the HD space so figuring out where to put all the data will then become an issue. I don't know if I want to put a second, conventional HD in it or not.
 
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