New computer problem.....is something dying - UPDATE...seems Hibernate was the issue

I leave the computer on, and it sleeps when I am away for any length of time, or overnight.
The up time could be three or four days before I reboot.

For the last month or so, when coming out of sleep, I get the desktop all right...and can open the task manager.
BUT...nothing will open, not my browser, cannot open software, like CCleaner or my AV or any installed programs at all.
I can open that Windows thing in the corner, click on restart....BUT NOTHING happens and I have to force a restart....then it's OK for another day or so of up time....but it seems to be happening after shorter periods of up time.

Desktop Manager seems to be running about half....or less, as in 500K versus 1500K....that is the one thing I did notice.

Is something going bad?

I hae a Dell Optiplex 760
Running Win 7 with updates turned off.....

Any ideas?
My computer savvy is a bit limited.....so not too technical please.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Have you tried cleaning things up?


I run CCleaner once a week and you would be surprised how much useless garbage is accumulated that can slow things down.

Ccleaner

Sounds like a possible RAM issue.

a reply to: seeker1963

I use CCleaner every night.

originally posted by: Illumimasontruth
Sounds like a possible RAM issue.

Well, replacing memory is certainly an easy thing to do.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

sleep and or hibernation could be the culprit.

Just get an ssd drive so your startup time will be faster.

And turn off your pc when not in use.

It's a known sleep/hibernation issue with Windows 7. First thing to try is turning on updates and installing them all. They did release a few updates that were supposed to fix it. You can also look to see if a new bios has been released for your specific computer. The only other thing is to disable sleep and hibernate mode and shut down each time. There are many other "fixes" out there that may or may not work. If you do a search on Windows 7 can't run programs after sleep, you will see a ton of results and articles. Try a couple of things and let us know if you are still having issues.

originally posted by: awhispersecho
It's a known sleep/hibernation issue with Windows 7. First thing to try is turning on updates and installing them all. They did release a few updates that were supposed to fix it. You can also look to see if a new bios has been released for your specific computer. The only other thing is to disable sleep and hibernate mode and shut down each time. There are many other "fixes" out there that may or may not work. If you do a search on Windows 7 can't run programs after sleep, you will see a ton of results and articles. Try a couple of things and let us know if you are still having issues.

I second this ^

Turning on updates is not going to happen.
I had to turn them off as the computer search for updates ran...and ran....and ran.
Updates did not install...they kept failing.

That problem started after Win10 was unveiled....and got worse and worse until I had no choice but to turn them off.

Sleep is a problem....often the computer will not go to sleep on its own...and TBH...I do think sleep and this latest glitch are related.

I thought BIOS was something you should not attempt unless you know what you are doing?

Could it be a hardware issue...outside of a possible RAM issue.
I do know the computer is NOT running hot.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

How old is your hard drive?


It could also be a sign your hard drive is going bad.


Mine is 5 years old and I am seriously thinking of getting a new internal. I do have a 1T external that I have my system copied too for back up just in case.

Try changing your behavior. There is no real need to keep your computer on for days at a time. Turn the sleep mode entirely off and reboot once a day.

Note on SSD drives. I have a new HP Spectre, the first tie I have had an SSD drive exclusively. It boots in ten seconds flat. Call me impressed.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

What's the computers age?

What is the model of the pc?

Cpu model?

Hard drive model?

originally posted by: schuyler
Try changing your behavior. There is no real need to keep your computer on for days at a time. Turn the sleep mode entirely off and reboot once a day.

Note on SSD drives. I have a new HP Spectre, the first tie I have had an SSD drive exclusively. It boots in ten seconds flat. Call me impressed.

Lucky you!

I want a 1T SSD so bad, but no way I can afford one now. So I will just wait for the price to go down.

I've had the computer for almost three years, but got it off lease. Maybe 3-4 older than that.
It's a Dell Optiplax 760 SFF
HD WD1600AAJS-56WAA0 ATA

pentium Dual Core E5200 @ 2.50GHz


Can I swap out my HD for a SSD at this point, with an old MB , etc.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Something is wrong. You're using Windoze.

You've been hacked! Your world view, and that of most computer users, has been trojaned up the wazoo by the Microsoft One-World-Mind-Borg virus. It's a legal virus that exists in, and as, any and every version of Windows.

Stop bowing to Bill Gates, use Mint Linux instead and relax.

i never do updates and i have not had a SINGLE serious infection on any computer i have ever owned......period.

there is another possible culprit not widely known about called "OS rot". Apparently its a real thing. If you have had a windows installation on any machine, no matter what harddrive etc....its performance can degrade over time. Look it up if you dont believe me and make up your own mind.


having said that, i agree with what other posters here have suggested with regard to running ccleaner and any other decent utilities out there. I also use malwarebytes, avg or antivir etc antivirus and i run an old version of spybot to protect unauthorized registry entries AND comodo firewall FREE with no add ons in paranoid mode (notify on everything).

Another thing you can do to mitigate these kinds of problems is make sure you are not using your PC in the ADmin account. Create a limited user account for all basic use and reserve the full privileged Admin account for installs and big changes. I'm also a fan of running virtual machines using virtual box and images of any OS you might like to try out. I often run windows or linux as a base OS and then run the other OS as the virtual machine.

Make sure you always back up your most important stuff every time there is a major download to your PC....pics, vids, files....anything you dont want to lose to a HD crash, or virus etc.......

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Turning on updates is not going to happen.
I had to turn them off as the computer search for updates ran...and ran....and ran.
Updates did not install...they kept failing.

this might fix your update problem, set it to let you manually choose what updates you want to downlooad & install, then you can disable it afterwards...


Also deleting the SoftwareDistribution folder might help if a past update got currupt & it won't install updates




as far as sleep problem, I'd try to disable Hibernation (hybrid sleep and Hibernate) first , and just use sleep, see if it helps

Desktop Manager seems to be running about half....or less, as in 500K versus 1500K....that is the one thing I did notice.

Not sure what mean here, could be about Hibernation taking up resources?

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

May have to zero in on your exact model but have a look at these steps that Dell has listed in their Knowledge Base.

..and BIOS updates need not be feared these days. Dell likely has a nifty little GUI that will do it for you if there's one available for your model. Seems your Graphics card could potentially be playing a role as well, check for an update for it as well.

a reply to: UberL33t

how would I find this Dell GUI thingy??

ETA
I just entered my Service Tag into the Dell website.....so checking that now....and will see what it tells me to fix a bit later.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

ark.intel.com...

That cpu is from q3 of 08.

I wouldn't spend any money on fixing up that pc.

Check out the dell outlet get yourself a intel core i5 or better. If possible of course.

www.dell.com...

a reply to: grey580

Thanks for finding that info.....upgrading RAM is one thing.....but I know what I paid for this Dell....and to put much more than the price of the new RAM isn't in the cards for me.

I was actually looking at TigerDirect last night.....to see what they've go to sell...refurbs.