Problem Rebooting After Hibernate

[Mike at A+]

Hardware/Software:
Dell Inspiron 8500 (circa 2003)
Windows XP (up to date with all patches)
2 Gb RAM (upgraded from 512 Mb)
40 Gb Hard Drive (plenty of space remaining)

Symptom:
Power on computer (AC or DC), status bar gets to about 10% and stops dead. Battery indicator shows fully charged. After powering on and off (sometimes as many as 10 times), system finally boots. Did some online research and it seems many people have had this problem. Solutions I've seen recommended are disconnecting from AC power source and removing the battery, then pressing and holding power button for 30 seconds. Then reconnect battery and reboot on DC. If no good, reconnect AC and reboot. None of this seems to work for me. Any ideas?

[HUSKER55]

there is a sleep mode setting on the power usage that needs to be shut off.

good luck!

[Red Knave]

Originally Posted by Mike at A+

disonnecting from AC power source and removing the battery, then pressing and holding power button for 30 seconds. Then reconnect battery and reboot on DC. If no good, reconnect AC and reboot.

I can't imagine how this will do anything. Perhaps to bleed capacitors? I've never heard of this.

When you reboot, press F8 and turn on boot logging in Safe Mode. You may get a hint when you look at the log, which will be in the Windows directory. I also think it scrolls the drivers and dlls that are loading so if it stops at least you can see what it's stopping on.

FWIW, my advice would be to upgrade both computer and O/S.

[headhawg]

If you run chkdisk do you get any errors? I am wondering if the nine-year-old HD is on it's way out and Windows can't read the hiberfil.sys file restarting from hibernation. I would also recommend that you delete the hiberfil.sys file, go into hibernation (creating a new file), and then reboot and see what happens.

[Mike at A+]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

HUSKER55: Do you mean the "Enable hibernation" checkbox on the "Hibernate" tab of the "Power Options Properties" window in Control Panel? If so, wouldn't unchecking this box prevent me from putting the computer into hibernation mode?

Red Knave: I believe you're right about the "bleeding capacitors" thing. I've seen that mentioned in some forums and I too tend to doubt that it will do anything. But I did try it because it could do no harm. I will try the F8 boot logging thing. As for upgrading, I have several computers and the one in question performs a very limited set of chores that require little system resources. Stuff like time driven downloads and FTPs. My other machines do the serious stuff so upgrading isn't critical or even necessary.

headhawg: No errors in CHKDSK. I will try your suggestion regarding the deletion of hiberfil.sys.

[Red Knave]

Originally Posted by Mike at A+

As for upgrading, I have several computers and the one in question performs a very limited set of chores that require little system resources. Stuff like time driven downloads and FTPs. My other machines do the serious stuff so upgrading isn't critical or even necessary.

headhawg's idea is a good one. hiberfil and files like it don't get defragged.

I thought you must have other resources. I suggested upgrading since, if it is a hardware problem, it's better to replace now than have to rebuild later. As you know 9 years is a lifetime and a half in this game.

[HUSKER55]

THAT hibernation mode is what is causing the problem, I think. I had that problem awhile back and the guy that fixes my computer told me that.

Also, I think there is an IT person here that told me that as well.

I don't understand the need for the hibernation mode but that solved the problem for me.

I am not a guru by any standard. if you need the hibernation mode you need to wait till someone that knows more than me comes here,

GOOD LUCK

[Dave Schwartz]

I thought you must have other resources. I suggested upgrading since, if it is a hardware problem, it's better to replace now than have to rebuild later. As you know 9 years is a lifetime and a half in this game.

Doubly so with a laptop.

As Red Knave said, I would suggest that you head to your nearest Costco and, if you have had an overall good experience with Dell, buy one of their off-the-rack Inspirons. They got some pretty good configurations there for around $550 or so.

Make sure you get USB3 so that you can plug in a fast, external drive if you need it.


Dave Schwartz

[JustRalph]

Unplug all attached hardware. Printers, everything.

See if problem goes away. If so, plug hardware back in one at a time.

Head to Costco anyway......

[Mike at A+]

Apparently there is no file on my computer named "hiberfil.sys".

[Robert Goren]

I tell you what they always tell me whenever I have any sort of computer problem. "it is the fan" sorry, I could not help myself.

[098poi]

If you uncheck the hibernate box, then close everything down, shutdown and reboot that should clear or delete the hiberfil file. Then go back and enable hibernation and reboot and you should be good to go.

[Mike at A+]

Originally Posted by 098poi

If you uncheck the hibernate box, then close everything down, shutdown and reboot that should clear or delete the hiberfil file. Then go back and enable hibernation and reboot and you should be good to go.

OK, I did that and it started right up. But I still need hibernate. I'll know tomorrow if this worked when the computer has to "wake up". I re-enabled hibernate and if I am able to restart tomorrow it should be good. If not, I'm back at square one.

[098poi]

You may need to reboot after turning hibernation back on if you haven't already.

[headhawg]

Originally Posted by Mike at A+

Apparently there is no file on my computer named "hiberfil.sys".

It is a system file so it will be hidden. In Windows Folder Options, click the View tab. There is an option checked by default to Hide protected operating system files. Uncheck it to show the system files which should include hiberfil.sys. It will be about 2GB in size because it is basically a file that contains a memory dump and you have 2GB of RAM.