My primary laptop has developed an annoying (but curious) quirk; if I put it in "Standby" or "Hibernate" mode, it will eventually come back to full power at some point. I don't know how long it is waiting before it reactivates itself because I set it for either mode when I am going away from my laptop or going to sleep.
I ran "Hijack This" but I don't know where I should post the log for review and analysis. Please advise and any help would be appreciated.
My system is a Dell Precision M2400 Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo CPU T9400 @ 2.53 GHz 783 MHz, 1.98 GB of RAM
It is running Windows XP Professional Version 2002 Service Pack 3
Please let me know if any additional info is required.
I've had a computer do that before. The first thing you should do is make sure there are no scheduled tasks - sometimes a scheduled task will wake the computer to run. Other less likely possibilities include wake from LAN and other automatic startup methods. I wouldn't be too worried unless you're seeing other symptoms that might indicate a virus.
As for HJT, I'll take a look if you want. Upload your log to somewhere like http://pastebin.ca/ and paste the link here.
I forgot to mention that I checked to make sure that I had turned off autostart and wake from LAN. And Ive never had any scheduled tasks run on this computer (at least not that I'm aware of). I will upload my log and post the link when I'm done. Thanks again for looking at this for me.
I don't like to do full Shutdowns because then it takes too long for the computer to get back up to speed when I'm ready to work on it again.
Yes, I do always have it on the charger. When it's not on the charger I have no need to Hibernate or Standby since it is always at hand as I move around.
judging by the model, i would recommend having a dell tech look at it since its their machine and their service is pretty decent. i know this isn't real help, but i've worked with them for our college's tech center computers when i worked there and this usually involved things with software and hardware issues. check them out...
I don't see anything nasty in your log - your system is probably clean, and something else is causing this. How long ago did this start? Did you install any new hardware or software around that time? If this started recently, would you be able to use System Restore to go back to a point before you had this problem? (Keep in mind that this would undo any system changes you've made since then, including software/hardware installations)
Thank you for reviewing my log. I'm not exactly sure how long ago it started doing it but it's been awhile. At first it didn't do it all the time so I didn't pay much attention to it. Then for a while, I did like LilHamHam said and always shut it down. But that turned out to be too time consuming so I went back to Standby and Hibernation.
I thought I'd resolved the problem because I noticed that it would usually happen between the time I was getting off work and the time I got home. When I went into the Bios menu I found that at some point I'd set it to auto shut-on at 5pm my time (I actually vaguely remember doing this). I disabled the function and that appeared to have resolved the problem but for the last few days, if I put it in Standby mode, it always comes back on and when I set it to Hibernate, it only does it sometimes.
It looks like I'm going to have to start disabling unnecessary processes and applications until it stops doing that. Ugh, I don't even know where to begin.
What's the laptop's power button's condition like? Any chance it might be broken and misfiring? Does it wake up if you just push any of the keys on the keyboard?
The power button is in excellent shape. It does not power on when I push any other buttons. The system was only purchased back in November and is in excellent working order. I just have to track down the application and/or process that is causing the undesired activity.
I had another thought, based on something my laptop just did. When it turns itself on, is it usable (e.g. the screen comes back, etc) or do you just get a black screen and have to turn it off by holding the power button? One possibility is that your laptop is set to go into hibernate automatically after a certain amount of time - so it wakes up from standby, encounters some error trying to hibernate, and stays on. I'm not sure if it would be usable when this happens. My guess would be no, but I suppose it's possible.
No it does not come back with a blank screen (usually...; it does happen once in a very rare while). My computer is set to hibernate after a length of time (depending on the settings at any given time; I change them depending on my needs for the moment using profiles for my power properties).
I'm not entirely sure but I think I may have tracked down the cause of why my computer comes back to full power. I'm still testing to see if it is always the case. It has something to do with my WIFI card and the hardware associated with it. If I turn the switch for the card and bluetooth off (one switch controls them both) then my computer stays in Standby or Hibernate mode (depending on which I've chosen). One other thing I discovered relates to a gadget for Google desktop's sidebar. It's called "Laptop Check" and it has functionality that works the same way has Lock, Sleep (for Hibernate), Shutdown, Restart and something called "Anti-Shutdown". If I use the "Sleep" button, the computer stays in Hibernate mode until I turn it back on.
I'm not sure if I've totally resolved my issue but I'm no longer concerned that my system is compromised. I consider the case closed and I thank you all for your help.
