black screen lockup

[montour207]

since I got such quick and handy replies to my memory question I'm going to push my luck a little more!!
Again, I'm using my new laptop with dual process whatever and 1 gig RAM. But if I leave my PC on for a while, I come back to a black screen that seems to be locked up. I do see a cursor and it will move but I get no respond to any of the keys!
Wazzup???

[CrowdAds]

[crabby]

That is an odd issue and is probably due a driver issue. Have you updated your display drivers?

crabby

[ewan_mclean]

Has your machine went into standby mode, there are actually some issues with sleep in Vista, there are some hotfixes on the microsoft website to fix these unless your laptop is connected to the net, you will recieve them through windows update.

[felix8406]

It could be both, a Standby and driver issue. When you close the lid, does your laptop goes into sleep mode? And if it does, does it resume without issues?

Try this: Start > Control Panel > Power Options (Switch to Classic view). On left pane, click the option you want to change, but especially the option titled "Change when the computer sleeps". When you click that option, you'll be given another option called "Change advanced power settings. It's up to you whether or not to use this option to make additional changes.

Now there's a possibility that leaving the lid open and laptop running, in your case, the Sleep mode is not functioning or some hardware is maintaining the system on. If there's a driver issue, your screen will turned off, but the system keeps on running, which can create conflicts between the OS and the hardware. That's why I was asking the questions above. Let us know.

[montour207]

Interesting .. thanks for the reply.

It seems to happen in -both- cases you described. I forgot to mention this happens in AC power mode. I've not tried it in battery.
It has happened when I fold the lid down while still booted up. Yes, it does go to standby when I lower the lid. But when I try to continue using it, I can't get anything but black screen and the cursor.
And it's happened when I leave the lid up and running and leave for while. Usually no less than 1/2 hour. It defaults to the above problem when I return.
My power setting options are screen off batt=5 min / AC=never and sleep batt=15min / AC never. Interesting that it goes to sleep in AC mode.

BTW ... what is hybrid sleep?

Craby ... have not actively done any driver updates. PC is about 3 weeks old and I'm not familiar with that process.

Originally Posted by felix8406

It could be both, a Standby and driver issue. When you close the lid, does your laptop goes into sleep mode? And if it does, does it resume without issues?

Try this: Start > Control Panel > Power Options (Switch to Classic view). On left pane, click the option you want to change, but especially the option titled "Change when the computer sleeps". When you click that option, you'll be given another option called "Change advanced power settings. It's up to you whether or not to use this option to make additional changes.

Now there's a possibility that leaving the lid open and laptop running, in your case, the Sleep mode is not functioning or some hardware is maintaining the system on. If there's a driver issue, your screen will turned off, but the system keeps on running, which can create conflicts between the OS and the hardware. That's why I was asking the questions above. Let us know.

[crabby]

If you havent updated your drivers you will be using ones which are now around 6 months old and were known to have quite horrid issues with Vista. What graphics chip do you have?

crabby

[montour207]

No idea on the graphics chip! How do I find out?
And how do I update drivers?
I was never a big fan of XP (in fact I'm a converted MAC user) but it worked a lot better than this VISTA stuff. It sure seems to be a mess-out-o-the-box! !!
Thanks to all for your help so far.

Originally Posted by crabby

If you havent updated your drivers you will be using ones which are now around 6 months old and were known to have quite horrid issues with Vista. What graphics chip do you have?

crabby

[felix8406]

Originally Posted by monitor

My power setting options are screen off batt=5 min / AC=never and sleep batt=15min / AC never. Interesting that it goes to sleep in AC mode.

BTW ... what is hybrid sleep?

I'm still with Crabby, the most probable cause is a driver issue. But try to change your plan so the screen goes off as the laptop goes into sleep mode, e.g. Screen off=15 min and Sleep=15 Min.

Hybrid sleep is basically in combination of sleep mode (as in Win XP) and hibernation. In Win XP, information is saved to RAM before the PC goes into the sleep mode, and to the HD when the PC goes into hibernation. In Vista, the information is saved both to RAM and HD before the PC goes into sleep mode.

[montour207]

Thanks again for all the info ...
I will see if changing the screen-off/sleep times will a help.

SO how do I update drivers?

Originally Posted by felix8406

I'm still with Crabby, the most probable cause is a driver issue. But try to change your plan so the screen goes off as the laptop goes into sleep mode, e.g. Screen off=15 min and Sleep=15 Min.

Hybrid sleep is basically in combination of sleep mode (as in Win XP) and hibernation. In Win XP, information is saved to RAM before the PC goes into the sleep mode, and to the HD when the PC goes into hibernation. In Vista, the information is saved both to RAM and HD before the PC goes into sleep mode.

[felix8406]

Depending on the manufacture and your experience, the best bet is to follow manufactures recommendation. I have some bad experience allowing Vista to update a driver automatically. I usually get a "The best driver for your hardware is already installed" message, or something similar.

That's why I recommend updating the driver manually:
1. Download the driver software
2. Create a folder on your desktop
3. Click the software and extract the driver to the folder just created
4. Right click Computer and elect Properties
5. Click Device Manager
6. Click Display adapter
7. Right click your graphics card and click Uninstall
8. Restart PC. Windows will detect new hardware
9. Point Vista to install the driver from the folder you created

Again, you can always follow manufacturer's instructions. It's much easier and it might work just fine.

This link might help you to locate your driver: http://tribaltrouble.com/driversuppo...#settings?os=w

[crabby]

Go to... Control Panel -> Device Manager -> Display adapters. What is listed is your graphics chip. Either go to the manufacturers website, or post the details here and we will find the driver for you.

crabby

[Snuffy]

Laptop with 1GB memory...running Vista.
maybe I missed all the other Questions/answers.
1. was this a UPGRADE from XP to Vista?
2. what version of Vista?
3. what was the version of XP?
4. did you run Vista Advisor prior to upgrading?