I THINK this is a WINDOWS problem, but it may be a hardware problem.

I just noticed this recently; it could have been an issue for a week or so.

When I close my laptop lid, the machine is supposed to go into StandBy.

But what's happening is, it's going to the "Preparing to StandBy..." screen, and then doing NOTHING more.

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Some nitty-gritty:
XP SP2
Dell Inspiron 6000

Recent changes:
- Removed NAV and Norton Firewall
- Installed Kerio Firewall
- Ran Windows Defrag (Right-click on c:\ => TOOLS => Defragment Now) and Windows Error-Checking (same tab) whilst logged on as Admin in Safe Mode on Tuesday

I HAVE run AVG Virus, Kapersky Virus, Ad-Aware, SpyBot, CWShredder, and a-squared, as well... Clean bill of health. I DID have "System Restore" turned off for the last four days or so... Can't remember what process recommended I do that, but I sure wish I hadn't!
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Any thoughts? Everything I find on laptop issues are that it won't go into StandBy... But this seems to be different... It's trying to go into StandBy...Something else I just noticed...

Even though it's showing the "Preparing to Stand By" screen, and won't come out of that (without powering off)... The CAPS LOCK and NUM LOCK key still work....

Isn't that strange.Can you get into standby normally, without closing the lid?

And the reason it was recommended that you turn off SysRestore is because it can save viruses, making them undeleteable. That's why mine is noticeably OFF. re: Restore... But don't virus scanners find the viruses in the "Restore" points? I run a full AVG scan every morning, so I presume I'm clean, anyway.

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Because I never put it in Standby normally, I never noticed this quirk about Dells - but which seems to be pretty well documented on their message boards:

When you put a Dell laptop in Standby manually, it never comes back

Now, I tried it a few times yesterday.

Yes, it goes into Standby.

But, no, no combination of touchpad clicks, spacebar taps, and dirty looks will bring it back.

So I got creative - I closed the lid for a moment and opened it back up.

And got the

"Preparing to Stand By..." screen... frozen....I also tried disabling Kerio, and still had the same problem.

Similar problem with Hibernate.

I'm guessing that there is some process that needs to shut down, but isn't?

Anyway to figure THAT out?

Is this embedded in Windows, in separate Power Management Drivers, or what?

In other words, what should I prepare myself to replace??!?

ThanksI realized that lately I have been using the S-Video output into my TV to watch episodes of "Lost" that I downloaded... Could that have compromised the video settings, which in turn would screw up Standby?

I CHECKED my Device Manager, and under "Monitor" I had two "Plug and Play Monitor"s listed. Is THAT a problem?

Lastly, I found this: Quote

If your computer won't enter standby or hibernation, it may require updated drivers. Power management features, especially standby and hibernation, rely on device drivers that support power management in addition to compatible hardware. Incompatible video drivers prevent these features from working. The built-in VGA driver, for example, is a bare-bones driver that doesn't support power management.

If standby and hibernate don't work, install an updated driver for your display adapter.

I realized that lately I have been using the S-Video output into my TV to watch episodes of "Lost" that I downloaded... Could that have compromised the video settings, which in turn would screw up Standby?...

Quote

I realized that lately I have been using the S-Video output into my TV to watch episodes of "Lost" that I downloaded... Could that have compromised the video settings, which in turn would screw up Standby?...

Yes

Quote

I realized that lately I have been using the S-Video output into my TV to watch episodes of "Lost" that I downloaded... Could that have compromised the video settings, which in turn would screw up Standby?...

Yes