This started today...
I usually put my computer to sleep when I'm going to be gone for a while so the power settings are set to not turn off the computer. I am currently running Vista Home premium 64 bit. I haven't added any new software or hardware recently. I have been using a remote desktop though. I don't think that would be the cause of this.
I turned off my computer last night to take it to work in the morning. When I arrived at the office it was frozen on the "Logging off" screen. I took out the battery and restarted. It asked me if I wanted to start in safe mode, but I figured that was just because I took the battery out. I didn't worry. No problems during the day.
This evening I put it to sleep to take it home so I could just start working on homework right away. I turn it on and ohhh..it's not turning on...it needs to restart. It asks the "Safe Mode" question. I'm like "Mother effer."
So I immediately started in safe mode and started to scan for viruses. I shut the lid down to go eat dinner and lo and behold I needed to restart. I googled the symptoms...restart when I want to sleep virus...blah blah blah and I get a bunch of crap about checking my power settings.
What could this be? Basically to sum it it I put the computer to sleep, I shut the lid and it shuts down. When I turn it back on it asks to start in safe mode. Is there something on there? A setting that somehow got changed without me knowing it? I am scanning for viruses again, this time not closing the screen.
Are you even checking your ing battery? If you put your computer to sleep for a long period of time it will eventually shut down and the computer is going to recognize it as an improper shut down, giving you the message you're getting.. I could be wrong since I never put my computer to sleep.. but it usually happens when I just close it.
Yes. I unlocked the battery and put it back in. I thought that was the obviously solution...it wasn't 100% put back in...no. It's locked in. I also usually put it to sleep when it's plugged in and charging, so it's rarely, if ever, sleeping and running on battery.
Try shutting it down normally, I've never seen a virus that does this.. they usually up your computer, the message your getting is just letting you know you didn't shut it down right.
I just finished scanning my computer with AVG. They came up with Java/ClassLoader and some Zango Adaware from facebook. I think it was the Zango because I did click some crazy bs thing last night about "What was your first facebook status?"
I put it to sleep for a few seconds again just now and it worked. But we'll see if that was it.
Anyway. If it's not....
If it's not, check that the battery is ok. Not physically, but actually looking if it's taking a charge. How old is this laptop? Li-Ion batteries normally are good for 3 years before they start failing.
Otherwise, it could be some driver on Vista. Anything you might have installed recently.
Vista is a piece of crap to diagnose that stuff though. I would start looking at the Event log and see if you spot the reason of the reset/hang.
couple of things you could try.
First of all, it sounds like you may have the FakeAlert malware. I've seen that some stuff up bad.
If possible, boot into safemode with networking and go download Malwarebytes. (just do a google search for it). I'd recommend superantispyware but it wont install in safemode.
If that doesnt work, boot off of your Windows install disk. It will ask if you want to repair or continue installing windows, dont hit "R" at that point.... Keep acting like your going to install windows as a fresh install and at some point its going to search for a current windows installation..... when it finds it, it will give you another option to repair by hitting "R".... do that..
again, if you hit "R" from the get-go it will take you to a command console, you could try doing chkdsk /r from that but it probably wont help. If you get to that command console, you didnt go far enough into the install. You want to get to the point where it scans for current windows installs, then hit R when it finds your OS on the drive, just before you do a fresh install.
It will look like its formating the drive and reinstall windows but it wont (if you do it right), its just deleting the windows files and replacing them.... Your profile and programs will all stay intact. Again, its just restoring all off the windows core files.
After that repair is done, go download superantispyware. just do a google search for it. its free. let it do a a complete scan.
If after all that you still have problems, let me know via PM.... Seriously, I do this for a living and am not some freelance worker who will tell you that you need to format the drive. Dont take it to some place like Best Buy's geek squad... I run circles around them by myself. I deal with this on a daily basis at a government ins ute and have only had 1 time where a reload was necessary.
Last edited by phyzik; 01-12-2011 at 02:37 AM.
There's your problem.
A blank screen saver doesn't necessarily mean it's "sleeping"
Instead of just shutting the lid, how about actually putting the thing to sleep first. If you don't want to use the trackpad, you can hit ALT+F4 (on the desktop, not with any open programs mind you) and that will bring up the option to put the computer to sleep.
BTW, I used those programs mentioned above, and they kicked out a lot of malware that Kaspersky didn't catch. Good stuff.
I already had the Malwarebytes installed on my computer based on reviews. It didn't find anything.
I checked to see what the deal is with my battery though, as I know the reason I bought this computer was because it has a long battery life (and all this trouble started because of a battery problem). It's been consistently showing that it only has 4 hours of battery power. I'm pretty sure when I bought it in '09 it had 6. So I think it's time for a new battery as some of y'all had suggested earlier.
haha yeah vista
but on a serious note, i really doubt it is a virus, most likely a hardware problem.
if you're really unsure/can't fix, i suggest maybe a factory reset?
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