I have a home built system that runs great here with xp pro and I didn't want the system running all the time when i wasn't at the pc.

I had originally had the system setup to turn monitor off after 10 mins, hard drives off after 20 mins system standby after 30 mins.

I changed it to hibernate after 30 mins and decided i wanted to go back to standby, that is where i ran into issues, after i changed it back (unchecked enable hibernate, switched standby to 30 mins in place of hibernate hit ok/apply etc.

But now instead of going into standby as it should the system hibernates, even tho i confirmed the settings are NOT for hibernate (unchecked enable hibernate) and hibernate isnt even in the option menu only standby is since i disabled hibernate.

But somehow somewhere things have goofed up since it wont go into standby anymore.

I also tried a full reset (held power button) and restarted it thinking that might fix it but no luck still after the 30 mins the system turns off vs going into standby as it is setup to do.

Any ideas of what I might be missing here to check or do?

Bill

I just tried something else here as a test, changed the power option main settting from home/office to always on and made my adjustments for monitor 10, hard drives 15, standby 20.

Will see if that somehow fixes the issue of the system going into hibernate even tho that box is now unchecked still seems to happen (can tell its hibernating when i come in and have to press power and see windows is resuming bar).

Bill

I have never felt hibernation on PCs was reliable, and so I don't recommend using it. It was designed for business travelers and commuters who needed to pause, change trains, resume, pause, get in taxi, resume, pause... yadda yadda. Simply saving an image of what's in memory, then pulling it up again when resuming is much less demanding on batteries than saving and closing all files, shutting down Windows just to pause while boarding a plane. Then drain more power when booting it all up again.

Since it seems to work pretty well and fairly consistently with notebooks, then it would seem to be an issue with how power management is handled with PC hardware. I suspect that is due in part because all PC motherboards are designed to be on 24/7/365, and/or attached to a network, modem, keyboard, or mouse. This is significant because all BTX and ATX computers (including microATX) , which is virtually 100% of the PCs made in the last 10 years MUST conform to the ATX standard and maintain +5Vsb standby voltage across several points on the motherboard whenever the computer is simply plugged into the wall. This +5Vsb is necessary for the front power switch to work, as well Wake on LAN, Wake on Mouse, Wake on Modem, and other features associated with "fixed" computers and NOT "mobile" computers.

This standby voltage is why it is essential to also unplug the computer before doing any maintenance or cleaning in the interior of the case. Some power supplies may be equipped with an "optional" master power switch on the back. Setting this switch to off removes the +5Vsb as well - in theory. But since anything that plugs into the wall can kill, and since, sadly, there are many very poor-quality PSUs out there, I would not advise trusting a $.05 part in a $10 PSU made by some child in servitude in some despicable forced-labor factory in China, under the watchful eye of corrupt government leaders.

Also, since Windows is mobile computer aware, when programs are installed on notebooks, they behave differently than when installed on PCs. For example, anti-malware programs running in the background on a desktop may check for new signature/definition files, then do system scans when the computer is otherwise idle, perhaps at 3am. And certainly Windows itself is rarely idle when you are idle - with various housekeeping chores.

My advice is don't use hibernate on PCs. Either shut your system down at the end of the day, or keep it on 24/7 (just don't power up and down several times a day).

Computers standby mode problems have been around a long time, with no real definitive cause or solutions. Sometimes, after a reboot, all will appear to be fine and my screen saver will kick in properly. But 10 minutes later, the system will not go into standby as configured - that is, connected components, most notably the graphics card, are not signaled to go into standby mode. This, in turn, means the monitors are never signaled to go into standby mode, nor do drive motors shut down.

However, if I simply change the setting for "Turn off Monitor" to 11 minutes (or anything other than what it was) from 10, and Save, it will work perfectly for days and weeks, until I must reboot again. Then it might work fine from the start, or I might have to change it back to 10 this time, then it will work perfectly until the process starts over at next boot.

This is most likely a driver issue, just not one I (or the entire industry, apparently) can isolate.