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Dual boot computer goes to sleep randomly

I have a dual boot XP Pro and Win2K machine that goes to sleep randomly in either OS. I'll be working and BAM! It'll go into sleep mode. It'll go long stretches where it won't go to sleep when I'm working, but now it's every few seconds. I even just put a fresh copy of XP on it's partition to see if it'll fix it, and it still goes to sleep randomly. I also just got a new Antec 300W PSU. I can't even get enough time to backup files over to a partition so I can format the Win2k partition.

At first I thought it would be hardware issue, but I replaced the PSU after the old one died. I've placed 2 more fans in my sx1030 case to see if that helps, but it didn't. I really don't want to spend the money for a new case.

any ideas?

Thanks

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

CrazyOne

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CrazyOne

Also what precisely do mean by sleep mode? Is the computer just not responding or shutting down?

You may need to upgrade the BIOS.

maxpower

ASKER

In XP, there is an option to put the computer in "Standby" mode. That is what I mean by "sleep mode."

As for the bios, I'll check on that. However, I've never changed the bios in terms hibernation mode, so the settings should be the same.

Thanks for the suggestion!

CrazyOne

It sounds like the BIOS is the problem since it is happening in both OS's. The BIOS may need to be upgraded to handle these OS's

CrazyOne

Just to be sure double check for viruses regarless if you already scanned for viruses. You never know when one has been able to slip through.

Norton Web Services
Rating = 4
Go to this page and click on Scan for Viruses
http://security2.norton.com/ssc/vc_about.asp?langid=us&venid=sym&plfid=22&pkj=RKNYPJUIYCZRWEJGSSK

It needs to download a few file so as to activate the scan so you may see a message like this.

"The Scan for Viruses uses an ActiveX program to scan your computer. The download is approximately 1.5MB and can take about 10 minutes over a 28.8 modem.

The scan can take more than 20 minutes depending on the speed of your computer and the number of files that you have. Please do not browse away from this page unless you intend to abort the scan.

Downloading Scan for Viruses controls. Please wait...

During the download, you might see one or more messages asking if it is OK to download and run these programs. Click Yes when these messages appear.

Note: Scan for Viruses does not scan compressed files"
======================
Trend Micro HouseCall
Rating = 3
www.housecall.antivirus.com
"Trend Micro's free online virus scanner
In order to better serve our customers, we ask HouseCall users to register before scanning their computer. By registering, you will receive virus alerts from our team of Virus Doctors. You will be able to unsubscribe when you receive your first email. You can also scan without registering"
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
======================

PC Pitstop Virus Scan
Our free Web-based virus scan uses Panda Software's award-winning technology and virus list. We're checking against the "wildlist," the roughly 200 viruses that are most prevalent in the world in a given month
http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp

maxpower

ASKER

Dang, I had a bunch of trojans. Got that all cleaned up.

Now, to see if it'll run for a couple of days without going into hibernation.

thanks

CrazyOne

Lets hope for the best. Problem with having a bunch of trojans is they can be very hard to get rid of because many of them self propagate. If you are on a network then get this machine off of the network real quick. Because this machine could be infecting the other machines or the other machines could reinfect this machine. Keep it off the network until you are real sure everything is ok. Keep running the virus scanners to keep on top of this.