Dave2120
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Encrypted drive and windows standby
Hello we are having a problem with windows XP entering into standby mode. We have encrypted Hard drives that must be running or in hybernation mode. When the laptop goes into standby windows can't access the encrypted drive so the laptop locks up and we have to do a hard powerdown the laptop to get it working again. We have gone into the Bios and turned off the powermanagement so Windows can manage the power. We set the power option in Windows to never turn off the hard drive and never go into standby. However from time to time our laptops enter standby mode. We have been able to recreate the problem by setting the laptop to go into standby after 2 mins of inactivity on battery. I did find an interesting event in the system log, Event ID 240 "A request to suspend power was denied by TdmService.exe" This is the behavore that we want windows to take but I have not been able to consistently get the laptop to not go into standby.
ASKER
I called and talked to Wave systems, They walked me through what settings we need in order to not allow windows to go into sleep mode. The trusted drive settings are correct for each laptop. The problem we have is the laptops we are using are not certified with Wave systems so the results are not consistant. For now we have to make sure Windows is set to never go into standby and only go into hybernate. We have software that is able to set the power mode in Windows everytime a user logs on. I did find 1 setting was still in standby, the 3% power on battery. I think as the laptops get to the 3% they are attempting to go into standby and causing the problem.
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ASKER
I have to got o a meet for the next hour or so I will try this when i get out.
ASKER
Ok I have applied the scrypt to one of our laptops and it is not going into sleep mode even though I told it to go into sleep mode. It did go into hybernate as we need it too. I am going to do more testing through out today to make sure everything is ok. But for now Awsome work I will let you know in about 3 hours how testing is going.
ASKER
I set the power settings to go into standby and did not allow hibernation. The laptop when into standby mode.
ASKER
After looking at this in more detail this setting will not work for us. We have a custom power policy that is pushed out by a scripting program. If possible we need to turn off standby mode while keeping Hibernate as an option. Our laptops are set as follows while on battery
Turn off monitor 5 mins
Turn off hard disk never
System standby never
System hibernate 15 mins
Turn off monitor 5 mins
Turn off hard disk never
System standby never
System hibernate 15 mins
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ASKER
I will give this a shot and test it.
ASKER
I tested the software and it turned off standby and Hibernate on Windows XP. This will not work for us as we want hibernate. I am almost sure I tracked down the problem; on laptops power options have a tab named Alarms. This tab has options for low battery and critical battery. By default Windows sets the critical battery setting to standby. I have tested and verified when the battery gets to the critical level setting the laptop is put into standby and the laptop locks up. Does anyone know what registry setting will change standby to Hibernate on the Alarms tab Alarm Action button?
ASKER
After attempting multiple solutions to the problem it turns out the simple one works best. As long as the laptops do not go into standby they are fine. I was not able to find anyway of disabling standby from ever running but making sure standby is set to never keeps the laptop from locking up. This KB article was helpful in finding what command to use for our solution.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=324347
If you run into the same problem we had pay close attention to the alarm power option tab. The default is standby and on our encrypted drives the laptop locks up every time. Our solution was to use the laptop management software to run a batch file under admin privilege to turn off standby and only allow hibernate.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=324347
If you run into the same problem we had pay close attention to the alarm power option tab. The default is standby and on our encrypted drives the laptop locks up every time. Our solution was to use the laptop management software to run a batch file under admin privilege to turn off standby and only allow hibernate.
"tdmservice.exe is a process from EMBASSY Trusted Drive Manager by Wave Systems Corp. and part of Seagate Momentus FDE Trusted Drives. The EMBASSY Trusted Drive Manager is integrated into the EMBASSY Security Center to activate the hardware-based full disk encryption features of Seagate Momentus FDE Trusted Drives. Seagate Momentus FDE Drives, informally called “Trusted Drives”, are laptop hard drives with an on-board security controller and embedded capabilities for media-speed full disk encryption and pre-boot authentication"