Does Sleep Mode for Vista result in HDD/Mobo failure?

[Gamer11705]

I'm pretty sure it's getting to my machine because I hear the fans turning on, and other whirring noises I can't identify.

[Gamer11705]

Since my computer's keryboard lights aren't turning btw, does that mean the problem is focused around my mobo and not my HDD?

Because, I'm starting to think just cut my losses and ditch the mobo itself.

[computeruler]

Still doesnt mean its working

[ghaldos]

I notice no one asked if you were hearing any beeps when the computer starts up and if so remember the beep sequence and length. Yes if the fans and lights are working it does mean the psu is working it's not like it can only allow enough power to go through to start the lights and fans up they are powered through the motherboard and if it's not getting the correct amount of power it will not start up.

[patio]

Yes if the fans and lights are working it does mean the psu is working

This is innaccurate at best...it doesn't take much power to run fans and LED's...

Borrow a known good PSU of the same or greater wattage and swap it in there.
If it runs replace the PSU...do yourself a favor and stay away from the 20 dollar specials.

[ghaldos]

It would be innacurate if his computer was over 10 years old, as I said before yes it doesn't take much power to start up fans and lights but as the switch, fans and lights all go through the motherboard so therefore in order to start up any of them the motherboard needs to be getting correct watt, volts.

[BC_Programmer]

It would be innacurate if his computer was over 10 years old, as I said before yes it doesn't take much power to start up fans and lights but as the switch, fans and lights all go through the motherboard so therefore in order to start up any of them the motherboard needs to be getting correct watt, volts.

Fans/LEDs not only don't take a lot of power, but they are far more tolerant of voltage spikes/brownouts. When a fan loses power, it stops turning. If it loses power for a split second- there is no problem. the momentum keeps it going. And a light in the same situation would probably be indiscernable unless somebody was paying very close attention.

the other components- a prime example being RAM- are not so tolerant.

If a RAM chip loses power for a split second, there will be data loss. If that data was instructions for the CPU then the instructions will be corrupted, causing the CPU to fire off a NMI (non maskable interrupt).

"So what" you might say, they cannot even start the PC! what does this have to do with it?

Well, the BIOS is code. it IS loaded into RAM from ROM before executing. If the PSU is sending the POWER_GOOD signal to the motherboard before the power output has evened out, the CPU will start executing while RAM is getting unreliable power. likely corrupting the BIOS code before it even begins to POST. It goes without mention that at this point there is no handler for a NMI, so the Computer just halts. But guess what! the fans and LEDs are still getting power.

[ghaldos]

again yes fans and leds do not take very much power but I seriously find it hard to beleive that a psu could fry out to the point of only provinding say 20-30 watts, more than likely what would happen would be the fuse of the psu blow effectivly cutting off the power.

Anyway if you can see the black screen that pop up at first before actually trying to load vista then it's vista it's notorious for screwing up and not being able to come out of sleep mode sometimes even after restarting. If you have a spare hard drive lying around and a copy of windows try installing both (hdd as primary master or just unhook the other temporarily) and try that.

What is up with this forum with people trying to get back with how clever they think they are?

[BC_Programmer]

when people start babbling about wattages as if a bad PSU simply provides less power or something.

it's not the AMOUNT of power, it's the QUALITY of power that matters. additionally as power supplies age they inexorably have wear and tear on their components that can reduce the quality of the power output, not necessarily the amount.

Regarding the screen, most PCs will display something (a BIOS screen or POSTdiagnostic) before it proceeds to load the Operating System. Since this no longer appears to be the case the issue would not be with the software, but rather with the hardware configuration. a bad CPU,motherboard, or, as covered, power supply can also cause these mystery symptoms. I believe it is pure coincidence that this occured while the PC was in sleep mode.

Since a Power supply is cheaper then either a CPU or Motherboard, it stands to reason that in the interest of saving money that that route be pursued. (of course barring the ability to borrow a known good PSU)

[quaxo]

Anyway if you can see the black screen that pop up at first before actually trying to load vista then it's vista it's notorious for screwing up and not being able to come out of sleep mode sometimes even after restarting.

I'm using Vista, and I use sleep mode pretty much all the time, only doing a full shutdown (usually only to apply updates) or restart about once a week. Not a single problem coming out of sleep mode since I started using Vista on this laptop 6 months ago, nor as a tech have I seen any more cases of sleep failures in Vista than I have XP or anything else. This is just another false rumor about Vista.

On a desktop system, sleep mode is not advisable with ANY operating system unless you've got a UPS that will continue to provide power to sleep mode in the event of a power failure. Once the power goes out, the system really will shut off, and this is where you lead into problems with sleep mode sometimes. It has nothing to do with Vista, XP had the exact same problem. You don't run into this problem so much with laptops as long as you have your battery in, which will provide the needed power should your external source of power fail.

What is up with this forum with people trying to get back with how clever they think they are?

I could say the same about this forum and people who don't know what they're talking about getting angry because people correct them when they are spewing inaccurate or just flat out wrong information. BC is right in his description. He's not trying to get anyone back. Power supplies can be finicky things. It's not uncommon for a power supply to do just what he's described. Accept it, learn from it, move on.

[ghaldos]

when people start babbling about wattages as if a bad PSU simply provides less power or something.

it's not the AMOUNT of power, it's the QUALITY of power that matters. additionally as power supplies age they inexorably have wear and tear on their components that can reduce the quality of the power output, not necessarily the amount.

Regarding the screen, most PCs will display something (a BIOS screen or POSTdiagnostic) before it proceeds to load the Operating System. Since this no longer appears to be the case the issue would not be with the software, but rather with the hardware configuration. a bad CPU,motherboard, or, as covered, power supply can also cause these mystery symptoms. I believe it is pure coincidence that this occured while the PC was in sleep mode.

Since a Power supply is cheaper then either a CPU or Motherboard, it stands to reason that in the interest of saving money that that route be pursued. (of course barring the ability to borrow a known good PSU)

 ::)Dude that makes no sense on so many levels... so it's the quality of power and not output of power? unless the guy has miniscule wires connecting from the psu to motherboard or barely connecting or something that's just not going to be the case. Even if what you're explaining could happen which I've never heard of or expereinced myself the chances of it happening are rare but so far I've seen about 30 pages like this saying the exact same thing.  psu's are just a bunch of capacitors voltage regulators, resistors, diodes a transformer and most importantly a fuse, they're not that difficult however there are a bunch of failsafes in place so that if this fails then everything does...The only instance a computer would not boot but allow the fans and lights to come on would be a power supply that cannot supply enough wattage to power the machine so if the computer needs 300 watts and the psu supplies only 200.

Quaxo it's not a rumor just because it never happened to your computer doesn't mean it can't happen, I didn't say it happened all the time just that vista is known to do that which it is.

This place seems like such a bad place with so many people that have no understanding of how electronics work let alone computers and actually think they know something about it???

you guys should accept the fact you know little about these things, move on and maybe you will be able to learn something. I have never read so many non sensical and incorrect answers on any forum so I really have no respect for this place moreso since I notice most threads turn into arguments like this when someone disagrees about the psu which aparently is usually the cause for things.

[Dias de verano]

What is up with this forum with people trying to get back with how clever they think they are?

Your attitude, I expect. It is sub-optimal sometimes. And, judging by your posts, you don't actually know as much as you seem to think you do.

[ghaldos]

really? my attitude, man check out pretty much any post here I'm sure you'll find that I have less of an attitude than most here...

I said it wasn't the psu and people start getting back with a bad attitude, plain and simple any psu made within the last at least 12 years have fail-safes in place so that it doesn't partially fail it's either all or nothing. Sure I don't know what I'm doing, this coming from someone who imediately thought that when someone removed the heatsink off the cpu and didn't put it back on properly to find their computer wouldn't start that it was a psu problem....

[Dias de verano]

this coming from someone who imediately thought that when someone removed the heatsink off the cpu and didn't put it back on properly to find their computer wouldn't start that it was a psu problem....

Who was that? It wasn't me, if that is what you were suggesting.

[quaxo]

Quaxo it's not a rumor just because it never happened to your computer doesn't mean it can't happen, I didn't say it happened all the time just that vista is known to do that which it is.

I didn't say Vista didn't do that and I'm not saying it hasn't happened to anyone. I'm saying that it's rumor that Vista does it any more than any other OS. Perhaps you should take the time to reread that post.

really? my attitude, man check out pretty much any post here I'm sure you'll find that I have less of an attitude than most here...

Sorry, I'm still looking. Couldn't find those posts you were talking about.

any psu made within the last at least 12 years have fail-safes in place so that it doesn't partially fail it's either all or nothing.

I'll let you know when I stop laughing at this.

you guys should accept the fact you know little about these things, move on and maybe you will be able to learn something. I have never read so many non sensical and incorrect answers on any forum so I really have no respect for this place moreso since I notice most threads turn into arguments like this when someone disagrees about the psu which aparently is usually the cause for things.

I wouldn't call it arguing. Different people will have different opinions about a solution, and there's nothing wrong with expressing why you might think the person is wrong. But just because their opinion differs from yours doesn't mean you need to have a conniption fit.

If you have no respect for this place and don't like it so much, is there a reason you keep coming back? Need help finding the door or just have nothing better to do than drag this way off-topic with your blathering.

Gamer11705, sorry your thread has been hijacked. Getting back on track now, BC's course of action seems the most prudent at this point. If you can try a different power supply and see if you get the same result, we can at least confirm or eliminate that as a possibility.