Computer went from "standby" to "bye bye"

Last night I put my computer, running XP Pro on standby. This morning it wouldn't come out of its coma. Even worse, it wouldn't even power up. I have used standby before without issues, but not overnight.

I know, from this morning's googling, that there are issues with standby and that some people won't even use it, but I am past that bridge.

All help appreciated. Thanks.

reply to post by ipsedixit


What operating system?
nvm, stupid question, xp pro, let me think.

I found a few things online, they don't sound exactly the same.

Based on your description, I would say SaturnFX is probably right.

Define not start up...
when you hit power, does the fan go on the power supply? any beeps, etc.

Could be a coincidental mechanical issue..but ya, if the fan isn't even spinning on boot, then you have a power supply issue. start there.

reply to post by SaturnFX

There is nothing. I even took it out of the room and plugged it into another outlet. The fan didn't even turn over. It's strange though that while on standby the whole thing seems to shut down anyway. It baffles me how the power pack could fail under those circumstances.

Hold the power button for 10 seconds, your computer should do a hard shutdown, you'll hear it. Let me know what happens.

reply to post by FidelityMusic


10-4. I'll get back to you.

If its a hardware issue, we are really not going to be much help.

I tried the ten second routine, but nothing happened. There is not a sign of life in the thing, not even the little green led light on the motherboard.

Kick it......or the mechanical tap. What happened to the good ol' days
when that used to solve everything.......

Sounds like my laptop, I had to unplug and remove the battery; reconnected everything and it went back to working never investigated the actual cause, just know not to use standby or hibernation for that matter.

Sounds like the power supply has gone bad...

reply to post by Alchemst7

People laugh, but I diagnosed one of my persistent laptop problems that way. What I thought was the hard drive turned out to be a loose jack to the power cord.

reply to post by ipsedixit

Have you tried disconnecting both psu and battery for a few seconds??

reply to post by juleol


Did the battery, but I'll try unplugging the PSU from the mother board as well. I'll be back.

reply to post by ipsedixit


If you hit the power button and nothing at all happens, PSU is gone. PSU's can just give in like that, without warning. My 600W went on me last year. Everything was running fine, shut down my pc one night, and next morning it was dead.

If the PSU isn't shot, a few things should happen. MB LED should go on (and hopefully that indicates MB is fine) and you should hear the HD spinning. If neither happens, that could be your issue. If they work, and still nothing is happening, it could be CPU or RAM. If you have 2 sticks or more of RAM, you can try booting with only 1 at a time. If it's CPU, not as easy to try troubleshoot.

From what you describing, it sounds as if PSU is shot.

reply to post by ipsedixit

Last few things I could tell you is if you're computer savy, try taking out all of your memory cards(R.A.M.), put them back in, then try booting up again. If that doesn't work I'd say unplug everything from the motherboard and re-plug it in.

I had a similar issue with my computer before, it wouldn't boot, and when it did a few times it showed a blue screen error. I took it to the technician down my block and he said it booted right when he plugged it in. A few days after it wouldn't boot again, showed no life. I unplugged everything from my motherboard, even pulled the Bios battery(don't recommend it), and the computer has been fine since.

Unfortunately I don't have time to try all of the remedies suggested at the moment, but I am inclined to agree with the idea that the PSU is finito. There is just no sign of life at all.

I'll see what I can do this evening, but I think I need a new PSU. Thanks to all..

reply to post by ipsedixit


Mine is acting up!! It just cuts off..minutes go by and it comes back up..I did a security scan yesterday..

I recommend a Coolermaster.

I had the same problem once, it turned out to be a problem with hibernation. I had to unplug, remove the battery and hold the power button down for a minute to discharge all the circuits. This is can also be a symptom of the cmos battery going South.

If it fires back up switch power settings off of hibernate. Never let it go into sleep mode either, hibernate and sleep mode have conflicts.

Same thing happened to me three weeks ago. Vista. I used sleep for about the 3rd time in my life. Computer went comatose.

My souped-up power supply just died.

New power supply, back online.