Restarting from standby mode

[grannieP]

I am experiencing a few problems with my computer.  One is that when it goes into standby mode (and I get the black screen) there are times when I can not get the computer to start up again.  This is a fairly recent problem.  Usually all I have to do is
hit the Enter button, and it all comes back up.  Do you have any ideas of what this problem is and how do I fix it.

The other problem is that sometimes it takes ages for Internet programs to open up - there is this little blue circle thing that
goes around and around for ages and ages (as well as the green line across the bottom of the screen) before the particular program will open up - doesnt seem to matter whether it is Hotmail, Google or TV programs or whatever.  It used to be that this problem was worse in the afternoons, but now it seems to be all the time.

I have tried deleting and emptying my trash can and other programs but it hasn't help.

I would be grateful for any suggestions.  Many thanks.  Sandra aka GrannieP

[The Radio Geek]

Hi there Sandra !

Fantastic to have you on the show today - thanks for calling in

Righto - it sounds like you have two problems running, so I will tackle the computer standby problem separate to the slow Internet...

Computer Standby:  As I mentioned on the radio today, there are a few different systems that can send your computer into standby mode, so what we need to do first is work out which system is sending it to sleep.  (then we can change the correct settings!)  I would suggest that you go to your windows control panel (Start , Control Panel) then look for your power settings icon.  Use the dialog box to change all the settings to  "never" go to sleep.  (ie. Hard Disk, Monitor, Computer etc... ) 

If you would like more detail on how to do this, I need to know what version of Windows you are using I can run through the specific steps.


Slow Internet: This one is a bit more complicated, because it can be sooooo many different things.  Anyway, to start with I would need a little bit of information:

1) Your computer age (roughly will do)
2) Your operating system   (eg. Windows XP, Vista, MacOS etc..)
3) Your browser name, and version.  Open your Internet Browser and click on "Help, About" and note the name and version number
4) Lastly, try downloading a test file for me and note the time it takes.  To do this, close your email programs and any other Internet programs (other than this browser of course!) and then click on  http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/test/10meg.test and time how long it takes to download the file.  Yes, it's safe to download and No - it doesn't do anything... it's a dummy file.

Let me know how you go,
Cheers,
:)RG

[grannieP]

Hi Rob - Nice to talk to you today.  Not sure if this is going out to everyone but doesnt matter.  Just wanted to say that I am not very computer smart so will have to be very detailed in my reply to your questions.  I did go in and change all the control panel settings as suggested - it was control panel-systems and maintenance-power options. Recommended settings, power saver & high performance.  I did change them all to "Never" but seemed to slow absolutely everything down to a crawl.  So currently setting are:Recommended settings - turn off 10 minutes -put computer to sleep 15 mins: Power saver Never & Never: High performance - 45 mins and Never.  Hope all that makes sense.

Slow Internet"  Age of computer is approx 3 yrs.Operating System is Vista. Browser anem and version is Internet Explorer8: downloading the test was a bit of a problem - took about 1.5 mins but only can up with a MyWebSearch page - did not show the 10.meg.test.  Again I apologise but I am not a computer whiz.  As we live 2.5 hrs from Townsville, it is not easy to take it to a local geek for assistance. Hope you can help.
Thanks Sandra aka grannieP

Ho

[The Radio Geek]

Heya Sandra,

Righto, lets look at this in more detail then.  I will have a bunch of questions - so if you can put up with the probing, I think I will be able to put you on the right track.

I am a little concerned with the whole system slowing down once you change the power settings.  But lets start with a couple of simple ones:

First  - can you go to your Control Panel, and then click on "System".  It should show a summary, and I would like to know the following:

Rating:
Processor:
RAM:
System Type:

Second - can you try setting your power management profile to "high performance".  There is a easy How-To guide with pictures at http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-power-management-on-windows-vista/

Let me know how you get on...

Cheers,
:)RG

[Mick_L]

I'd also be wondering if there was an attempt to restart the computer after changing the settings, to see if the apparently slow performance persisted. 

[grannieP]

Hi Rob

I have changed the power management profile to High performance and at this stage everything is opening ok.

Your other questions:-

Rating-3.4 Windows Experience Index:Unrated
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium (R) Dual CPU E2200@2.20Ghz 220GHz
RAM: 2.00GB
System Type: 32-bit Operating System

I am pleased that you know what all that means.

Many thanks again
Sandra :

[grannieP]

Hi Rob

More problems.  As advised earlier, system was working fine after the change of settings until I went away from the computer for approximately an hour or so.  When I came back everything was a lot slower, and then froze.  I shut it down and then could not open anything - internet, word, games etc.

Left for another couple of hours and now it is working again.  Are these problems all related? and more importantly can they be easily fixed.

Thanks
Sandra

[The Radio Geek]

Ouch...

Well - I am confident that these problems can be fixed, but I am not sure how easy it will be!  Looking through the specifications you sent me, your machine should be OK to run Vista, even though it is a few years old.

Here's an idea.  There are several processes and programs that *might* be installed that will take advantage of "idle" time on your computer to perform tasks.  A common one is that when your computer is idle for X minutes, the google desktop application will start to index your computer files to enable quicker searching later on.  Another common process is that some antivirus programs can be configured to do a scan of your whole computer if the machine has been idle for X minutes.  Another thing to consider is that you might have some spyware that is taking over when your computer is idle...

If your machine is performing badly after some idle time - then perhaps one of these processes has started up and is hogging your system resources?

Unfortunately, tracking down exactly what is happening is a bit tougher.  Lets start with getting some of the easy stuff out of the way.

I would suggest that you install/run an anti-spyware program.  There are many around, if you don't have one installed then I would recommend that you try either:

* Spybot Search and Destroy
or
* Ad Aware

In either case, you don't need to purchase anything - the free versions are fine.  Once you have run the program, you may be asked to "fix" or to give permission to fix some problems/issues.  I would suggest that you make a note of the problem, then say Yes.  Once you have done this - perhaps you can get back to us an let us know how things have gone ?

Cheers,
:)RG

[grannieP]

Hi Rob

Many thanks for all your help but I think I am just about over this.

I did have a look at what we had on the system as anti-virus one of which was something called UinBlue which we purchased over the Internet and then found that it came from Germany.  We also had SpyDoctor, and I think one or two other ones that are free from the Internet.  I deleted all of those and then ran both programs that you suggested.  One said that I had 5,000 odd problems and the other one said only 7 problems.  That in itself is a bit weird to me.  However both of them would not let me proceed until I purchased their products.  One was approx $13 and the other I think $29 or $39.  I have since put in one of the free one.

Everything seems to be working ok at this stage - touch wood.  Our internet is always a bit slow in the afternoons as we are on satellite. I appreciate your help but unless you have any other simple options, I think I will just perserve with what I have.
 

Many thanks.  Sandra aka GrannieP