ComputerFilter: Where did my option to hibernate go?

January 24, 2008 4:17 PM

My computer used to have the ability to hibernate and sleep... now it is as if those options never existed. What happened and how do I fix it?

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop, that is getting quite old - it's almost seven. My OS is Windows XP. I have 256 MB of RAM, 19 GB of space on my C: drive, and an Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz processor.

I used to have normal power settings - when I brought up the Shut Down menu, I had the option to Log off, Restart, Shut down, Sleep, or Hibernate. Suddenly, the Sleep and Hibernate options have disappeared from the dropdown menu.

I also have a program called Toshiba PowerSaver, where I could set my power settings. The last time I used my computer (about a month ago), I had it set to Sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, and I think to hibernate after an hour of inactivity. I also had it set to Hibernate when I close the lid.

These days, the only option in the "When I close the lid..." dropdown menu is "No action." The only options under "When I press the power button" are "Turn off" or "No action."

I haven't thrown my computer around. I took it home on the plane with me on break from school, and turned it on only once when I was at home, for a few minutes - there weren't any big events that happened while it was on. I then brought it back to school, and suddenly encountered these problems.

Windows updated yesterday, and I'm not sure what the nature of the update was. I can't tell if these problems were happening before the update or not.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening? It's not a critical problem, but it is becoming extremely irritating to shut down and reboot my computer every time I want to leave for an hour, just because I don't have powersave options.

posted by thelastpolarbear to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Control Panel > (Performance and Maintenance) > Power Options > Hibernate tab. It will be grayed out if you don't have enough disk space (it will say how much it needs).
posted by rhizome at 4:55 PM on January 24

MSDN search results:

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posted by trinity8-director at 5:02 PM on January 24

Unfortunately, all references to hibernate/standby have disappeared... whether it's Power Options, Device Manager, or Toshiba PowerSaver. The options aren't greyed...they're gone. No more hibernate tab.


In my Device Manager I found some problematic image drivers. I am going to see if fixing those takes care of the problem... if not, I will try system restore.
posted by thelastpolarbear at 5:41 PM on January 24

Not a fix but tried the following?

Ctrl+Alt+Delete --> Shut Down --> Hibernate
posted by gttommy at 6:03 PM on January 24

Under Device Manager > Computer Do you see it listed as "ACPI" If ACPI is missing then youre not going to be able to do any advanced power functions.

This usually doesnt disappear. Perhaps ACPI is disabled in BIOS? Did you perform some kind of repair install or something recently?

Secondly, the toshiba power manager may have disabled the native MS ACPI driver. Perhaps you can visit the toshiba website and download the newest version of their power manager.
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:17 PM on January 24

I check the ACPI, and my Device Manager says it's running normally.
posted by thelastpolarbear at 8:46 PM on January 24

You could try reinstalling the Toshiba power management utility. Toshiba's website has a fairly comprehensive list of drivers and utilities if you've lost you factory driver/utility disk.
posted by sockpup at 12:14 AM on January 25

Ha. Just ignore me.
posted by sockpup at 12:16 AM on January 25