My laptop is dying

When it goes to sleep, it sometimes takes 30 minutes to wake it up. When I power down, I once was able to reset defaults at F2 to get it going. Lately it doesn't want to let me go to F2. Only through persistence, can I even hope to keep using it. I have migrated everything of importance to Google Drive and Gmail. So when the big day comes, Amazon will get me a Chromebook in 2 days. It's been a good laptop, I want it to die with dignity.

 

That symptom is similar to our old desktop. There was a time that it was left running and we attended to some other activities for an hour or so. When we returned to use the computer, it was difficult to wake it but not 30 minutes though, just about 2 or 3 minutes. When we asked the tech, he said that the computer may be doing something when it sleeps. It can be an anti-virus that is scanning the hard drive. That's why we were surprised because the computer seemed to be asleep so it should not be doing anything.

 

It is possible a software problem. In which case you can either check for specific software causing the issue, or you may reinstall the OS, and it should fix the problem. Make sure you test the "sleep" right after a clean installation of OS. Do not install any software just yet. If the problem was still there after you have only installed the OS, then it is hardware related. If not, you can install your usual software one by one, but remember you need to test the sleep function after each installation to find out the problem. The chance is, you might not even find the problem and it will just work fine after re-installation.

 

The problem is probably your SSD/HDD that's crapping out, I'm sure your other components are in decent shape at least. For how long have you had this laptop? It may be worth looking into switching out your hard drive and see if it's the culprit or not. An OS reinstall wouldn't be a bad idea either, at least you can see if your hard drive is faulty or not.

 

I have never allowed my laptop to 'sleep', since I just typically complete my usage in one sitting, then turn it completely off. Since I've had the thing since 2008 and it still runs just fine, I can't be hurting it too much. My husband believes that allowing your computer (any computer) to remain on at all times, even at night, is a good thing and healthier for the computer than turning it off after a long use period. I find this to be wasteful as I like to keep our power consumption down whenever possible. I can't really see any benefit to keeping the computer turned on while you are sleeping, at work, or out on the town. Why is that necessary to begin with? Are we leaving the machine on for our dog or cat to use? I don't think so.

 

Go to the power settings via the control panel.
Then on the left hand side you will see (Choose what the power buttons do)

Alter the settings to WHEN I PRESS THE POWER BUTTON TO (SHUT DOWN)
and WHEN I PRESS THE SLEEP (DO NOTHING)

Restart the computer and see if is operating better.

 

How long did you use this laptop.I am using mine since 7 years and so far it has not given me big headaches. My laptop crashed once. But it ws my mistake. I had not renewed my antivirus after one year period ended. Just before I renewed my antivirus, some malware infected my C drive. I had to format my laptop. Apart from this there has been no major problems.

 

Well, thank you all for the advice. I decided to try the most straightforward suggestion first. @somethingback, that was exactly the problem!! Thank you so much. It's working fine now, I really thought it was going out!! I still like the idea of re-installing the OS, especilly since this is Vista. But it is working fine now!! Happy camper here

 

When dealing with any of the different Windows versions you have to be ready to do a clean install once in a while, there is no way to avoid that. Every windows installation appears to degrade itself more and more the longer it is used, if you add spyware program, viruses and other nasty programs that are simply badly developed you get those insane 30 minutes boo times. I think even using windows restore or something is a waste of time, nothing beats a clean windows install.

 

I am glad it is working fine for you now, and with the new laptop that you've ordered; you can now multi-tasking

I will have to remember what @something back said! There are still Window laptop users in the house