"Stand by" mode - Problem solved

[Lalakai]

An older system suddenly started going into "stand by" mode for no reason. Because of the age of the sytem, i opted to replace the mb, cpu, and ram, keeping my v-card and ps. Put the new system together and had same problem. Okay, replaced the ps, and it still happens, though not at often. Old agp v-card is last, but I have never heard of faulty v-card causing system to go into stand by mode (v-card is X850XT 256meg w/dedicated power feed). Reloaded drivers but no luck. It's not a high priority system, so i don't mind just putting in an older agp card again (i'll buy a new agp card), but i'm wondering if it's something i've missed???? Hooked it up to a different monitor, and it did the same thing. Swapped out keyboard, and same thing. Reloaded OS and same thing. Didn't think a faulty hd could cause this problem, but at this point, i'm getting kind'a jumpy and not leaving much to chance. Anyone had similiar problems with v-card?? Or words of wisdom?

existing components:
Mushkin Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz Socket AM2 65W with cooler
PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS500 500W ATX12V
BIOSTAR K8M800 Micro AM2 AM2 VIA
ATI X850XT 256 meg AGP v-card

and yes i know it's an older system, but for what the kids use it for...........

edit=spelling

solution: a virus. sometimes it's the simplest things. One of the first things i did when started having this problem, was run a full virus/spybot sweep, along with disc check and defrag. After slowly replacing components i was down to the hd and i had already installed new OS, but hadn't done complete format. went back and reformatted entire disc, fresh install, and after nearly 24 hours of cycling through loops, no "stand by" intrusions. Thanks for everyone who had input and came up with recommendations. Hope someone else can learn from my mistakes.

 

[dmw16]

I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw your typed "v-card".

 

[mpilchfamily]

Nice to see you built a new system but that old video card should have never been kept. Its the reason you where having the problems. You should have went ahead and moved up to PCI-e

 

[Slugbait]

An old, faulty (or gummed up) GPU fan can cause some overheating which can result in StandBy mode.

 

[Lalakai]

thanks for the inputs.

i've had systems shutdown due to overheated v-cards, but never go into stand-by mode; just didn't think that was possible.

and yep, tossed the old card and got a new one ordered. when i install i'll see if problem goes away, and will update.

as for going to pci-e, that's what i did with my new system and very happy with it. I kind of "leap frog" each platform, so that one system will be fairly new and up-to-date, used for higher demanding applications, while the older system gets more use from the kids, and they can also learn about viruses and crashes without damaging the newer system.

 

[Lalakai]

update, with added twists.

ended up changing entire system, new:
mb
ram
vcard
powersupply
cpu & cooler
installed XP sp3

system still goes into stand by

only thing left is case or faulty connection cables.

going to recheck the wires that connect from case to mb (hd indicator, power indicator, power and reset buttons)

any other suggestions? burying the system is not an option; this is now a vendetta

 

[zerogear]

Um.. Did you check your power settings?

 

[Lalakai]

checked the ram and cpu settings in cmos, plus the initial startup shows voltage ranges coming across the rails; all within acceptible ranges.

strange is that this started with my old system, that had been running fine, then just started going into standby mode. slowly i started changing out the components i thought were most likely to be the culprets; no luck so far.

the only 2 things i haven't changed yet, is the computer case, and my hd. as the hd is an older one and i've managed to pull all the data off it, i'm going to upgrade that soon. I even disconnected the wires from the computer case that route to the mb (hd, ps, reset, start), but no change.

I had considered looking at the power supply coming from the wall outlet, but during the course of checking the computer i've moved it to 3 different locations and used 3 different outlets, of which 2 are on different circuits.

maybe the new hd will fix the problem; otherwise i might have to investigate having the computer exorcised so that the troublesome demons will be banished back to whatever he77 they came from....................probably some Microsoft division.

just hoping that someone else might have come across a similiar situation, and has some words of wisdom to share.

 

[Denithor]

Open Display Properties -> Screen Saver -> Power... (button) -> Power Options Properties

Make sure your system isn't set to go into standby mode after a certain length of time.

Second, did you do a full wipe/fresh install of WinXP or just a repair install?

 

[Lalakai]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Open Display Properties -> Screen Saver -> Power... (button) -> Power Options Properties

Make sure your system isn't set to go into standby mode after a certain length of time.

Second, did you do a full wipe/fresh install of WinXP or just a repair install?

yep, checked my power down options and reset all of them so that no shutdown or hd powerdown time period is set. no change. nor are the "stand-by" happenings related to when the system goes into screen saver mode, as it has happened while using the computer.

old system had W2k on it; when i went with new components i did fresh install of XP. i wanted to wipe the hd, reformat and start from scratch, but couldn't. so i just did new install of XP.

the "stand-by" happenings are random, not related to computer activity (ie gaming, net activities, ect.). last night went through and cleaned all my fans, dust screens, blew out and vacumed the case and components. still happening.

 

[Lalakai]

got it. thanks for the suggestions.