Knowledge Base

You may experience power management-related symptoms on a computer that is running Windows Vista

Article ID: 927393

Article Last Modified on 8/23/2007

APPLIES TO

Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition
Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit Edition
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
Windows Vista Business 64-bit Edition

SYMPTOMS

You may experience one or more of the following power management-related symptoms on a computer that is running Windows Vista:

You cannot shut down the computer.
You cannot put the computer into a power saving mode such as sleep or hibernation.
Windows Vista does not resume from sleep successfully.
Certain devices do not work correctly when Windows Vista resumes from sleep.
You experience instability in Windows Vista when you use a power saving power option.

CAUSE

You may experience this issue if one or more of the following conditions are true:

The computer BIOS is incompatible with Windows Vista, or the computer BIOS is outdated.
Incorrect settings are configured in the computer BIOS.
Incompatible power management software is installed in Windows Vista.

Note Windows Vista only supports computers that have an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS installed.

RESOLUTION

To troubleshoot this issue, follow these steps.

Step 1: Update the computer BIOS

Verify that the latest BIOS is installed in the computer. You can use the Msinfo32.exe program to determine the BIOS version. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, type msinfo32 in the Start Search box, and then click msinfo32 in the Programs list.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
In the System Information dialog box, click System Summary in the left pane.
In the right pane, examine the value that appears next to BIOS Version/Date.
Try to locate a BIOS update for the computer. To do this, perform one of the following actions:
- Visit the computer manufacturer's support Web site, or contact the computer manufacturer to determine whether a BIOS update is available for the computer.
- Visit the computer motherboard manufacturer's support Web site, or contact the manufacturer of the computer motherboard to determine whether a BIOS update is available for the motherboard.
For information about how to contact computer hardware manufacturers, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

60781 Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

60782 Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z
If you locate a BIOS update, examine the documentation, or contact the manufacturer to determine whether the update includes changes to resolve the power management problem.

Note Sometimes the documentation may not include information about all the changes that the BIOS update includes.
Use the manufacturer's recommended BIOS update tool to update the computer BIOS.

Step 2: Examine the BIOS settings

Incorrect BIOS settings may cause startup problems or shutdown problems in Windows Vista. Examine the BIOS settings to determine whether the BIOS is configured correctly. For more information about the correct settings for the computer BIOS, contact the computer manufacturer.

Note Although this is not a common scenario, you may experience computer startup issues if you reset the BIOS configuration to its default settings. Therefore, we recommend that you contact the computer manufacturer before you modify the computer BIOS.

Step 3: Troubleshoot third-party power management programs

Examine the computer to determine whether any third-party power management programs are installed. Sometimes, a program that is designed for one particular operating system and BIOS version does not work with other operating systems or BIOS versions. To help troubleshoot this issue, disable or remove power management programs that are not designed for Windows Vista. Visit the program manufacturer's support Web site to help determine whether a particular program is supported for use with Windows Vista.

For information about how to contact computer program manufacturers, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

60781 Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

60782 Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z

Keywords: kbtshoot kbhardware kbprb kbexpertisebeginner KB927393

Microsoft KB Archive/927393

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