Microsoft KB Archive/928973

Knowledge Base

You receive an error message when the battery power becomes critically low when watching live TV in Windows Vista: "The device driver for the <device_name> device is preventing the machine from entering standby"

Article ID: 928973

Article Last Modified on 10/29/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
• Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Ultimate

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SYMPTOMS

A portable computer does not shut down as expected when the battery power is low. Instead, the computer performs a critical shutdown when the battery power is exhausted. This is the case if the following conditions are true:

• You configure the Power settings to shut down the computer when the battery power is critically low.
• You watch live TV in Windows Media Center when the computer is running on battery power.
• The battery power is drained to a critically low condition.

Additionally, you may receive the following error message:

The device driver for the <Device_name> device is preventing the machine from entering standby. Please close all applications and try again. If the problem persists, you may have to update this driver.

However, you expect to receive a message that the system is shutting down because the battery power is low.

CAUSE

This problem can occur with some TV tuners that prevent the system from entering standby when you run live TV.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Additional query words: laptop

Keywords: kbbug kbnofix kbqfe kbprb kbexpertisebeginner KB928973

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