Need Help Diagnosing Issue

[Brocket]

Here is what I have:
HP Pavilion m9515y
AMD Phenom 9850 Quad Core Processor
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS
Running Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit

Here is my issue. I typically put my computer to sleep mode when I'm done for the night. I came in the room the other morning and could hear the fan running hard but the power button of which is usually blue when running or Amber when in sleep mode was not lit up at all. Nothing was responding and nothing was on the screen. I tried hard rebooting and it would shut off but as soon as you pressed the power button it would do it again. So I pulled the plug and held the power button for 15 secs to clear the capacitors and plugged it back in. Everything worked fine from what I could tell afterward. It happened again the next morning after leaving it in sleep mode. I ran all my hardward diagnostics and didn't find any issues. So I disabled sleep mode and had no problems but got tired of shutting the computer down everynight. So I did a complete reload/revert to original factory state. I completed all the Windows updates last night. I put it in sleep mode and when I went to pull it out it did the same thing again. So do you think this is software related or hardware. I'm thinking it is possibly the video card. I recently started playing the DC Universe online game from Steam engine and have had no issues with the game running. Also the computer started doing this after a recent windows update for C+++. I don't think it is related but who knows, that's why I did the reload so I'm thinking video card. How can I know for sure and what can I try to troubleshoot?

[fireman2118]

The first course of action would be to uninstall any drivers/software that was installed preceeding the problem.

When was the last time you updated your hardware drivers? (motherboard, graphics card, etc.) It's possible to have conflicts after software updates. I'd go to HP and download updated drivers for your system.
Is your Nvidia graphics chip on the Mainboard or in a PCIE slot ?

I suggest going to the HP user forums if you haven't already. If it's a hardware/software conflict, someone else may be experiencing it also.

You may be seeing the beginnings of hardware failure of some kind.

[Ladon]

Sleep mode sucks, I never use it. Ive found its always buggy as hell. Try using hibernate instead. Also Vista is horrible, Its the next Windows ME, the OS everyone laughs at and makes fun of. If you can, upgrade to Windows 7. And unless you have more then 4GB of RAM there is no reason for a home user to run a 64bit OS, go back to 32bit since there is better app/driver support.

[bruno]

Lol, Brocket, I can't resist....get a Mac!

I feel for your frustration and hope those with your OS can help you out with their suggestions. Good luck on the fix and keep us updated.

[1magsrt8]

I never use sleep mode. something always happens

[Brocket]

I went all out and reverted back to factory original then I have spent the last 3 days updating all the security and drivers. I just finished doing a BIOS update tonight, with HP it updates the cards while it does the BIOS. I'm finally current with the Windows updates, etc, etc... The graphics card is plugged into a slot and came with the computer but is upgradeable. The first thing I did was check to ensure the fan on the graphics card was still working and that it was seated well in it's slot. That all checked out. I just tried putting it to sleep after all the updates and only the monitor goes to sleep, everything else keeps running. Good news is it hasn't crashed again so far but it isn't really going fully into sleep/hibernate mode. I will dig into the security settings tomorrow to ensure it is set to where the keyboard can put it into sleep mode and wake it properly.

Originally Posted by fireman2118

The first course of action would be to uninstall any drivers/software that was installed preceeding the problem.

When was the last time you updated your hardware drivers? (motherboard, graphics card, etc.) It's possible to have conflicts after software updates. I'd go to HP and download updated drivers for your system.
Is your Nvidia graphics chip on the Mainboard or in a PCIE slot ?

I suggest going to the HP user forums if you haven't already. If it's a hardware/software conflict, someone else may be experiencing it also.

You may be seeing the beginnings of hardware failure of some kind.

I haven't been able to find anything that references Hibernate on my desktop. I had it on my laptop but don't see the option on the desktop. I agree on the Vista piece, when I bought the computer I found out that Microsoft was doing free upgrades during the time frame. When I went to do the upgrade I found out it had expired, so that sucked. I just got a new laptop for the wife with Windows 7, I'm trying it out now and will most likely upgrade soon. Just haven't had to yet so would rather spend the money on mods and xmas. BTW, I have 8GB of RAM and a 2.5GHz quad core processor. I bought this computer to get into gaming with the vision that I would most likely be upgrading the graphics card within a couple years depending if it would support what I needed.

Originally Posted by Ladon

Sleep mode sucks, I never use it. Ive found its always buggy as hell. Try using hibernate instead. Also Vista is horrible, Its the next Windows ME, the OS everyone laughs at and makes fun of. If you can, upgrade to Windows 7. And unless you have more then 4GB of RAM there is no reason for a home user to run a 64bit OS, go back to 32bit since there is better app/driver support.

[fireman2118]

Companies like HP are often (if not always) behind on their updates. Go to Nvidias site to get the best and latest updates for your Nvidia graphics card.
The latest drivers for your card are 285.62 http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-wi...ql-driver.html

[Brocket]

Thanks, I just ran the search for GeForce 9600 GS for Windows Vista 64 bit and it shows latest version as 285.62. I'm updating it now. It does appear to be out of date.

Originally Posted by fireman2118

Companies like HP are often (if not always) behind on their updates. Go to Nvidias site to get the best and latest updates for your Nvidia graphics card.
The latest drivers for your card are 286.52 http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-wi...ql-driver.html

[Ladon]

Originally Posted by Brocket

I haven't been able to find anything that references Hibernate on my desktop.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/

[1HOTSRT]

Originally Posted by bruno

Lol, Brocket, I can't resist....get a Mac!

I feel for your frustration and hope those with your OS can help you out with their suggestions. Good luck on the fix and keep us updated.

Oh Ann, you sound just like my daughter !!!!!