Has your Windows 7 computer ever gone (or been put into) Sleep and you've been unable to wake it up no matter what you did?

From all the posts I see on this subject it's a common problem amongst users.

99% of the posts I read tell you how to “avoid” this problem happening but very few talked about How to the problem.

Firstly, how do we know that the is stuck in sleep mode?

If your computer is stuck in you should be able to hear the computer fan, see the light on or blink but your computer will remain blank. If you do not hear any fan noise or see any buttons light up or your computer produces 1 or more beeps, you may have a hardware issue (something internally has broken) such as a faulty power supply, faulty memory or faulty motherboard.

So having determined that the PC is stuck in sleep mode, here are a number of things to try… plus the that finally worked for us.

1) Move you or hit the “spacebar”. If this does not try each of the following in order.

2) Press the power button in for at least 30 seconds until the PC powers off. Wait 30 seconds and power up again.

3) Switch the PC off at the mains or pull the power cord out and wait at least 3 minutes before powering up.

4) Try another and/or keyboard and repeat step 1.

5) When the PC starts to power up, try and get into the BIOS by holding down the “del”, “Esc” or “F1” button (the specific button for entering the BIOS differs between PC's …. check your PC manual if you still have it.

6) Put an original 7 CD/DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD ROM) and boot up the PC (this will only if your BIOS has been setup to try and boot on the optical disk first before trying the ) if you do not have a windows 7 CD/DVD, you can create a Ubuntu boot disk by following the instructions on this You Tube .

Once you manage to start the PC using a bootable disk, there are a number of things you can do at a BIOS level (see step 5) to make sure your PC does not go into sleep mode (see the Power settings).

If all these things fail, try the following which worked for us.

ram chipsA) Leaving the power switched on, carefully take the side or back off the PC to expose the motherboard and memory chips (seen here as long blue blades) making sure you do not touch any of the internals.

ram-power-light-on

B) Look for a light on the motherboard and for fan activity to make sure there is power reaching the mother board and chips. If we see activity, we can assume the PC is in sleep mode.

take-out-power-cord

C) Remove the power cord and wait until all activity stops

D) Remove one of the RAM memory chips (coloured blue in this example, but often just bare and uncovered). Apply pressure as shown on the white toggle on both sides of the chips and they will ease out. Do not use excessive force.

remove-ram-chips

 

E) Carefully remove the RAM memory set from the case.

ram

F) Re-apply the power cord and switch on the PC.

 

G) If the computer has woken up you should start windows or at least show the BIOS screen. If you manage to get into windows goto “control panel” from the start menu and find the “Power” settings

change-power-settings

H) Change the power setting and choose “Never” in the sleep options.

This solution worked for us but is not guaranteed to work in every case, so only use this as a LAST option if all else fails. The only side-effect we found was that we had to reset the Date and time.

:jk:

99 comments to “How to fix a computer that wont come out of Sleep Mode”

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  1. richard stoll - April 24, 2014 Reply

    have used “hard start” before. will that hurt my computer.

    • IT Guy - August 12, 2014 Reply

      Once in a while wont hurt.

    • venket - March 26, 2015 Reply

      Thank a lot. The final option worked for me.

  2. xHaRrIsOn - July 21, 2014 Reply

    Can i put the chip back in after it powers up?

    • IT Guy - August 12, 2014 Reply

      Not advisable. You can get electrocuted or you can fry the memory chips

  3. Ling - July 21, 2014 Reply

    Thank you. This website has helped me 🙂

  4. abebe bekele - July 21, 2014 Reply

    hi guys
    my computer is desk top i use windows xp
    i can’t to enter in to login page it starts and then it says window xp and then transfer to option
    those are safemode
    windows start normally and so on
    if i click or hit enter on the windows start normally it is not jump to next page
    so please help me with sending video or powerpoint solution for me and re use my computer,
    i thanks for your helps
    thankyou

    • IT Guy - August 12, 2014 Reply

      You should not still be using Windows XP. Support expired in April 2014, you are at serious risk of viruses and virus infection if you continue to use it on the Internet. Please purchase another PC using Windows 7 or 8 immediately.

  5. sarah - July 31, 2014 Reply

    what a big help. thanks! 😀

  6. Heimir - August 13, 2014 Reply

    Ive tried all of these and none have worked. At first I thought this was a motherboard issue so I switched it out.

    • IT Guy - August 15, 2014 Reply

      What happened when you replaced the motherboard? Same problem? Did you re-install windows or update the motherboard drivers?

  7. Sherin - September 1, 2014 Reply

    Second choice worked at my notebook.
    Thanks ^_^

  8. bushfar - September 5, 2014 Reply

    I had just got windows7 installed the other leaving Vista behind. Not wanting to burn the screen/not remembering how to put a screen saver on yet, placed it in sleep mode. Couldn’t get out, your #3 tip was Bingo, worked like a charm. With tks frm a Canuck.

  9. Saima Suleman - September 15, 2014 Reply

    Hi, i wanna ask sum ques, i m nt able to login my windows7, let me tell u frm start, i logged on frm hibernation , a msg of busy script shown as i was browsing, and system stopped responding, i took out the battery n thn inserted it again, then i on the laptop by pressing the power button , windows started but user name not appearing on welcome screen of windows 🙁 plz help me, i m nt able to log on

  10. Alper - November 5, 2014 Reply

    The solution is ineffective because it’s not a hardware but a software issue.

  11. Fiery_WA - November 17, 2014 Reply

    Re seating the RAM worked here

  12. pikta ziurke - December 2, 2014 Reply

    I tried to remove one of computer RAM card and turn on computer but nothing happend. The light all times was flashing. I dont know what to do, help me.

  13. F - December 8, 2014 Reply

    Bought a new Dell windows 7 from Costco. One week later it will not come out of sleep mode with a reboot. It’s going back to the store.

  14. Rey - December 16, 2014 Reply

    Last time, i download game and i change the computer display to turn off after 1 minute. But, when i want to chech the progress, my pc screen stuck at windows log in screen. Before this problem, my xomputer cant log in to windows and just the mouse cursor appear on the black screen and need to wait fo 30 mins before it works.

  15. Regina - December 30, 2014 Reply

    I have a Dell Inspiron15 lap top, with windows 8. I can not get it out of
    Safe Mode. no matter what I try, Please Help!!!!

  16. reza - January 9, 2015 Reply

    Hello. My pc has two network adapter (on-board and internal card). When
    I remove internal card, Windows Won’t Resume or wake up from sleep.
    I removed its driver but doesn’t work. Please help me.

  17. Gene Millsaps - January 17, 2015 Reply

    Per some web advice, http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Black-Screen-on-Windows-7-After-Resume-from-Hibernate-or-Resume-from-Sleep
    Make sure your page file size is fixed to greater than your physical RAM.

  18. Gene Millsaps - January 18, 2015 Reply

    In addition to my earlier advisory, I have more experience to share, on my Win7/64 Pro PC.
    (Warning, Also: In addition to webpage advice, we apparently need to enter a Maximum size, greater than the Initial size, click Set. Then, click thru Oks.)
    Re install your video card driver.
    (On my PC: Using Computer .. Device manager .. Display Adapter .. Rt-click .. Update Driver software .. on web .. says we’re up to date. Hopefully, no re-install is needed.)
    Allow Restart.

  19. Edin - January 27, 2015 Reply

    I have a problem with my laptop. whenever i start my pc, after the “Windows Start screen” my computer screen goes to black. It won’t respond to anything the fan still goes and the power is still on. yet it’s like it’s turned off. I found out the reason for the problem, and it got something to do with my graphic card Driver. i got and AMD 6200M. and every time i download the latest version of AMD catalyst the problem comes again. i have tried to download an earlier version of AMD catalyst. i’ve tried reinstalling the laptop but nothing works. hope you can help me 🙂

    • IT Guy - January 29, 2015 Reply

      We have also seen this problem caused through a Virus not allowing the PC or Laptop to start properly. Try downloading a rescue disc from AVG or AVIRA and boot the computer from these. They will get rid of viruses your normal anti-virus program cannot access.

  20. Me HP owner ! - January 30, 2015 Reply

    Hello ,

    thx a lot ! At step 3 my HP6910p started up again !
    Good Job fellows !

  21. Robert Corrina - February 9, 2015 Reply

    This is the most helpful and accurate information I have found on the hibernation/blackscreen issue. It was useful to use Unbuntu to boot up because it rules out hardware problems. However, adjusting the windows settings or the windows bios, or simply launching windows from inside Unbuntu? That is a many step process apparently involving command line code… so instead of a solution I am now looking at a project and hours of hard work.

  22. Kim - February 23, 2015 Reply

    Took put the memory chip it did not wake it up. What now?

  23. Kim - February 23, 2015 Reply

    It didn’t work what now?

    • IT Guy - February 26, 2015 Reply

      The only option you may now have is to reinstall windows

  24. karize - February 27, 2015 Reply

    how about my pc, i can’t open it. it only goes in sleep mode when im turning it on

    • IT Guy - March 4, 2015 Reply

      Try forcing a reset by holding down the “CTRL” key when turning it on. Do a google search on your computer model to find out how to boot into “safe” mode. Windows 8 PC’s are much more difficult to reset.

  25. Kenny Taylor - February 28, 2015 Reply

    When I turn on my computer the power button lights up and the rest of the lights in my computer flash and on my screen it just says entering sleep mode then goes black, there is no start up screen or anything

    • IT Guy - March 4, 2015 Reply

      Take out the RAM chips and even the small battery. Start up the PC. then put them back again and try again. This may well force a BIOS reset.

  26. babyferljohn - March 6, 2015 Reply

    its not working at my pc ..i remove all the ..set up awhile ..tyhe i put it back ..except the ram and the bios batt. what will i do.. pls help me .

    ty .
    ps thank you..!!

    • IT Guy - March 9, 2015 Reply

      If these tips did not work try a virus scan using an Rescue CD. There are plenty available for free. We recommend AVG

  27. PROFA25 - March 13, 2015 Reply

    If anybody is using a desktop with a manual shut off switch in the back. Like a Corsair power supply or other brand, then turn on your computer with the front button, or top. then turn it off from the back, turn back on switch, then push your power button in….Should solve your problem. If not do what IT GUY says..

    • Jamie wilkins - January 1, 2016 Reply

      You sir, are a legend. This worked perfectly for me. Thanks!

  28. randy frickey - March 13, 2015 Reply

    hi i have this computer that is in sleep mode and i don;t know what is on it yet and i just got it like that and i need help to get it working

    • IT Guy - March 17, 2015 Reply

      Try following the tips in this article plus those others suggested in the comments

  29. Anonymous - April 13, 2015 Reply

    Extremely helpful post. Thanks a lot. The fifth one(BIOS method) worked for me.

  30. Shreya - April 13, 2015 Reply

    Thank you very much. The fifth one(BIOS method) worked for me. I was really sad for the last four days.

  31. Becky - July 2, 2015 Reply

    Tried all the above, didn’t work?

  32. Tom - July 24, 2015 Reply

    I had the same problem, the PC would not start after someone by accident pressed the sleep button.
    I tried all of the above with no luck.
    Then finally I disconnected the PC from the mains and removed the backup battery from the mother board for 3 minutes, then after that I could restart the PC. Only thing I had to configure afterwards was date and time in the bios + my preferred boot sequence.

    • IT Guy - July 27, 2015 Reply

      An excellent solution. But simply taking the battery out for 5 minutes and reinstalling usually does the same thing.

  33. p shiva - August 9, 2015 Reply

    Help me!.i had d same prblm kept my pc in sleep mode and its not starting now..i tried removing the ram but of no use..the fans are running but the led on d front does not blink..pls help me.

    • John Kirkby - August 15, 2015 Reply

      Did you try booting using a Windows Disk/CD?

  34. Melaku - August 14, 2015 Reply

    Thanks a lot. No.2 works to me!

  35. Gary - August 15, 2015 Reply

    I’ve tried everything here to no avail. No display.

    • John Kirkby - August 15, 2015 Reply

      Try another monitor or if a laptop plug a monitor in and see if you get a picture. Also try booting up using a Windows CD or a Ubuntu CD such as a Rescue Disk or any of the other techniques discussed here

  36. Frank - September 5, 2015 Reply

    Thanks, mate – saved my day and got me up and running!

  37. Joel - September 22, 2015 Reply

    I did all of these, but it doesn’t work. What should I do next?

  38. efi - September 26, 2015 Reply

    i took out the RAM card, turned it on – and it really did get out of sleep mode, however – when i put the ram card back in – it’s again in sleep mode! so now i’m with 2GB RAM instead of 4GB. please help.

    • John Kirkby - September 27, 2015 Reply

      Sounds like either the second RAM memory chip is faulty or the RAM socket is damaged. Replace the other 2GB Ram stick with 4 GB or more.

  39. Andrew - October 2, 2015 Reply

    I had to move to the remove all chip set and small battery that finally got somewhere but as soon as I turn the computer on it is emitting this loud constant screeching. The same noise that started this whole problem actually when the computer locked.

    • Andrew - October 2, 2015 Reply

      In regards to my last comment after trying again I noticed it is still flashing so technically still in sleep mode

      • John Kirkby - October 7, 2015 Reply

        Can you give me some technical details, Operating System, approx age and type of computer, motherboard

  40. cle - October 7, 2015 Reply

    Thank you! You are the only site that gave me a solution if I couldn’t get to my control panel because… my computer was stuck in safe mode!
    Awesome!

  41. Sam - October 27, 2015 Reply

    There is this light on the board alright..and the amber light on the power button..keeps blinking..ba the fan doesnt move at all….

  42. Joe - October 30, 2015 Reply

    The funny thing is a fix computers for other people but can’t seem to know the problem of my own computer which is driving me crazy , so here is the story , i built this computer from spare parts got the motherboard seperatly it was a gigabyte ,then bought cpu i7 3rd gen and ram kingston 16gb , i first installed windows 7 with 3 hdds , 1 is main and two were RAID mirrored incase something goes wrong and i dont have to lose my data , i kept the pc in standby mode everytime because im too laZy to turn it on and wait so it goes to sleep and when i click mouse or keyboard it wakes up , one day i try to turn it on ans ops boot manager missing , which is fine i have seen it million times and actually fixed it , i tried everything from disck repair , boot repair , build boot manager , la la la all the available fixes , nope nothing , then i thought maybe its the RAID that is causing it so i removed the raid hdds nope same thing , funny thing is i tried to get the data from the RAID HDD and couldnt even cloning data recovery softwares , nope, then i cursed the whole computer IT industry and reinstalled windows 8.1 and removed the raid and kept it normal which is 1 main hdd and 2 extra ones , after a while same thing happened again and luckly this time i didnt lose my data , so i was like i think its the main hdd that have this sleep issue , took it off and got a SSD and in my mind thought yep this is the solution no more scratched disks ans slow boot time and corrupted boot files . And upgraded my windows to 10 , i was so happy everything was super fast and amazing , so i kep the same thing turn off my computer using sleep . I come back from work today and find out my pc is not waking up by mouse or keyboard so i turn it on by power button and ops pc ran into a problem cant boot , fix startup nope , then i went to refresh pc there was no option only reset and i kept my files but lost 3 days worth of installed programs and shit . So now i curse my pc because i thing its either the motherf board or the power supply causing this shit or the ram ? Or wat the hell is going on its driving me nuts

  43. Phil - November 8, 2015 Reply

    Wow it happened to me I thought my monitor was dead ,but I just went
    ( ctrl alt del ) and presto then cancelled out of task manager good to go

  44. Andrew Muirhead - November 29, 2015 Reply

    I am having this issue except on a laptop and on windows 10. I cannot reach an part of the motherboard. Please advise

  45. Daniel Liedke - December 25, 2015 Reply

    Amazing post!! Removing ram solved my problem! Thanks a lot!

  46. Melissa - December 27, 2015 Reply

    Thanks heaps. This saved me a trip to the Computer store and an expensive bill. I turned PC off manually and started holding down F1. Windows loaded normally and I immediately changed the sleep setting in control panel. Fingers crossed this doesn’t happen again but at least I know what to do if it does 😉

  47. Allyn R - December 27, 2015 Reply

    Turning off sleep mode in the power settings is pretty obvious but the problem with that is sleep mode should work regardless. Why have a feature of an OS if the damn thing don’t work?

  48. Kirsty Walton - January 7, 2016 Reply

    Hi,

    I’ve just purchased a refurbished computer running windows 7. The previous computer was replaced due to the monitor no longer recognising the monitor being plugged in, the PCU was also overheating.

    When setting up my new computer, I plugged all the same components in that was used on my last computer, but all that keeps coming up on the monitor is that it cant find a computer and to check the cables. I have replaced the monitor cable just in case it was that, and the same thing is happening. I took a monitor from another computer in the house that I know is working fine, and this one goes straight into sleep mode, and no matter what I press on my keyboard or clicking/moving the mouse does not work.

    The computer sounds like it is booting up normally. All the correct lights etc are on, but it has baffled me with 2 different monitors having issues.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

    Thanks

  49. Samkit - January 17, 2016 Reply

    Finally the final option worked for me. Thank you 😀

  50. Robert c Gideon - April 20, 2016 Reply

    does that work for hp laptop?I’ll never buy one of those again

    • Robert c Gideon - April 20, 2016 Reply

      tired of it

  51. Youssef Errahali - May 30, 2016 Reply

    Do you put the RAM Card back in?

  52. Simon - July 29, 2016 Reply

    Problem: When ordering sleep in Windows 7 my screen would go black but my computer would not sleep (fan still running). And then it was impossible to wake it up again (pressing keyboard, mouse, power button, nothing worked). The only solution was to cut the power and restart. Very annoying!

    Solution: I had two screens, setting them to “duplicate these displays” is what caused the problem. Changed to “extend these screens” and now my computer enter and exit sleep mode without problem. (right click desktop —> personalize —> display —-> change display settings —-> select “extend these screens” in the drop down).

    Writing here because I spent hours googling without finding the solution.

  53. Pete - August 13, 2016 Reply

    I found that it was chrome that was making my monitor go into sleep mode seems it is not compatible with windows 7. After removing it I have had no problems since,maybe it will work for you if you have this problem.

    Regards
    Pete.

  54. Sab Bautista - October 20, 2016 Reply

    Hi. I had also put my pc on sleep mode then when i came back, i’ve been moving the mouse and typing on the keyboard but the monitor remains blank. So i decided to switch the power off. When i turn it back on, the cpu runs but still the monitor is blank. I did the instructions here in your post but nothing happened. What should I do?

  55. joe bloggs - October 28, 2016 Reply

    Are you crazy?
    I am not going to pay any money to anyone to be able to switch on my computer.
    If the wort comes to the worst, I will go back to my old computer that has old faithful, Windows xp

  56. Olivier - December 22, 2016 Reply

    Oh shit! Nothing else had worked for me, tried so many websites today. Taking out the RAM memory chip finally took my PC out of sleep mode. Thank you so much!

  57. Chibuzor - March 9, 2017 Reply

    Tanx For d assistance

  58. Gregory Hall - April 2, 2017 Reply

    My PC is fine. It’s my monitor that’s comatose.

  59. temitope - April 7, 2017 Reply

    hi,i’m using a windows 7 hp laptop….my system has an inbuilt battery..for the past 3 days,it has been faulty…this how it goes…once i switch it on,its act normal..i can type my password..and after that,after its loading..m unable to view anything except from the cursor on my monitor…the power button light is on…pls i realLy need your help ASAP…TKS

  60. King - May 10, 2017 Reply

    I have a laptop,will this procedure work??

  61. Raymond McCoy - May 11, 2017 Reply

    I used step H and step H alone to fix this issue

  62. Raymond McCoy - May 11, 2017 Reply

    Thank you

  63. Tara - June 9, 2017 Reply

    I followed all the steps and my computer still won’t come out of sleep mode the fan is running really hard and the screen won’t turn on

    • John Kirkby - June 9, 2017 Reply

      Try connecting an external monitor. However, I feel that just powering it down fully by holding in the power button for 30 seconds may get it to boot properly. (or pull the cord out of the wall), if you still see nothing as you hear it boot, it maybe the video card that has failed and needs replacing

  64. Aproteem - June 23, 2017 Reply

    Thank you very much….Holding the power button fro 30 seconds worked for me…thank you very much

  65. Joe Bantol Bestman - June 26, 2017 Reply

    My DELL CPU get in standby. The power button shows steady (not blinking) amber. Pressing the reset button makes the power button alternate between green and amber, and the CD drive light lights as though trying to read a CD. I’ve tried turning the computer on with a bootable CD installed, and the CD drive starts to spin, but nothing is read and eventually winds down. The monitor yellow light is on continuously, and the screen is always dark. I’ve tried booting from a startup floppy, but the computer never tries to boot from the floppy. I can shut down by holding the power button in for 5 seconds. When I turn the computer back on, it immediately goes to the amber light on the power button, and tries the CD drive as described above. The standby light on the motherboard is always on (yellow).

  66. K Sharma - November 9, 2017 Reply

    Great work! Your suggestion 2 worked for my Laptop.
    Thanks you.

  67. SylArt - December 19, 2017 Reply

    please I need help, my Toshiba satellite froze so I pressed my power button and my system went to sleep. since then I can’t power it or boot it because it can’t come out of hibernation mode. I tried holding the power button for 30 sec still no show. my battery is inbuilt

  68. computer noob - December 20, 2017 Reply

    Hi my problem has been happening for awhile now just a year ago we updated to windows 10 from windows 7 which is pc.The problem is some how with sleep mode where everything turns on like fan but the screen remain. black hate having to hard reset it. we try everything moving the mouse to space to escape and nothing

  69. Ulrich - January 18, 2018 Reply

    Thanks guys. Your advise was spot on. Very much appreciated. A bucket of Canadian lobsters to you.

  70. Aruke - February 24, 2018 Reply

    I am thinking of formatting the hard drive and ran a new windows.Is that possible?And is it going to cause any problem?

  71. Aruke - February 24, 2018 Reply

    My computer always try’s to delete folders to recycle bin when I open my folders.If there’s any way I can fix my computer and at the same time know what was the main cause and problem of that computer?

  72. Beverly - June 16, 2018 Reply

    When I turn on my computer it keeps on blinking and it says Please enter sleep mode. Please help me what to do

  73. Cael - July 30, 2018 Reply

    I no longer have the CD so I tried doing this. I did remove all the chip set,battery and mother board but as soon. All fan are working and seems there’s a power. When I reinstall everything back the fan will go on and off as if the PC is dying. Then the monitor will show that there’s no video input and sleep mode notification. I dunno what else to do.

  74. Salahudeen Abbas - September 5, 2018 Reply

    The last method work for me. Thanks a lot.

  75. Samuel - November 17, 2018 Reply

    Hi
    I was making use of an avg display cable for tv with my laptop. And all of a sudden the t screen became light milk colour. I tried to operate tye laptop but it wont respond. So i did a hard power off, but pressing the power button and i Offed.
    I tried to on it back but it wont come on again. No display(black screen ) but the fan operates well. So please what can be the possible case and how to fix it.

  76. Art. - April 21, 2019 Reply

    i HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM. My computer when it is supposed to go to sleep (after 2 hours of inactivity) instead of going to sleep id completely shuts down. and takes over an HOUR the next time I try to boot up and then gives me the black screen saying it was shut down improperly. I have tried everything… I have settings to never shut down hard drive. I have tried every form of rebooting power cord etc. I have tried unplugging everything. 1 at a time and all at once, inside the tower and out.
    When I am working on the computer everything seems to work fine. but when it tries to go to sleep it will shut off completely. when I go to wake it up I used to click the mouse or the keyboard and it would come on instantly, but now I have to push the power button, to turn it back on and even then it is like it is dead Nothing Nada. so I sit back and usually about an Hour later it will come on to the black screen. I have run antivirus and maleware and nothing???
    What the heck is going on???

  77. Brian - June 1, 2020 Reply

    My big question is: WHY does this happen? My computer was working fine for years (going on and off of standby per usual) then suddenly it can’t?

    Is it the battery?

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