[XP1.8k]

Originally posted by Michael Chiew
XP1.8k

The first thing you've got to do is take a deep breath, relax and calm down like our friend Richard Cranium has suggested.

Been following your thread "NO RESPONSE IN WIN98 - NEED TO DO HOMEWORK" on the quiet. Quite an interesting problem.

When you put the two threads together "NO RESPONSE IN WIN98 - NEED TO DO HOMEWORK" and "CAN'T HIBERNATE", the picture becomes a little clearer. Waiting in the wings for something more concrete to turn up does pay dividends. "CAN'T HIBERNATE" has narrowed down the cause, or causes, of your problem.

I believe it all boils down to power management, or perhaps power "mismanagement". Fooling around with power management can affect system performance, including the type you're experiencing - slow startup, icons and shortcuts unresponsive to the touch, etc.

You did say that the system is new and you've also reformatted the hard disk, say, like on Sunday, didn't you. All right, let's take it from there. A new system, reformatted as well. Assuming that you've assembled the machine yourself, can we discount the possibility of any loose connections. What about ram? Are all sticks of ram properly seated. Is your video card properly mounted. Let's assume that the installation of components is faultless and your BIOS settings are correct.

That leaves us with the question of power management because HIBERNATE is part of it. HIBERNATE is key. In Windows 98, the HIBERNATE feature is OS-supported but before it can be activated, your BIOS must first support it. Otherwise, no HIBERNATE feature for Windows 98. The BIOS must be ACPI-compliant and must support the HIBERNATE mode.

ACPI functionality is dynamic. It changes; it gets better and better. Functions are constantly being improved upon and added by BIOS and system manufacturers. If functionality such as the HIBERNATE feature is missing and you're experiencing unusual BIOS-related behavior, call up the manufacturer of your system BIOS for the most current BIOS to install.

In your case, check with the motherboard manufacturer, MSI, for the latest BIOS upgrade which supports the latest version of ACPI (I forget the version). If the BIOS upgrade does not support the HIBERNATE mode, you won't get it in Windows 98. While you're at it, get the latest chipset driver upgrade. Flash your BIOS, upgrade your chipset drivers and you should be rid of your problem of slow startup and unresponsive icons and shortcuts.

In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, STANDBY and HIBERNATE are supported and can be activated on the OS level. For Windows 98, it has to be a feature supported by the manufactuer of the PC.

Although STANDBY and HIBERNATE both perform power-saving functions, they are different in behavior.

STANDBY cuts power to peripheral devices when they are not in use, including the monitor and hard drive. Power however is left on for RAM so whatever's in physical memory won't be lost, e.g., any work that you may have done remains before STANDBY sets in.

HIBERNATE saves the contents of RAM to your hard disk when you turn your computer off. When you switch on your computer again, documents and application are open just as you left them before the powering down.

Michael Chiew

hey.......thanks man.......me and my dad are going to figure out what's going on tonight........i think or i "hope" that I have fixed my problems for the shortcuts, because i used norton utilities to check my computer, and it said there was a problem with activeX, so I corrected it, and it worked, then it didn't work, and now it works again.......i am going to update my chipset drivers.....i already tried flashing the new bios on.......do u think the power supply has anything to do with it? if i can't solve these problems, do u think i should upgrade to windows xp? or will upgrading make it even worse? do i need to reinstall windows to see if my hibernate comes up? i am sorry for seeming so paranoid.........