Delay whenever resuming from Sleep?

Hi guys,

I've had this problem on my Toshiba laptop ever since I upgraded to Win 8 (now 8.1), and I wondered if you could help.

Whenever I resume from Sleep mode, I must wait 15–20 seconds for my keyboard or mouse to respond. I sign in, and the desktop appears, but If I move the mouse or type, nothing happens. That is, until the delay's over—then it all happens. (For example, if I've moved the mouse during the freeze, the pointer now zips around the screen registering all the moves at high speed. That's how I know I can use the system again.)

I thought it might be Avast Anti-virus, which I'd heard could cause freezes. So I switched to another a/v, but it didn't help.

When I restart Windows, I can use Sleep mode a few times before the problem returns. It always returns, though.

I leave my PC in Sleep mode whenever I'm not using it, so this a frequent annoyance. (I've tried Hibernation instead, but the problem still occurs—it just takes longer to reach the sign-on screen.) Thanks for your ideas!

This is still happening... No suggestions?