Windows 8.1 Goes To Sleep

[ronto]

My Dell laptop with Windows 8.1 goes to sleep by itself when I turn on the power. The only way to wake it up is to press and hold the "power" button down for about 10 seconds. I did a total scan and it indicated "no threats were detected" What do you think the problem is? This is intermittent and does not happen every time I turn the computer on.

 

[Silverhand92]

As a former Dell tech, I can ask a few questions that might be helpful.
1: Have you run the system POST diagnostics? (From system off, hold Fn and turn power on, then let go of all buttons)
2: When you are turning the power on, are you resuming from Hibernate?
3: Are there any unusual sounds coming from the system, such as fan noise, etc.?
4: Have you checked the power settings?
5: Also, the Dell QuickSet software should alert you if there's any battery problems. Have you seen any of these alerts?

Without distinct identifiers of the system, I can only give you the basics. (Note: I said Former Dell tech. I'm no longer currently with Dell, although I still love their systems.)

 

[ronto]

As a former Dell tech, I can ask a few questions that might be helpful.
1: Have you run the system POST diagnostics? (From system off, hold Fn and turn power on, then let go of all buttons)
2: When you are turning the power on, are you resuming from Hibernate?
3: Are there any unusual sounds coming from the system, such as fan noise, etc.?
4: Have you checked the power settings?
5: Also, the Dell QuickSet software should alert you if there's any battery problems. Have you seen any of these alerts?

Without distinct identifiers of the system, I can only give you the basics. (Note: I said Former Dell tech. I'm no longer currently with Dell, although I still love their systems.)

Thank you for your reply. The following are the answers to of your questions:
(1) I did not try this.
(2) No
(3) No
(4) Yes, they are O.K.
(5) I did not try this.

The problem disappeared as fast as it appeared. I do appreciate your suggestions and I will follow them if the problem comes back.

 

[ronto]

Yesterday I was watching a UTUBE video on full screen and exited to partial screen and the my computer screen went gray. I tried several things and finally hit "ESC" and it went back to the screen saver. So I signed in and everything was normal again. Can you figure out what happened this time? Thank you.

 

[Silverhand92]

At this point, I recommend doing a full shutdown, and doing the POST Boot Test, (*Option 1 in my previous answer.*)
As I said, I'm not currently a Dell technician anymore, but I still love their systems.
The POST Boot Test can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes in most instances, and will test hardware, software, and configurations essential to getting your system to hand off to your OS, such as Windows 8.1 in this case with your laptop.

NOTE: The Extended Test option can take an hour or more, depending on the tests the system runs.

If you have any further issues, please attach the .log file from the POST Boot Test. (I don't remember specific locations, but you can search for it with Win +Q and type in *.log, and it should find any log files, which then you can attach to your message / reply on this forum.)

**Further Note: Some newer Dell laptops do not have a log file that appears on Windows. If your system finds any errors in diagnostic mode, it is advised to use a cell phone or other device with a camera to take a picture of the error message, or write the error message down, and then research it on a computer that has access to the internet. (This assumes that there may be cases where the laptop does not connect to the internet.)