PC dies when idle for a few hours. Cannot boot into Windows 11

This has happened twice. Late yesterday I remembered I need to power down my PC that had been idle several hours. I found the monitor had a full screen with a sky blue color. After trying a few things to wake it up, I tried rebooting.

At first all seemed to boot normally but it only when into BIOS setting without being prompted. I tried rebooting several more time with the same results booting into BIOS. Finally, I unplugged the computer and waited 30 seconds & powered up again only to have the same problem; an endless loop into BIOS settings.

This morning I plugged the computer back in & booted to my surprise into my desktop. At the moment all seems normal. If I were to guess, I think my SSD C: drive is about to die. Anyone else agree or have a way to trouble shoot this issue?

Windows 11 Pro 64-bit, Version 22H2 (OS Build 22623.1250) Other specs listed below in "My Computer".

If you suspect your SSD, then your first step would be to test it. There are many testing tools to choose from, like Crystal Disk Info, Hard Drive Sentinel, and better, test apps from the SSD manufacturer, if available.

Some of the other usual suspects:
Check for crashes in Event Viewer. If these are crashes then they will usually be listed under the Critical Event section.
Check for odd Power Settings.
Check for any Windows scheduled tasks in Task Scheduler

Also: the next time this happens, and you are in the BIOS, check the CPU temperature. Is it high? When it won't startup until it has cooled down overnight might be one (of many) possible reasons.

No need to test it, 99% is the SSD. Many motherboards enter BIOS when no hard disk is found, just in case you need to change some settings to boot. Next time you enter BIOS automatically, have a look at the storage section, there should be no disk because it wasn't detected. At this stage it is too risky to try to clone it, I recommend to do a clean Windows installation on the new disk and then try to copy only your data, not the whole disk. I recently replaced the SSD in a laptop which had the same issue. I attempted 4 times to clone the disk and all failed at some point. I gave up, installed Windows 11 on the new SSD and then took only the data from the old disk. Now the system is much better than before with latest drivers and latest applications.

TVeblen said:

If you suspect your SSD, then your first step would be to test it. There are many testing tools to choose from, like Crystal Disk Info, Hard Drive Sentinel, and better, test apps from the SSD manufacturer, if available.

Some of the other usual suspects:
Check for crashes in Event Viewer. If these are crashes then they will usually be listed under the Critical Event section.
Check for odd Power Settings.
Check for any Windows scheduled tasks in Task Scheduler

Also: the next time this happens, and you are in the BIOS, check the CPU temperature. Is it high? When it won't startup until it has cooled down overnight might be one (of many) possible reasons.

Click to expand...

CrystalDiskInfo says SSD at 81%

Event Viewer indicates two Kernel-Power in the last 24 hours.



I can think of 3 odd events over the last 2 weeks.
1) When returning to my computer after a few hours I found it mysteriously had booted into BIOS. Closing BIOS the PC booted into the desktop normally.
2) When returning to my computer after a few hours I expected it to be in sleep mode but found a blank screen & no response to keyboard. Rebooting it went straight into BIOS. Exiting BIOS the PC just looped back to BIOS again & again. After unplugging/plugging the computer it booted normally.
3) Yesterday, when returning to my computer after a few hours I expected it to be in sleep mode but found a blank screen & no response to keyboard. Exiting BIOS the PC just looped back to BIOS again & again. After unplugging/plugging the computer it just repeated looped back to BIOS again & again. I unplugged the computer's power overnight & tried again this morning to find it booted normally & has each time today.

Please run the V2 log collector and post a share link into this thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive.

81% disk health is too low, especially for an SDD. What are you waiting for? To lose any data first? Replace the drive ASAP.

Still would like to know what the temperatures are in BIOS when this happens.
The V2 log collector for zbook to look at would be helpful.

Can you post a pic of CrystalDiskInfo results here?

That Event Viewer critical event is just telling you that the system shut down unexpectedly. Yep, we know that. That was probably you hard restarting the PC after finding it unresponsive. We are trying to find out why it's freezing and becoming unresponsive.

It is the information you've given that the system will start up normally, run, and then shut down automatically after running idle for some time that has me fixated on heat problems, power problems, or graphics problems.
I'm just not wrapping my head around the idea of a failing disk causing those symptoms in that fashion. I'd think it would throw up the problems at cold start, normal start, restart - anytime - if it were failing.

TVeblen said:

Still would like to know what the temperatures are in BIOS when this happens.
The V2 log collector for zbook to look at would be helpful.

Can you post a pic of CrystalDiskInfo results here?

That Event Viewer critical event is just telling you that the system shut down unexpectedly. Yep, we know that. That was probably you hard restarting the PC after finding it unresponsive. We are trying to find out why it's freezing and becoming unresponsive.

It is the information you've given that the system will start up normally, run, and then shut down automatically after running idle for some time that has me fixated on heat problems, power problems, or graphics problems.
I'm just not wrapping my head around the idea of a failing disk causing those symptoms in that fashion. I'd think it would throw up the problems at cold start, normal start, restart - anytime - if it were failing.

Click to expand...

Hi. I appreciate your help. I'm not familiar with Event Viewer so I'm not sure if I'm answering you questions as you would like. I've attached a screen grab of CrystalDiskInfo from today. Everything posted in the text file (PC ERROR) is from Event Viewer (local)/Custom Views/Windows Logs/System from about 2PM 2/10/2023 until about 11PM that night. That is the total time my PC was idle & the issue occurred, so it seems a lot was going on during that period. The issue has only happened when the computer is idle.

If you'd like more in depth information from the text file just let me know. It was at about the 10:11PM point that the computer really got busy & it was idle. I tried to "wake" it somewhere after 10:34PM. I found the monitor ON, not black but with a sky blue color. The computer did not respond to the keyboard at all.

Personally, I'd dive in and check the disk's data & power supply cables & connectors.

Best of luck,
Denis

Crystaldisk looks clean.

You say that this problem occurs after a long period of being idle.
Your symptoms bring to mind a common problem we had over on TenForums where the PC would freeze when going into or out of Sleep. No response from PC, no mouse or keyboard response, only a hard restart would work.

There are 2 things you could check/test to see if this is a possibility here:

First, if not off already, turn off Fast Startup
The fastest way there: search for/open Control Panel > Go to Power Options > on the left, choose: Choose what the Power Buttons Do > you will see "Turn on Fast Startup" and it may be greyed out > choose: "Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable" > and now you can uncheck: "Turn on Fast Startup" > Restart the PC

Now go back into Power Options:
Whichever power plan you are on, choose: Change Plan Settings > choose: Change Advanced Power Settings > under Advance Plan Settings, the first item is Hard Disk > expand that > then expand "Turn Off Hard Disk After" > (note the setting here before you change it *) > move the counter DOWN till it gets to 0 and it will say "Never" > Apply
Now check the SLEEP section > expand it > user's choice, but on a desktop PC the Sleep After can be Never > Hibernate after Never should be selected if you turned off Fast Startup.

* It would be important to know if the PC was turning off the hard disk after 2-3 hours in that Power Option setting.

Fast Startup is really just Hibernation. Instead of shutting down the system creates a hibernation file which it uses to startup fast. The freezing problem was linked, in some cases, to a corrupt hibernation file.

Test the PC like that for a while. If my hunch is right, and it's freezing going into sleep, or you have a corrupt hiberfil file, then the freezing should stop. But be reminded that there can be other causes, like overheating.

Were you ever able to look at the BIOS temps? Or has the problem not happened again yet?

Note: you should also test Sleep. Can you put the PC to Sleep manually and bring it out normally?

TVeblen said:

Crystaldisk looks clean.

You say that this problem occurs after a long period of being idle.
Your symptoms bring to mind a common problem we had over on TenForums where the PC would freeze when going into or out of Sleep. No response from PC, no mouse or keyboard response, only a hard restart would work.

There are 2 things you could check/test to see if this is a possibility here:

First, if not off already, turn off Fast Startup
The fastest way there: search for/open Control Panel > Go to Power Options > on the left, choose: Choose what the Power Buttons Do > you will see "Turn on Fast Startup" and it may be greyed out > choose: "Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable" > and now you can uncheck: "Turn on Fast Startup" > Restart the PC

Click to expand...

Fast Startup was OFF

TVeblen said:

Now go back into Power Options:
Whichever power plan you are on, choose: Change Plan Settings > choose: Change Advanced Power Settings > under Advance Plan Settings, the first item is Hard Disk > expand that > then expand "Turn Off Hard Disk After" > (note the setting here before you change it *) > move the counter DOWN till it gets to 0 and it will say "Never" > Apply
Now check the SLEEP section > expand it > user's choice, but on a desktop PC the Sleep After can be Never > Hibernate after Never should be selected if you turned off Fast Startup.

Click to expand...

Done

TVeblen said:

* It would be important to know if the PC was turning off the hard disk after 2-3 hours in that Power Option setting.

Fast Startup is really just Hibernation. Instead of shutting down the system creates a hibernation file which it uses to startup fast. The freezing problem was linked, in some cases, to a corrupt hibernation file.

Test the PC like that for a while. If my hunch is right, and it's freezing going into sleep, or you have a corrupt hiberfil file, then the freezing should stop. But be reminded that there can be other causes, like overheating.

Were you ever able to look at the BIOS temps? Or has the problem not happened again yet?

Click to expand...

I've been cautious not to let the computer idle for more than a few minutes since this issue began. If (when) the issue reoccurs I'll check hard drive temps in BIOS.

TVeblen said:

Note: you should also test Sleep. Can you put the PC to Sleep manually and bring it out normally?

Click to expand...

The computer has always been able to sleep then awake after long periods of time, until now. I haven't tried since the issue began.

Answers in BOLD.

I know people are busy and have other things to do, but when you are the geeky type you can be far more friendly towards experimenting.
If it were me I would be trying to get it to happen again, with a timer set on my phone so I would know exactly how long it took to freeze up.
Make note of the exact wording of any messages.

You could also test for a temperature problem by booting into BIOS, going to the Monitor section (to see the fan speeds and component temperatures) and then just leave it there at idle for a while, checking in occasionally. If the temps start climbing and don't stop then you know. If they stay stable for 2-3 hours then we can put that idea to bed.

Hmmm! Two very simple things, well, sort of simple, that have not been mentioned yet: First thing I check, when a PC is just going crazy, is the CMOS battery. Low CMOS battery voltage, (anything under 3.0vdc) can cause the PC to just get spastic. If you have no way to test that little battery, then just replace it with a new one.

Then there's the RAM memory. I fixed my own PC this past week, after nothing else worked, by taking out the two ram memory sticks and cleaning the edge connectors* and then re-installing them. In the past 40+ years, I can't even count the number of PC's I've fixed with that simple little chore.
* I first clean up the edge connectors with a mildly abrasive Buffing Bar, and then wipe them clean with a soft cloth soaked in alcohol. NO, not the drinking kind! I've been doing that for many years, and I've saved literally hundreds of sticks of RAM, just by cleaning them.

And yes, my CMOS battery was down to 3.0 vdc, but I replaced it anyway, and that did not fix my PC, but at least now I know that it has a good battery in it. I make a little note, inside the PC, as to the date that I installed a new battery.

Now the little ol' PC is running like new again, and it boots right up like it should and does not LOCK UP on me, like it was doing.
PC problems can get really weird sometimes, but the fixes are usually pretty simple.

Cheers Mates
TM

TechnoMage2021 said:

Hmmm! Two very simple things, well, sort of simple, that have not been mentioned yet: First thing I check, when a PC is just going crazy, is the CMOS battery. Low CMOS battery voltage, (anything under 3.0vdc) can cause the PC to just get spastic. If you have no way to test that little battery, then just replace it with a new one.

Then there's the RAM memory. I fixed my own PC this past week, after nothing else worked, by taking out the two ram memory sticks and cleaning the edge connectors* and then re-installing them. In the past 40+ years, I can't even count the number of PC's I've fixed with that simple little chore.
* I first clean up the edge connectors with a mildly abrasive Buffing Bar, and then wipe them clean with a soft cloth soaked in alcohol. NO, not the drinking kind! I've been doing that for many years, and I've saved literally hundreds of sticks of RAM, just by cleaning them.

And yes, my CMOS battery was down to 3.0 vdc, but I replaced it anyway, and that did not fix my PC, but at least now I know that it has a good battery in it. I make a little note, inside the PC, as to the date that I installed a new battery.

Now the little ol' PC is running like new again, and it boots right up like it should and does not LOCK UP on me, like it was doing.
PC problems can get really weird sometimes, but the fixes are usually pretty simple.

Cheers Mates
TM

Click to expand...

I'll check those out. I'm in central Florida, too.

Years ago, I met a fellow on a forum, who said he was in Florida, turned out we're basically in the same county, and only about 20 miles apart. I wound up building him a new computer. He just installed windows 11 on it. Today we're best of friends.

Sure, some really big things come along, like blown motherboards that can take a PC down, but in my own experience, that only happens less than 5% of the time. I always look at the most simple things first. Like a power cord that the dog chewed on, or one that just came loose.

A lady called me one day, to tell me that her computer was DEAD. Later, on examination, I found the power plug laying on the floor.
While I was there anyway, I cleaned up her HD, updates several programs, and she made me lunch. It's all good!

Cheers, mate! Please let us know if you find the "Ghost in the Machine".

TM

Looks like that SSD could use a little TRIMming. Other than that I'm guessing there's plenty of life in the ole gal yet. I'd also check System > Power & battery. Personally, I'd set every thing to EXTREME and "NEVER" power off, NEVER go to sleep and select NEVER NEVER NEVER on everything that involves shutting down my PC or putting it to sleep or hibernate. My OS has a little button that lets me shut down my system or restart it. I also have a physical switch on my PC for manually shutting it down. Increase your carbon foot print. FEED THE TREES!

Anyway. Try running your system full bore and see what happens. If it's all good then it's not your SSD. If you're still encountering the same problems after you told it to never sleep, never hibernate, and never shut down by itself then I'd say you def have a prob with your drive or your sleep settings. Not to complicate matters any, but do you happen to use a UPS?

I'd still like to know what the temperatures are in BIOS for the CPU and motherboard after it has been running for a while.

That is just one more test you need to do to try and track down the real cause of this problem, in addition to the list of tests given to you by zbook
on the thread here

It is difficult to diagnose a PC from hundreds of miles away without good feedback from you. We are literally working in the dark.

I suggest doing one test at a time and report back in the thread it was suggested any and all results, even if the result was nothing. We can use all that information to make an informed decision.

That's what a bad hdd did on one of my old desktops awhile back. What I would do now, if facing a similar problem, is to get out one of my spare hdd's that I keep around and put the os and data image of this failing pc from a Macrium backup on it. At least it would be ready for a quick swap if and when I decided nothing else is working.

He has already tried replacing the SSD. It didn't help.

TVeblen said:

He has already tried replacing the SSD. It didn't help.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I kinda figured it wasn't the SSD. That doesn't mean it isn't a hardware issue tho.

We need to eliminate the possibility of it being a hardware issue.

Have you tried my "Feed the Trees" run full bore option yet?

I highly recommend changing your settings for this and running your system on extreme settings if you can.

Also go into the UEFI (formerly known as BIOS) and check those temps. Check any sleep settings you may have in the BIOS
and check any settings associated with APM or a UPS (universal power supply).

Also check all your physical connections to your PSU, your system board, and your drives. Incidentally, power surges and brown outs can generate behaviour like this in PCs. Just a thought. Once you have this issue fixed you may want to consider getting a UPS if you don't have one already. :)