I read this previous post: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprogeneral/thread/aaf2e7e8-9dc3-4295-ab7a-0eda2f9ed14f/ (locked) But the thread is locked and the solution only works if you can login to the affected computer. Unlesss Microsoft can show me how this works (applying a hotfix to a hibernated system) it's a no go. I woke up one night at 3am and found my system still running. System: Windows 7 Ultimate fully patched Intel Core Duo 3.4 GHz 4 GB RAM (Kinsgston) Asus P4B 800 Vista Board (most recent BIOS) nVidia 8800 GTX with the latest drivers It was showing a blank/black screen and one or two of the ventilators were going full throttle. Hmm. I moved my mouse and hit a few keys on my keyboard. No change in situation. Hmmm, ok. Held power button for four seconds and restarted the system. Same situation: black screen (no BIOS screen!) and fans going like bonkers. Powered off system. Turned off power supply. Waited 2 minutes. Restarted. Same. Went to bed. Next day: Opened case, had a look at CPU and GPU. No excess heat after starting. Because the system is a dual boot and Linux is on the primary partition and boot drive, thought I might be able to jump around windows and get Linux running. Nope. Powerd down everything, removed BIOS battery, restarted system. Same situation: black/blank screen. Yanked graphics card and inserted old ati card. System starts and turns itself off after 10 seconds. Wow! New situation. Will be resetting to nVidia and Windows / Linux dual boot tonight, but I am wondering if there is a way to determine if: - my CPU has been fried - my GPU has been fried - my MBO has been fried - and if there is a way to get around the suspended state if my HW is ok. I might try to boot from a Linux Live CD, but I don't seem to getting anywhere near the BIOS settings let alone the BBS (F8) menu. Pun intended: Is this what happens before people convert to the Apple fraction? Any help is appreciated, but I will be slow in replying because I am writing this from work and my broken computer is at home. Thanks John

1. If your system is fully patched, that is with SP1, then the reference and included KB is irrelevant, as the hotfix is a part of SP1. 2. Yo have omitted important information on: a. History of installation (is it new or old installation) b. Errors and warnings in Event log. c. If you tested RAM and HDD d. If you really tested computer with Linux (This may be a slight prove that the HW is OK) e. If you tested analog output of video card (if it has any) f. If you tested computer with another card (onboard, if there is any) g. How the BIOS is set (cooling, waik on..., power saving settings,...) h. How sleep and hibernation is set I guess this is on HW side, unless you did something strange and "secret". Regards Milos

1. If your system is fully patched, that is with SP1, then the reference and included KB is irrelevant, as the hotfix is a part of SP1. 2. Yo have omitted important information on: a. History of installation (is it new or old installation) b. Errors and warnings in Event log. c. If you tested RAM and HDD d. If you really tested computer with Linux (This may be a slight prove that the HW is OK) e. If you tested analog output of video card (if it has any) f. If you tested computer with another card (onboard, if there is any) g. How the BIOS is set (cooling, waik on..., power saving settings,...) h. How sleep and hibernation is set I guess this is on HW side, unless you did something strange and "secret". Regards Milos

Hi John, Firstly, please check if you can entry BIOS. If you can, please try the following: 1. Refer to Advanced startup options (including safe mode) and check if using Last Known Good Configuration can help you. 2. Check if you can boot your system into Safe Mode. 3. Perform a system restore. 1) Reboot and press F8 2) Select "Repair my computer" 3) Select the keyboard layout and language 4) When you reach system recovery tools, select System restore. 5) Select the restore point when it was working fine and restart the computer. 4. Boot from your Windows 7 installation media or recovery disk and perform a Startup Repair and see how it works. More information: Startup Repair: frequently asked questions However, if you cannot, the issue seems to be hardware related. Therefore, please double check your hardware. Hope this helps. Jeremy Wu TechNet Community Support

Hi Milos Thanks for the input. 1. Yes, could have figured that out myself. Thanks. 2.a. Old computer about 5 years old. Ran lots of BOINC when "idling" 2.b. Unable to access because system is still hanging/suspended/broken 2.c. MemTest 386 not yet run <======= Thanks for the hint !!! 2.d. Unable to test yet, becuase screen blank/black and keyboard not responding 2.e. The monitor has a D-Sub socket, but didn't work with the ATI card 2.f. see 2.e. and no onboard graphics 2.g. High Performance Cooling for Processor and Chasis Fan, No Wake on LAN, Power Savings not set 2.h. Blank screen and I think Sleep/Hibernate after 4 hours Will keep everybody updated. John

Hi Jeremy Thaks for the feedback. Will try to boot from various installation media (Linux Live, Windows 7 installation DVD, ...) and keep you posted. Regards, John

Hi John, Just checking if you have any update on this issue. Regards. Jeremy Wu TechNet Community Support

The issue was hardware related. The CPU had popped it. I ordered a new PC which I was thinking of doing the last half year, so the broken PC helped me in my decision. :-) I removed the old HDs and inserted them into an external bay and was then able to move all the data out. Thanks for your support.

Hi Jeremy Thanks for your feedback. You were relating strongly to a "Windows broken" issue in the beginning, this is why I assigned the points to Milos. Thanks for your feedback. John