Motherboard issues? What's my problem?

[superboyac]

I got a new computer at work, and I have a couple of issues that I can't seem to figure out.

When I lock my computer (Windows XP), and then unlock it, a couple of things happen.  My usb ports on the sides of the LCD monitors usually stop working properly.  The other thing is that I seem to have issues with the network after coming back from a lock.  We have websense here, and the internet is working fine and everything.  But when i come back and unlock my computer, it's almost like my network connection is broken and I get asked for a userid/password when trying to use the internet.  I usually have to restart firefox to get it wokring again, and once I had to reboot.  It's like the network connection gets broken when the computer gets locked.

I don't know what the problem is.  Could it be a motherboard issue?  Both the USB and network plugs are on the motherboard.  Could it be a power interruption issue?  How can I solve this?

[steeladept]

It is possible, but I would look at configurations first.  First and foremost, make sure the power settings are not set to allow it to go to sleep.  Frequently these types of "time outs" are from the hardware powering down into a sleep mode.  XP never rewoke those systems very well, so they usually don't help save power much and in many cases force a shutdown just to get full functionality again.  Another possibility is the BIOS settings.  They could be set to a power saver level as well that would cause similar actions.  As for the USB on the monitor, a third potential cause could be from a poorly designed driver.  I know my HP monitor never had the USB plugs working right because the driver was so buggy the controls for them either never provided enough power, or never passed the signal back to the computer.  Either way, it never worked.  It was recognized, but never ran.  Newer drivers improved some functions, but never allowed them to be used reliably.  If you check these areas and they seem right, then you might suspect faulty hardware, but the configuration issues are much more likely - especially with power saver features enabled.   

[superboyac]

It is possible, but I would look at configurations first.  First and foremost, make sure the power settings are not set to allow it to go to sleep.  Frequently these types of "time outs" are from the hardware powering down into a sleep mode.  XP never rewoke those systems very well, so they usually don't help save power much and in many cases force a shutdown just to get full functionality again.  Another possibility is the BIOS settings.  They could be set to a power saver level as well that would cause similar actions.  As for the USB on the monitor, a third potential cause could be from a poorly designed driver.  I know my HP monitor never had the USB plugs working right because the driver was so buggy the controls for them either never provided enough power, or never passed the signal back to the computer.  Either way, it never worked.  It was recognized, but never ran.  Newer drivers improved some functions, but never allowed them to be used reliably.  If you check these areas and they seem right, then you might suspect faulty hardware, but the configuration issues are much more likely - especially with power saver features enabled.   

Thanks.  i will test out those things you mentioned.

One thing I just realize, I use QUick SHutdown to lock/restart/shutdown my computer, and there's a setting in there where you can check "eject removable drives on shutdown".  I just unchecked it, I wonder if that was what was causing the USB problems.

The internet thing I don't get right now.  It just started doing it.

[mouser]

there are definitely settings in windows AND in bios that control what happens during sleep and can cause such problems.

[Shades]

As far as I know Windows XP power save mode shuts down everything on a very low level. It is possible to turn this off (per device) in the Windows device manager.

[attach]

[40hz]

If you have an Intel NIC, try disabling the Smart Power Down (or Deep Smart Power Down) property on the NIC's advanced properties page in Device Manager. I've had several cases where that setting caused the NIC to get disabled once the PC went into any of the low power, suspend, or "on battery"(if it's a laptop) modes.  

[attachthumb=#]

I'm not sure what websense is doing, but your network may be interpreting your lockdown  as a disconnect after which it tombstones your DHCP-assigned address and drops your network credentials because it thinks you're gone. That could explain why you need to re-log to get back on.

As far as Firefox goes, I've experienced similar problems on laptops. If I didn't have a wireless NIC connected when I launched Firefox (or if I removed and then reinserted it once Firefox was running) Firefox couldn't see the network connection after it was restored.

The only way to fix it was to close and then relaunch the browser.  

The latest 3.6 version doesn't seem to have that problem as much.

Hope this helps. Luck!

[superboyac]

40hz.  I have to try this when I go back to work Monday.

By the way, if this works...well...40, you are even more the man!  You've never answered my question...why do you know EVERYTHING!?