Computer Near Death?

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Not 100% sure if I should put this here or off-topic, but since most computer savvy people are likely sooner to visit here this is where I'll start.

Anyway, in the last week, I've been noticing that when I put my PC to sleep, it randomly acts basically as a shutdown instead. The light indicating the computer is asleep still flashes as usual and when I click the mouse to wake it up, the power indicator light turns solid and the fans spin to life. However, the mouse doesn't light up and I'll have a black screen for several seconds before the computer shows me the ASUS start-up screen and then asks me to log-in. Upon doing so, any programs I had open have been closed. I've checked and none of my power settings have changed and I can't find this problem on Google =/

I'm paranoid because I get the feeling this is an omen of some impending hardware failure. Any suggestions or ideas as to what could be the problem?

[timaeus222]

I'm pretty sure I've had this problem before with my old laptop in 2007 or something. Perhaps something to do with previously-acquired viruses/trojans, or too many unexpected shutdowns (e.g. frozen screen -> press power button)?

[Nabeel Ansari]

Under warranty? Send it back for repair (make sure you back up).

If not, try a reformat to see if anything in the operating system was the culprit. If not, it's a hardware issue (suspect motherboard) and you need a new machine.

If you're not used to regular reformats and don't like the hassle, swap in a different hard drive with a fresh OS install. If it works after that, you know it's either the old hard drive or the operating system on it.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Figures that once I post about it, it stops happening completely. Anyway, thanks for the tips in the event the problem returns.