hibernation and standby stopped working (W2K)

[k9cart]

Hi,
I have a sony vaio laptop. I have been able to use hibernate/standby without a hitch until the other day. It seemed to coincide with uninstalling a demo version of Ipswitch's ftp_pro software.

Now when I try to enter standby or hibernation, I get the following error message:
"The device for the "communications port (COM1)" is preventing the machine from entering hibernation. Please close all applications and try again. If the problem persists, you may need to update the drivers."

Okay so I went to MS knowledge data base which sort of suggested that this happens when you install a program that doesn't handle the power management scheme. Then
I went to Sony's support and downloaded some updated drivers and BIOS for my laptop. I updated the modem driver along with some other drivers, but there wasn't an updated driver for COM1. Also, I tried to update the BIOS, but got the following error:
(cmd.exe) System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDriv ers VDD Virtual Device Driver format in the registry is invalid, choose 'close' to terminate the application.

So I spent about 3 hours with Sony Support during which they had me do things like turnoff the screensaver, disable quicken background downloads, and reload default BIOS. None of which helped the problem. So they suggested doing a clean install which I am reluctant to do.

I can get hibernate and standby to work if I disable both COM1 and the modem in the Device Manager and reboot. However, if I reenable the modem and reboot, then hibernation gives me the error I saw initially. Similarly, if I uninstall COM1 and the modem and reboot, hibernation is okay but only until the next reboot.

Can anyone suggest a fix? I don't know where to download the original COM1 driver. Also why doesn't the flash of the BIOS work? TIA for any responses.

[BertImmenschuh]

As to the BIOS, as far as I have ever seen/done, it can only be done by booting to a floppy and run the flash program. You need their flash utility plus the file for your version. Be sure the battery is fully charged before you try. Power failure in the middle of the flash will ruin the BIOS and probably the board.

Does sound as if the Ipswitch's ftp_pro software did not uninstall cleanly. As I recall when shopping for ftp software, several of them have a feature of waiting for a connection which takes control of a com port/modem and keeps the computer awake. I went with cuteFTP <a target="_blank" href=http://www.globalscape.com>www.globalscape.com</a>.

Another problem with hibernation, I've heard of it not working well with FAT32 hard drives and it is disabled if there is not enough hard drive space for it to work in.

[k9cart]

As to updating the BIOS, I booted from the cd-rom recovery disk with the flash program on floppy. I found out thru the knowledge database at microsoft support that there was an error in the registry under VirtualDeviceDrivers. I fixed this and now I can start the flash program but get another error:
"cannot flash when Memory Mangers (e.g. EMM386) are present.
Press any key to exit."

BTW, hibernation/standby worked flawlessly on my sony prior to the FTP uninstall, and I am set up with FAT32.

[cerulean]

regarding flashing the BIOS, i have done it with new Dell Latitudes with w2k. you have the option of creating the floppy or doing a floppyless flash.

regarding the memory manager issue... you have to disable something in your boot disk that loads in your config.sys. rem out the himem or emm386 and you should be able to flash the bios after that.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by cerulean on 03/27/02 10:39.</FONT></P>