Windows XP and Windows Vista both subscribe to this general idea that suspend mode is the best thing that ever happened to computers. The problem is that it doesn’t work yet.

Standby/Suspend is a mode that puts your computer into a very low power level (but not completely off.)

The Pros

Standby was created so that you can turn your computer on and take off right from exactly where you left off. That means that if you are writing an email and surfing the web and have to run you put it in standby. When you get back you turn it back on and pickup right from where you left off. It is a serious power/time saver.

The Cons

It doesn’t work. Microsoft believes that suspend can work, but in practice it creates a lot of abnormal behaviours. I would go into detail about what “abnormal” means but I can’t really predict it. I haven’t seen a common thread between machines except that after suspending once or twice (sometimes a few more times) they start doing things which make it seem like they are broken or about to break.

How do I fix this?

It is simple. All you have to do is restart your machine and discontinue using suspend. If you don’t use it then your computer won’t start acting funky.

God Bless,
-Daniel Kolansky