Why Isn't My Computer's Sleep Mode Working Properly?

[Naty1]

Ok, so a few mos ago some you computer whizzes said low power or sleep was ok way to
leave my computer at night ...

Those buttons worked as prescribed, got a yellow lamp atop my
tower... Then after a few mos the white color lamp atop the tower remained on...still does, does not change to yellow...so I am guessing my hard drive is running all night?? What do you suggest so I can go to 'low power' or ''sleep' mode for nightime??

Setup: HP computer, Windows Vista, Internet Explorer, Yahoo e-mail...

makes no difference if I close all tabs or leave them open...

Thank you.

 

[Mark44]

I don't believe that the white lamp means that the hard drive is running. It won't be running unless data is being written to or read from the hard drive. I'm guessing that the white lamp just means that the computer itself is running. There should be some documentation someplace that indicates what the lights mean.

What tabs are you talking about - the ones for IE or the ones across the bottom of the taskbar? Are you going into sleep mode by Start --> Turn off computer --> Sleep?

 

[Naty1]

"I'm guessing that the white lamp just means that the computer itself is running."

Can that be a low power mode?? My tabs comment referred to multiple screen choices in Internet Explorer. It has nothing to do with the low power mode I end up in...as expected.

Are you going into sleep mode by Start --> Turn off computer --> Sleep?

exactly.

There are three 'buttons' [icons is a better word I guess] that appear after hitting start...

one has no label, but sometimes shows 'low power" mode,,,,[and is the same icon as appears on my monitor [different brand] which has two colors...white and yellow. It's a circle with an opening at the top in which a short vertical segment appears. and an overlay icon on the first icon appears if installation of an update is required,

another choice is a right pointing arrow head from which to choose 'switch user', 'lock', 'restart', 'sleep', or 'shut down'.

The third icon from which to choose is simply a padlock...no printed label appears. So for example, "sleep" previously showed a yellow lamp color on top of the tower, but no longer does, instead the white power color remains all night.

I don't have a book but I guess I could try online to find a light/lamp description.

My monitor also has a white 'power on' lamp indicator...

 

[Mark44]

I don't have any computers running Vista. I have one running XP at home, and several at work running Win 7 and Windows Server 2008, so what I see is a little different from what you describe.

How long has it been since you booted the computer? If it has been a long time, that might be why what you saw a few months ago isn't happening now. It seems odd to me that you see the Low power option only periodically.

BTW the padlock icon is to lock your computer.