Black Screen unresponsive

[JoJoBeans78]

I get a black screen after the computer has been idle for awhile and the only way to wake it up is to reboot it. If I put the computer to sleep myself, it almost never happens. But if I forget to put it to sleep, it always happens if I leave it. The problem seemed to start after a windows update in the fall of 2019.

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@JoJoBeans78 

The problem could be related to the fact that with Win10, a new hibernation-sleep option known as Fast Startup is enabled BY DEFAULT.

Fast Startup is supposed to dramatically speed up the booting process, but in some PCs, it actually slows it down or causes it to hang. It's also a new form of hibernation known as hybrid sleep -- and this causes battery drain to maintain the state of the PC while turned off.

Disabling Fast Startup might fix the booting problem.

There are two ways to disable FastStartup in Win10: (1) through the Control Panel, and (2) through an elevated command prompt.

Control Panel - Open Control Panel --> Power Options.
Select "Choose what the power buttons do"
Select "Change settings that are currently unavailable"
At the bottom of the Window, under Shutdown settings, uncheck the box regarding fast startup

Elevated command prompt - run the following command:
REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power" /V HiberbootEnabled /T REG_dWORD /D 0 /F

In both cases, reboot Windows.

NOW, FastStartup is disabled.

See if that helps.

[JoJoBeans78]

Thank you so much for your help.

[Amujij]

So sorry but I am 70 at my next birthday and don't get these computer terms!  What is the control panel and where is it?  I have been trying to get in touch with the HP Support Services for months but to no luck. Now they tell me they are expired and can't be renewed as my computer is too old!  Ugh...