Computer keeps locking automatically

Anonymous
2019-11-17T16:41:28+00:00

My computer keeps locking up. Ill try to run something and a blue screen will pop saying "locking..." And it will completely shut down. How do i fix this?

***Modified title from: my computer (dell, windows 10) keeps locking up, how do I fix it?***

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2019-12-05T19:26:00+00:00

Solved!!!!!

I have confirmed my critical battery level action suspicion I described before.  To test it I set my critical battery level higher and unplugged my PC to run it down to that level.  As soon as it reached that point, the blue "Locking" screen popped up and it went into hibernation just like it's set to do.  There was also another very quick notification screen/message but I'm not certain what it said.  I think it might have said something about critical battery level but, again, I'm not certain.  I am 100% certain that I saw the mysterious "Locking" message on a blue screen exactly as I'd been seeing it before all those times. 

So anyone else who is having this same problem, you most likely have a really old battery that drains super fast when you're working your PC hard and using a lot of energy.  Or your battery may be malfunctioning but leading to the same issue.  It's draining so quickly there's no time for the other power level notifications and it's going straight to the critical battery level action. 

There is another thread somewhere else where the Windows "expert" states that he is not aware of any screen or message that says "Locking" in Windows 10, which we now know is incorrect, and that is probably causing a lot of confusion for those of us that are experiencing this rare issue.  I even noticed that the font for this "Locking" message was the same Windows font we're so familiar with.  And since I read somewhere else someone was having this same issue on a Dell laptop, we can be certain that it is indeed a function of Windows 10. 

Now that I've confirmed it myself, I can stop worrying about malware or a virus causing it.  That would be a very weird thing to be causing anyway since there's no other issues related and I can always restart, or bring out of hibernation, my laptop no problem.

Well, I hope anyone else that's having this same, strange issue reads this and finally finds some clarity.  If you do happen to read this all and changing the battery does solve the problem, please post a response here if you don't mind.  Even though I'm 100% now that I've found the answer, I'd still like to get outside confirmation and also know if my efforts have helped anyone else.  This is such a rare, weird issue that even the Windows experts have been stumped.  It would be great for my ego to know I did, indeed, solve this mystery.

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-12-04T03:37:36+00:00

    I'm getting the exact same problem and there's almost no information on this particular issue out there that I can find.

    At seemingly random times, the screen actually says "Locking" very briefly (blue screen I think) then the computer shuts down.  Turns completely off and has to be turned back on manually.  I've scanned for malware and virus' but found nothing.  Even deep scanned with the Windows security app and nothing.  That scan went on for over 2 hours. 

    I have an HP 2000 Notebook I got in 2012.  It's just a Core i3 processor that I've expanded to 8 gigs RAM but that was in 2012.  The battery was original and couldn't hold a charge for 5 minutes at this point but I just replaced that battery today.  I've not had that "locking" message today but I got it a few times on Sunday while running a virus/malware scan and doing other things at the same time.  That time, I actually got the message 4 or 5 different times with 3 of those happening within 1 hour.  One of those happened about 5 minutes after restart and then another was about 10 minutes after..  I thought for sure I had a virus and was not going to be able to use my computer very much if that persisted.  Thankfully it has not and I've not had another incident since. 

    After much searching the web for a solution, I came across only two places this was specifically mentioned.  The advice given was to change the "lock screen" settings and similar settings which I've already done.  It's not a lock screen it's a screen that says "Locking" very quickly then it shuts down.  I can always restart it. 

    So far, after ruling out a lot of other possibilities, I think it either has to do with the processor temperature or the battery.  So I reduced my maximum process speed to 75% and it's run much cooler since.  The day before I noticed it was running very hot so I air sprayed out everything really good.  That helped but it was still hot air and it's been running fairly not for at least a year now. 

    The other change is the battery which I did this afternoon.  I had run a diagnostic on that battery from the HP website and it found no issues with it.  Again, it was very old - the original factory battery holding maybe 5 minutes of charge when I unplugged it. 

    I think I started getting this message every so often maybe about a year ago or less.  It's happening at random times as far as I can tell.  But it does seem to happen when I'm doing a lot of things at one time.

    Since I've not had that message again since reducing my maximum processor speed, I suspect that may be the cause.  However, I cannot find anything anywhere that says the "Locking" screen is a function of Windows 10.  Maybe it's an HP feature but I haven't found any evidence of that either.

    I'm writing a lot of detail here because there's so little info on this specific problem . Again, it's not an actual lock screen problem, the screen just says "Locking" really quickly then shuts down.  I'm hoping the few others I've seen out there with this exact problem can benefit from my input here, assuming I can find the real cause.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-11-18T10:32:26+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

    To get clarity on the issue, it would be great if you can help us with the details requested below:

    • When you say, “Ill try to run something and a blue screen will pop saying "locking” do you see any error message/code on the screen?
    • What is the model number of your Dell computer?
    • Are you aware of any changes made to the computer recently?
    • Which build version of Windows 10 are you using currently? To check type: winver in the search bar on the Taskbar and hit Enter.

    Please reply with the detailed information on the issue to help you further.

    Regards,

    Nikhar Khare

    Microsoft Community - Moderator

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