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
    2021-09-17T18:04:38+00:00

    It is nice to know it's a natural windows feature, but it would happen literally on its own with no explanation or reason. Upon my research, it's possible for it to be caused by a critical battery or critical thermal action, but neither of those things were in account at the times that this locking would happen (at least in my case). So we are attempting to figure out why it is happening and how.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-09-17T17:19:51+00:00

    If your doing an antimalware scan I'd suggest using Avast because it is very good at finding hidden threats, I use it whenever I can.

    Also the blue screen that says "Locking" is the screen you get when you hit the window + l keys before it goes to the lock screen.

    And yes the Blue screen with the scroll wheel and the "Locking" message is a default action that Microsoft added in as a security feature before you go into hibernation/sleep/shut down because you wouldn't somebody to take your laptop off of hibernation mode or whatever and then be in your account and have BYPASSED your account password/pin/fingerprint/face id/picture pattern, etc.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-09-17T16:14:31+00:00

    It could be bloatware of some sort, that is a possibility as that is something that can stay the same between laptops but not all of them. This needs more investigation honestly, but I don't know how to find out what it could be.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-09-17T15:49:38+00:00

    I don't know if it's just laptops? I am resetting that laptop now, takes forever. I wonder if it's a program that is installed that is causing this problem?

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