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
    2021-03-28T05:55:04+00:00

     Thanks for the suggestion. Mine seems to be back to normal right now without any changes. Only issue seems to be that the battery is draining too fast right now considering that the battery is a brand new one. I guess I will wait for a few more days and see if there is any change in the status.

    Okay, so I guess I somehow managed to sort it out. The culprit seems to be the Dell Power Manager App that I had installed on my comp. It was supposed to manage the Advanced Charge and Peak Shift processes for the battery. But somehow it was messing up with the power options. I uninstalled the App and just on a whim checked the BIOS settings also for the power options. The same Advances Charge and Peak Shift options were enabled in the BIOS also. I disabled them also and for the last 10 days or so there has been no issues at all regarding the Sleep mode. The battery draining issue is also not happening any more. Will update if there is any change in the status.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-03-28T15:56:00+00:00

    I had one of the IT guys at work open the back of my HP Envy Laptop and he said he unplugged something and replugged it back in,  just to get my laptop start. I cannot remember what he did, but it seems to be working ok. I am now gonna make sure I back up everything on my laptop just in case. My laptop is about 5 years old so I hope I do not have a reoccurrence.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-02T06:58:49+00:00

    Same with my hp notebook laptop.. locking then shutdown..

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-04-17T13:37:23+00:00

    I hadn't experienced this locking blue screen ever before but i recently had a brand new battery fitted as the old one had started to swell.

    Guess what, i have started to get the blue locking screen so I'm afraid its not old battery problems !

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