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
    2020-11-22T04:15:47+00:00

    Mine said someting about bios drive or something like that

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-11-09T16:51:14+00:00

    my computer (dell, windows 7) keeps locking up, how do I fix it?

    Special when am switching on for only 2/3 minutes goes of and shows ....locking .

    What's wrong please i need help. 

    Thank you

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-11-08T13:17:55+00:00

    Good luck. My problem turned out to be user is a dummy! I was plugged in but the power strip got bumped and was off. :)

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-11-08T09:28:38+00:00

    Hi there,

    Firs I will mention that my computer is ASUS X540L with Windows 10. I want to say this article of yours was very helpful, because I was so nervous about same issue I recently got and I was ready to throw my computer to the wall. One day I open my laptop and I see that the battery level is 0% and is not charging to any level, so computer works only with cable. That means something wrong with battery, its like 7 years old so might be normal. I said okay, if it is working with cable, then no problem, but suddenly this mysterious blue window start appearing with word ''locking'' again and again and computer shuts down, it became really annoying and I started to look for solution online. Since I found this article I will try to change my battery and see if problem will be solved. THANK YOU!

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