Hibernation Does Not Work on a Portable Computer After Windows XP Upgrade and RAM Increase (305905)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional

This article was previously published under Q305905

SYMPTOMS

If you install Windows XP on a portable computer whose primary partition is formatted with the FAT16 file system, the computer may no longer hibernate after you increase the random access memory (RAM) and then restart the computer.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs if the computer runs out of hard disk space for the hibernation file on the primary partition.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, free some additional space on the hard disk.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The space that the hibernation file requires is directly related to the amount of RAM that is in the computer. If you add more RAM, the Hiberfil.sys file must grow to match the total RAM. Adding more RAM also automatically increases the size of the Pagefile.sys file, which by default is 1.5 times the amount of RAM. Adding 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM increases the Pagefile.sys file by 384 MB.

If the Hiberfil.sys file grows by 256 MB and the Pagefile.sys file grows by 384 MB, the free space on the hard disk shrinks by 640 MB. There must still be at least 740 MB of free space to allow hibernation.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:1/28/2002
Keywords:kbprb KB305905