Your Computer May Hang If You Unexpectedly Remove a PC Card Storage Device While the Computer Is in Standby

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This article was previously published under Q311822

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SYMPTOMS

If you remove a PC Card storage device while the computer is in standby or hibernation, the My Computer window may be displayed in a black or white window, and the computer may stop responding (hang) when it resumes. This problem can occur with PC Card storage devices such as CompactFlash, Flash ATA card, and Memory Stick devices.

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CAUSE

This problem may occur if My Computer or any other Windows Explorer-based tool that refers to the storage device is running when the computer enters standby or hibernate, and if your computer is configured to return directly to the desktop when it resumes. The computer hangs because the Windows Explorer disk-verification process is triggered before Windows can complete the surprise-removal process.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389/EN-US/ ) How to Obtain the Latest Windows XP Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version      Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------
   04-Jan-2002  14:13  5.1.2600.26  86,912  Atapi.sys

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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, turn on the Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby option in the Power Options tool in Control Panel. If you turn on this option, the computer returns to a password screen instead of to the desktop even if My Computer or Windows Explorer is running. To configure this option:

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Power Options.
Click the Advanced tab.
Click to select the Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby check box, and then click OK.

If you do not use a password to log on to Windows, the computer returns to a screen that prompts you to select the user account that is in use.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows XP Service Pack 1.

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