Unable to reserve hibernation file???

[JHaislet]

When checking the Enable hibernate box of the Hibernate tab of Power Options Properties, I receive a warning message window entitled, "Power Policy Manager unable to reserve hibernate file".

Additionally the window explains "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process".

I have IBM's own Power Manager software also installed, and when I try to enable Hibernation (with the check box), when I hit "Apply", it "unchecks" the box.

This is a fresh install of XP w/out the recovery partition, but I've got all the IBM software & drivers installed (followed the Fresh XP Install Guide, posted in the OS Section).

Also Fn F12 Suspends (instead of hibernates).

Any ideas?

[GomJabbar]

Try going to: Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer. Look for what error messages are displayed during the time you were trying to enter hibernation. You can click on the error code displayed, while online, to get more information on the error from microsoft.com.

I haven't tried hibernation, but I notice that when using IBM's Thinkpad Configuration program, when you click on the Power Management top menu item, then Advanced Settings, there are (3) tabs related to hibernation. The Advanced tab, the Hibernate tab, and the Suspend/Hibernate options tab. Are all three set up as needed?

Also, it seems that I have read that VPN's can prevent hibernation - not positive about this.

[JHaislet]

I did a little more looking, and the problem appears to be related to the way Alcohol 120% handles/locks the atapi.sys file. Once I uninstalled AL 120% and restarted, I was able to both "check" & click apply, with the settings "sticking".

[GomJabbar]

Interesting. I had to do a Google search to see what Alcohol 120% is. I'm glad you got your problem figured out.

I had a kind of simular problem when I installed Nero 6 Ultra Edition suite on my home desktop. One of the modules was INCD reader. I had created some INCD disks in the past, but I really didn't care to have the program installed on the above computer. I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to have INCD reader installed, in case I wanted to open one of these older disks.

I installed most of Nero 6 Ultra Edition suite, along with INCD reader. I also did a Windows update, a Norton AV update, and a SpySweeper update. Then I decided to reboot in Safe Mode to run a virus and spyware scan. The computer refused to boot up in Safe Mode! I could still boot up in Normal Mode however. How strange. I had always thought that if a Windows computer would boot up at all, it would be in Safe Mode.

I had to disable restart on error to see what error message might be displayed. I got: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. After searching microsoft.com to see what this might mean, I found the following: "This Stop message, also known as Stop 0xA, indicates that a kernel-mode process attempted to access a portion of memory at an Interrupt Request Level (IRQL) that was too high. A kernel-mode process can only access other processes that have an IRQL lesser than or equal to its own."

I remembered seeing during the INCD installation that it was an operating system extension. That clue made me suspect that perhaps it was the culprit. I uninstalled just that module, and now my desktop would boot up in Safe Mode and Normal Mode. I was glad it didn't take me too long to find and eliminate the problem.

[ehsu]

I did a little more looking, and the problem appears to be related to the way Alcohol 120% handles/locks the atapi.sys file. Once I uninstalled AL 120% and restarted, I was able to both "check" & click apply, with the settings "sticking".

Thank you for sharing the information. I have had this problem as well and was bothered by it. Like you suggested, uninstalled Alcohol 120% and it's all good now!

I wonder if I can re-install Alcohol 120% and won't mess up hibernate.

[JHaislet]

Not sure, I should know in a few minutes though, as I need to access an image & re-install 120.