Microsoft informed that in certain scenarios, Windows 7 computers going into hibernation could present a stop error to the end user. In order to prevent this from happening, Windows 7 users that take advantage of the System Power State S4 option will need to adapt the hibernation file to the memory content loaded on the system. “When going into hibernate on a Windows 7-based computer, you may encounter the following error message: “STOP 0x000000A0 INTERNAL_POWER_ERROR (0x0000000B, 0x????????, 0x????????, 0x????????)”,” Microsoft informed.

The Redmond-based company explained that the stop error is generated by the incongruity between the size of the hibernation file and the system memory contents loaded. In this regard, the software giant advises affected customers to boost the size of the hibernation file.

“To increase the size of the hibernation file using the PowerCfg.exe utility, follow the steps below: 1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Accessories. 2. Right-click Command Prompt, and click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. 3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press ENTER: powercfg /hibernate /size 100,” Microsoft revealed.

System Power State S4, more commonly referred to as the hibernate state, is designed to offer end users a low-powered sleeping state for their machines. The main disadvantage is the fact that this state comes with the longest wake-up latency, however, it does permit the computer to use almost no power at all.

“Operating system context, however, is maintained in a hibernate file (an image of memory) that the system writes to disk before entering the S4 state. Upon restart, the loader reads this file and jumps to the system's previous, prehibernation location,” the company noted.


Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-Day Evaluation is available for download here.