PowerChute Shutdown Issue

[gonculator_apc]

I have an old desktop system running Windows XP SP3, which is not capable of correctly performing a Hibernate and recover, so I have Hibernate disabled. To replace a previous smaller UPS by another maker that never worked right, I just got a BE750G (Back-UPS ES 750). First I installed the PowerChute PE v. 2.0.0.0 software that came with it, then when I found a newer version on this site I uninstalled the earlier version and installed PowerChute PE v. 3.0.2. Then I performed a test of saving open files by opening several programs and creating new files, saving those files and then making changes WITHOUT saving the changes, then unplugging the UPS from the wall. When the PowerChute software went through the shutdown process, each open program in turn brought up the "Do you want to save the changes? Yes/No/Cancel" dialog (I did not type or click anything), then after several seconds the program closed. But after the shutdown was complete and I plugged the UPS back in and rebooted the system, I found that the file changes had not been saved. Is PowerChute 3.0 not capable of performing an unattended, fully-safe shutdown, or did I do something wrong or miss a step?

How can I correct this issue? Would reverting back to PowerChute v. 2.0 do it? I seem to remember some registry files in there about ADS or something like that (Automatic Document Save?), which are apparently not present in v. 3.0.

[BillP]

Hi,

Hibernate - document save is provided by Microsoft as part of Windows XP hibernate is not incorporated / installed by PowerChute. When PowerChute is installed it enables hibernate so files will be saved when it commands the OS down. If you have disabled hibernate your documents will not be saved as you observed.

To verify I ran a test on XP SP3 with hibernate enabled. I created a Word doc, saved it and then added more lines of text leaving it open on the desktop. I also opened IE, PowerChute, and Excel and left them open. Set PowerChute to shutdown after on battery for 1 minute. Removed AC from the UPS and after being on battery for the minute a window popped up stating the system would be hibernated. The system powered down and after the 2 minutes delay the UPS switched for on battery to sleep mode. I restored AC to the UPS (BE750G) and the OS restarted since the BIOs was configured to do so. When the OS came back up IE, PowerChute, and Excel windows were as I left them as was the word doc that still included the unsaved lines of text.

When you say XP is not able to perform hibernate / recover properly what is the issue? Maybe there is a solution on Microsoft's technical support site for the issue you are seeing.

[gonculator_apc]

There are two issues with my system and Hibernate, which may or may not be related. First, upon Hibernate, the system seems to save its state properly then attempts to shut down, but when it "shuts down", I get a screen full of garbage and the power does not turn off. Second, if I then manually power the system off and on, or reset it, it then attempts to wake from hibernation but gives an error message indicating that it failed. I'm then given the option to try again, or abort to a regular restart (and lose the saved hibernation state data). Only the regular restart works; it never successfully wakes from hibernation.

Will you please do a search through your archives for the term "WorkSafe"? I was under the impression that this feature included with or part of PowerChute PE (at least in version 2.0) was supposed to perform the function of automatically saving open documents, for systems that can not Hibernate. Was it removed from PCPE version 3.0 because it didn't work? Or is it still present, but not enabled in the same way (I believe it had to be manually enabled via a registry file with PCPE 2.0)?

[BillP]

Hi,

I review the documentation for PCPE starting with version 1.0 and one of the key features listed for Windows XP is hibernation for file save. I cannot find any documentation for PCPE that list Worksafe with PCPE. We did offer Worksafe with PowerChute Plus (release notes link below) but not with PCPE.

ftp://ftp.apc.com/apc/public/software/windows/311/pcplus/424/relnotes.pdf

I suggest checking Microsoft forums and knowledge base articles to resolve the systems hibernation issue/s. I did a Google search on "hibernate not working Windows XP" and there are many hits for that subject. Normally I would recommend contacting Microsoft but they have ended support for XP so the web is the only option.

[gonculator_apc]

Bill P. wrote:

I review the documentation for PCPE starting with version 1.0 and one of the key features listed for Windows XP is hibernation for file save. I cannot find any documentation for PCPE that list Worksafe with PCPE. We did offer Worksafe with PowerChute Plus (release notes link below) but not with PCPE.

ftp://ftp.apc.com/apc/public/software/windows/311/pcplus/424/relnotes.pdf

I suggest checking Microsoft forums and knowledge base articles to resolve the systems hibernation issue/s. I did a Google search on "hibernate not working Windows XP" and there are many hits for that subject. Normally I would recommend contacting Microsoft but they have ended support for XP so the web is the only option.

I have already unsuccessfully spent several days on the hibernation issue with this system a few years ago, and tried again for a while yesterday with only minor improvement. Now the system appears to hibernate normally, including shutting off completely at the end of the process. But on wake the progress bar seems to get all the way to the end, then the monitor goes off and indicates "No Signal" while the fans continue to run but the hard drive activity light remains dark, even if I leave the system alone for several minutes. Resetting or power-cycling the computer at that point gives the same result as before, it will not wake from hibernation and the only viable option is to choose to discard the hibernation data and perform a normal boot.

I have now uninstalled PCPE 3.0 and reverted to PCPE 2.0 to show you some things that your "documentation" seems to be missing. Below are some images for you: the CD that came with my UPS, the PowerChute folder as installed from this CD (I changed the default install location slightly, removing an unnecessary directory level), and part of the Troubleshooting page of the Help file (APC PCPE for XP.chm). Note the files in the folder named "Disable ADS.reg", "Enable ADS.reg" and "worksafe.exe". Also, there is a reference shown in the Help file by the entry "Open files are not saved" to "double click on the Enable ADS.reg file". Here is the content of that file:

APC wrote in file Enable ADS.reg:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\APC\APC PowerChute Personal Edition\2.00.000\Shutdown]
"WorksafeEnabled"=dword:00000001

So, let me rephrase my original question: Does the "Worksafe" or "ADS" functionality not exist in PCPE 3.0 for computers that can't Hibernate; or is such functionality built into it (rather than being provided in separate files like in 2.0), but for whatever reason not working on my system? Is it likely to work if I copy files and registry entries from 2.0 to 3.0?

[BillP]

Hi,

As I wrote earlier one of the key features and benefits for PCPE on XP is integration with hibernation. My assumption is Worksafe.exe was included with PCPE 2.0 for systems that did not offer hibernation but I have no documentation on it. I installed 2.0 and checked help for Worksafe and it did not list anything. When I search on file save it list "hibernation" "hibernate" and "what happens during a prolonged power problem" and that recommends hibernation.

To answer your question Worksafe.exe is not included with PCPE 3.0. I don't know what would happen if you copied Worksafe.exe form 2.0 to 3.0. I am sorry that your system is messed up and hibernation does not work properly but I cannot recommend swapping files for 2.0 to 3.0 and editing the registry.

[gonculator_apc]

Bill P. wrote:

To answer your question Worksafe.exe is not included with PCPE 3.0. I don't know what would happen if you copied Worksafe.exe form 2.0 to 3.0. I am sorry that your system is messed up and hibernation does not work properly but I cannot recommend swapping files for 2.0 to 3.0 and editing the registry.

That's not quite an answer to my question. I did not ask if the "worksafe.exe" file exists in PCPE 3.0, because I already know that it does not. I asked if the Worksafe functionality exists in PCPE 3.0. In other words, is there a way in PCPE 3.0, to get it to automatically save open, named documents before performing a "Shutdown" (not "Hibernate") of the system?

[BillP · Accepted solution]

No. Worksafe functionality does not exist in PCPE 3.X. As for is there a way to get automatic save without utilizing hibernate, maybe another member has a solution but I am not aware of one.