Windows 7: Laptop locks up in mid-sleep mode

About a few hours ago, I folded my laptop shut to put it into sleep mode. I left the room for a bit, and came back to notice that I could still hear the fans running. The power light wasn't pulsing to indicate the computer was asleep, either. When I opened the computer, the screen wouldn't turn on, and the computer wouldn't respond to anything I did. All I could was do a force shut down and restart. I've had to do this three times now-the computer refuses to go fully into sleep mode. The only thing I suspect may be the culprit may be the updates I installed today.

• Update for Internet Explorer 8 for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2398632)
• Security Update for Microsoft Office 2003 (KB2288613)
• Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2077208)
• Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64 - September 2010 (KB890830)
• Security Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2347290)
• Intel Corporation - Display - Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family

Does anyone know what the issue may be here?

Uninstall them and see if sleep mode works again. If so, reinstall them one at a time until it breaks, then don't install that update.

~Lordbob

Was sleep working before?

If so, System Restore to before it stopped working, working backward until Sleep works correctly.

Then create a Restore point entitled "Sleep working"

Now apportion enough Disk Space (10-20%) to hang onto Restore points at Computer>Properties>Advanced Setting>SysProtection>Configure.

If sleep stops working again, you now have a baseline to return to.

Install those Updates again one at a time to see which one affects sleep. See if you can isolate the problem Update then open a Support case with Windows Updates via email.

Rixanu,
Did sleep ever work correctly on this computer?

Check the Event Log. Iv got the feeling an error is reoccurring

It appears as if a program called Connectify, or one of the services related to it was causing the problem. I did a system restore to before the updates, and it didn't help. So I went back one further, before I installed Connectify. This one solved my problem. The strange thing is that sleep worked fine when I first installed the program. It also uninstalled a demo of Audiosurf, but I doubt that was the culprit. I have verified this by re-installing the updates, and sleep still works fine. Thank you for the assistance, everyone.

If this is an old program and you need it, you can try installing it in compatibility mode to see if it still affects sleep. Compatibility Mode

Set a restore point before the reinstall.

Here is a screenshot of how to apportion more System Restore space (if you have HD space to spare) so you can hang onto the "Sleep works" restore point:

Rizanu,
The problem with Connectify doesn't surprise me.

I tried Connectify and because of problems thereafter, I uninstalled Connectify.

You can do what Connectify does yourself. Let's see if I can find the reference for it.

Didn't find url immediately, but will and will post back.

OK. Found the link on "rolling your own".

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 7 Tip of the Week: Use Wireless Hosted Networking to Share An Internet Connection Wirelessly

Oh wow, thank you karlsnooks! It's a shame Connectify causes problems like this, but it's good to know that I can do this manually.