decompile apm mode
 

Hi!
Ive just newly installed debian linux on my laptop.
This being my first exposure to unix, has (obviously) caused me to deal with some tricky tasks, but in general, I've been having fun.
Now, after lending out my laptop to my brother the system began crashing. As long as I am active its alright, but as soon as I don't touch anything for 5 minutes it freezes.
My brother can probably help me, but he doesn't want to since he figures that it is for my best if i figure out how to solve these kind of problems by myself. all he told me was that I should decompile apm mode in the kernel.
this is not exactly what I've been doing during my first sessions with linux. I do realize that there is a risk in being unexperienced and without any good instructions to follow when playing around compiling and decompiling in the kernel.
I have searched a little bit on the net (unsuccessfully) in hopes of finding a little guide, but the results were unspecific.
Can anybody link me to a good page or give me some advice on what I can do considering this situation?
/Louisa

Far easier that recompiling your kernel without apm would be to see if an apmd service is running, or if you can find the bootloader line to alter to always turn the apm module off.