Computer turning itself on.

JDR13

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I've had several instances recently where I came home to find my computer had booted itself on. It had been completely powered off, not in any kind of sleep mode.

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a setting in Windows 10 because I recall having this problem a few years ago. I don't remember what I did to solve it though. Anyone know how it could be doing this and how to stop it?
 
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Sounds like that X-files AI epizode, pretty sure at some point it will try to kill you.
Did you notice anything else peculiar...lights turning on/off, electricity malfunctions, etc?
 
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Well.. it did speak to me the other day. Didn't think much of it to be honest. I didn't like the way it referred to me as a meatbag though...
 
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There are several settings in the Bios that will allow the computer to power on (wake on lan - wake on usb - ...); as well as (in some systems) a wake at certain times of the day. Part of the issue is that modern computers don't really go 'off' and continue to operate at a very low power level - but most of these options can be configured in the bios. Also - some computers will have power on if power lost features (i.e, you turn the computer off - but then the power goes out in the house - they will power back on when the power is restored). Spooky.
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If this is a new 'thing' on an old computer the only thing I can think of is that the battery on the motherboard died causing the bios settings to get reset.
 
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Laptop or Desktop?
How new/old?
Are you using the old legacy BIOS for booting, or UEFI?

There's a few settings that can do this.
- New UEFI settings have a sleep state that doesn't actually turn off the computer. So even though you've shut down, it's just in a very low power mode so you start up faster next time. This is more common in laptops though. WOL or Win10 sleep/hibernate settings might be affecting this
- Check your power settings in the BIOS. If there's a setting for what to do if the computer loses power, shuts down, and then gets it back again. It should be set to do nothing, but it can also be set to automatically turn on the computer (in other words, you could be getting a power cut, and then when you get the power back, the computer turns off if this is set to do so).
- A PSU issue
- A physical issue with your power button
- A mainboard or battery issue if it's a laptop

EDIT: basically what You said. I should learn to refresh my screen.
 
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I was going to answer, but I refreshed my screen and saw that you had it figgered out.
@Caddy; :biggrin:
 
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Never heard of that one..kinda scary! Maybe a ghost is playing with your computer while you are away?
 
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I'm used to the PC doing kind of odd things heh, but i had occurrences with my ipad suddenly waking up.. That is much more scary.. sometimes i could see it just turn on in the the middle of the night. At first i thought it's probably some battery problem or whatever, but it can also be a typical sign that it's hacked (it was jailbroken so..). people can use it both to spy from the camera and to listen to you. so eventually i just removed the jailbreak and reinstalled the original OS.
 
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@JDR13;: Did you find out 1) what it was wrong and 2) a solution?

pibbur who at the moment is surprisingly curious.
 
@JDR13;: Did you find out 1) what it was wrong and 2) a solution?

pibbur who at the moment is surprisingly curious.

Perhaps. I did change a few settings. I turned off the wake on LAN and the wake on scheduled maintenance functions. Hopefully that solves the issue.
 
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If you haven't already done so, JDR, I would recommend picking up a battery backup and powersurge protector for your computer. It was one of the first things I purchased when I made the move to Florida - this place is powersurge central.
 
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If you haven't already done so, JDR, I would recommend picking up a battery backup and powersurge protector for your computer. It was one of the first things I purchased when I made the move to Florida - this place is powersurge central.

Indeed. I just had another power outage a few hours ago. Luckily they usually only last a few seconds. I don't have battery backup, but I've got a solid surge protector.
 
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