Hundreds of people have reported similar situations over time; Some claim that the computer “wakes up” after being left in sleep or hibernation, and others insist that it turns on automatically when completely turned off. In addition to these situations, we will also tell you about an even more common one: that the PC turns off for no apparent reason.
Reasons why the computer turns on or off
When the PC turns on by itself, the first thing we have to think about is that there might be a task scheduled for it, and it is possible that even without the user having programmed it on purpose, it is so the first thing we should check out. In any case, we are going to look at all the possible reasons why the PC may turn on or off without user interaction, starting with the reasons why it may be turned on.
Scheduled updates: Windows operating systems have tasks scheduled to run automatically at certain times, and in some cases, they can cause the PC to automatically turn on to do so. To check, click on the Start button and type “Task Scheduler” to access this tool
Here you can check if there are any tasks, especially related to automatic updates, which are scheduled to run at “strange” times, and if so, you can reschedule or cancel them.
BIOS issues: It is also possible that if your computer turns on or off it is only because there is something misconfigured in the BIOS, so we recommend that you access it (usually by pressing DELETE while turning on the PC) and, once in BIOS, go to advanced settings or power settings where you should find a setting called Wake on LAN, WOL or Wake On Ring. Disable this setting, otherwise you will enable the possibility that the PC will only turn on for certain tasks.
Alternatively, also in BIOS go to power options and check if you have configured a setting called Wake Up on Alarm, Auto Time On or similar and disable it as well, as this setting can also cause the PC to turn on automatically. under certain conditions. situations. For example, if there is a power outage at night in your house and you have it turned on, the PC would be set to automatically turn on when power returns.
Shutdown issues: Shutdown issues in Windows can be caused by many factors, such as incompatible hardware, conflicting programs, or even a corrupt driver. Therefore, when you turn off the PC, the system will restart automatically instead of staying completely off. To avoid this, click on the Start button and type “System” to access system properties; Once there, click on Advanced System Settings.
In the window that opens, go to the Advanced settings tab and click on the Settings button in the “Startup and recovery” section. There you need to uncheck the “Automatically restart” box in the “System error” section.
Network card configuration: Another thing you should check if the PC turns on (or off) is only in Device Manager, as there is a possibility that you have enabled an activation setup. To do this, right click on the Start button and select Device Manager. In it, display the “Network adapters” section and double-click on your network card to access its configuration.
In the window that opens, go to the Power Management tab and uncheck the option labeled “Allow this device to wake up the computer”. If you have not checked the first option (“Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”), it will appear in gray and you will not be able to change its state, so you may need to First activate the first option and then deactivate the second (and deactivate the first again).
Finally, another check that you must perform is on the power button of the PC itself, because especially if the box or the motherboard is old it may be in poor condition and a short one causes it to malfunction and that it turns on the PC itself. without pressing the button. Check that the connection of the button to the motherboard makes a good contact and that the button is in good condition (if not, it would be advisable to change them).
Hardware or temperature issues: Finally, the reason that is generally more related to the shutdown of the PC is only the hardware problems, starting with the power supply or the operating temperature, in particular the processor and the graphics card. In this regard, the best thing to do is to download and install monitoring software that allows you to see both voltages and temperatures, because for example all processors have security mechanisms that shut down the PC when ‘it reaches a certain temperature to avoid damaging the device.
If you see that the supply voltages are outside the normal values (this is a 10% margin, that is, the + 12V rail should work between 13.2 and 10.8 volts, and these are always dangerous values) is that it is not working correctly and may be the cause of the automatic shutdown of the PC. Likewise, keep an eye on the temperatures of all your hardware because if they are too high, the PC could shut down.
If none of the above works Our recommendation is to completely disassemble the PC, down to the last piece of hardware, as there is a high probability that there is a short circuit due to a metal component touching the case plate and this is what may be wrong. origin of the problems. Disassemble everything, take the opportunity to clean it well, and reassemble it. If you do it right and we’re right, the problem will be gone (you’d be surprised how many times someone brought us a PC with this problem and the simple teardown, clean, and reassembly was resolved).
