Does your desktop PC turn itself on or off without you hitting the power button? Does it always happen at the same time every day? Does it turn on randomly at night? Or does it just turn off without warning? Do not worry, you are not alone and in this article we are going to tell you what may be happening and of course how to solve it .
Hundreds of people have reported similar situations over time; some claim that the computer “wakes up” after being left to sleep or hibernation, and others insist that it automatically turns on on its own when completely turned off. In addition to these situations, we are also going to tell you about one that is even more common: that the PC shuts down for no apparent reason.
Reasons why the computer turns itself on or off
When the PC turns on by itself, the first thing we should think about is that there could be some task scheduled for it, and it is possible that even without the user having programmed it on purpose, so it is the first thing we should check. In any case, we are going to look at all the possible reasons why the PC can turn itself on or off without user interaction, starting with the reasons why it can be turned on.
Scheduled updates: Windows operating systems have scheduled tasks 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 is any task, especially related to automatic updates, that is scheduled to run at “strange” times, and in that case you can reschedule or cancel it.
Problems in the BIOS: it is also possible that if your computer turns on or off it is only because there is something wrongly configured in the BIOS, so we recommend you access it (usually by pressing DELETE when turning on the PC) and, once In BIOS, go to advanced settings or power settings where you should find a parameter called Wake on LAN, WOL, or Wake On Ring. Disable this parameter, otherwise you will be enabling the possibility that the PC turns on only for certain tasks.
Alternatively, also in the BIOS go to the power options and check if you have configured a parameter called Wake Up on Alarm, Auto Time On or similar and deactivate it as well, since this parameter can also cause the PC to turn on automatically under certain situations . For example, if there is a power outage at night in your house and you have this activated, the PC would be configured to turn on automatically when the power returns.
Shutdown problems: Shutdown problems in Windows can be caused by many factors, such as incompatible hardware, conflicting programs, or even a corrupted driver. As a result, when you turn off the PC, the system reboots automatically instead of remaining completely off. To avoid this, click the Start button and type “System” to access the system properties; Once there, click on Advanced system settings.
In the window that opens, go to the Advanced Settings tab and click the Settings button under the “Startup and Recovery” section. There you must uncheck the “Restart automatically” box in the “System error” section.
Network card configuration: another thing you should check if the PC turns on (or off) is only in the Device Manager, since it is possible that you have some activation configuration activated. 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 called “Allow this device to wake up the computer.” If you do not have the first option checked (“Allow the computer to turn off this device to save energy”) it will appear gray and you will not be able to change its status, so you may have to activate the first option first and then deactivate the second (and again deactivate the first one).
Finally, another check that you should carry out is on the PC’s power button itself, since especially if the box or motherboard is old it may be in poor condition and that a short makes it work badly and that it turns on the PC itself. just without hitting the button. Check that the connection of the button to the motherboard makes good contact and that the button is in good condition (otherwise, it would be advisable to change them).
Hardware or temperature problems: Finally, the reason that is generally more related to the PC shutting down is only hardware problems, starting with the power supply or the operating temperature especially of the processor and graphics card . In this regard, the best thing you can do is download and install a monitoring software that allows you to see both the voltages and the temperatures, since for example all processors have security mechanisms that turn off the PC when it reaches a certain temperature to avoid damage to the device.
If you see that the power supply voltages are outside of normal values (this is a 10% margin, that is, the + 12V rail should operate at between 13.2 and 10.8 volts, and still are dangerous values) is that it is not working properly and may be the cause of the PC turning itself off. Likewise, keep an eye on the temperatures of all your hardware since if they are too high, the PC could turn itself off.
If none of the above works, our recommendation is that you completely disassemble the PC, down to the last piece of hardware, since it is quite likely that there is a short circuit due to some metallic component touching the plate of the case and that is what may be causing you problems. Disassemble everything, take the opportunity to clean it well, and reassemble it. If you do it right and we are right, the problem will have disappeared (you would be surprised how many times someone has brought us a PC with this problem and simply disassembling, cleaning and reassembling it has been solved).