Computer keeps turning on, randomly

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Operations

Member
Dec 29, 2019
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I own one computer which keeps turning on after a couple of hours. I cannot seem to figure out why....


Turned off WOL

Turned off wake up by mouse/keyboard

No start up Jobs in scheduler

Used different power outlets and power cords. Even though the power circuit in The Netherlands is rock stable, so i am pretty sure the problem isn't the power.

Computer is running Windows 10, 21H1. I5 4460 - 8GB - 2x120GB SSD RAID0. Not sure which mainboard atm.


Any ideas?
 
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A-W-A

New Member
May 14, 2022
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It could possibly be the result of harmonics generated within your home by switching devices such as water pumps, refrigerators or some kinds of fluorescent lighting - can be tricky to determine one way or another without the use of an oscilloscope
 
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Operations

Member
Dec 29, 2019
78
2
8
A-W-A said:
It could possibly be the result of harmonics generated within your home by switching devices such as water pumps, refrigerators or some kinds of fluorescent lighting - can be tricky to determine one way or another without the use of an oscilloscope
Click to expand...
Is this a common thing?
 
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BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
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Operations said:
Is this a common thing?
Click to expand...
As far fetched as it sounds, something similar happens all the time to me. I live in a very dry climate and static discharge will do it regularly. Touch a light switch in another room (different circuits) or even the metal cable for my window blinds and it will wake certain computers from sleep (can hear them beep when it happens) assuming the static buildup was sufficient.

With that said, "powercfg -lastwake" will at least tell you what process or device was the last to wake up your PC.
 
O

Operations

Member
Dec 29, 2019
78
2
8
BlueFox said:
As far fetched as it sounds, something similar happens all the time to me. I live in a very dry climate and static discharge will do it regularly. Touch a light switch in another room (different circuits) or even the metal cable for my window blinds and it will wake certain computers from sleep (can hear them beep when it happens) assuming the static buildup was sufficient.

With that said, "powercfg -lastwake" will at least tell you what process or device was the last to wake up your PC.
Click to expand...
Powercfg -lastwake only shows:

Wake History Count - 1
Wake History [0]
Wake Sourcr Count - 0

But i did noticed it happens around 00.30 everytime. And when i Google this a bit, this should have something to do with the Windows Updates... right?

I use a domain and a WSUS. But if this would be the result of a policy or domain setting i would expect all my computers with show the same behavior... right?
 
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Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
1,152
768
113
Northern California
BlueFox said:
With that said, "powercfg -lastwake" will at least tell you what process or device was the last to wake up your PC.
Click to expand...
^^^This.

Plus, if you haven't checked it, look for the BIOS setting for what the system does when recovering from a power loss. Different manufacturers/board models call it different things and/or put it in different menus, so you may have to search around.

Most of the time, the setting will give you options like "Power On", "Last State", or "Stay Off". If power to the motherboard is interrupted for any reason, due to a faulty power supply, cabling, or plug for example, any setting other than "Stay Off" could cause your computer to restart. Even if the computer is OFF, there's 5V standby power to the motherboard. So if that 5V is momentarily interrupted, the computer could restart if the setting is "Power On". If it was asleep or hibernating, "Power On" or "Last State" will also cause it to restart.
 
M

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
1,152
768
113
Northern California
Operations said:
Powercfg -lastwake only shows:

Wake History Count - 1
Wake History [0]
Wake Sourcr Count - 0

But i did noticed it happens around 00.30 everytime. And when i Google this a bit, this should have something to do with the Windows Updates... right?

I use a domain and a WSUS. But if this would be the result of a policy or domain setting i would expect all my computers with show the same behavior... right?
Click to expand...
Was the computer fully turned off or was it suspended/sleep? is it simply waking up, or is it restarting? If its an issue with waking, rather than turning on from an poweroff state, you can try:

powercfg /requests

to see if anything is blocking your systems sleep state.
 
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