Computer turns itself on...

[Addie]

Hi, all...my computer turns itself "on" from an "off" position almost every time I turn off the power button. The monitor remains off, but a few hours after it's turned off the hard drive is humming away and the green indicator light is on. I unplugged it from the wall while it was off, left it unplugged a few moments, then plugged it back in to see if it's an electrical problem, but the computer didn't come on by itself. I checked bios settings: power mgmt support is "enabled", and power button behavior is "On/Off" which might affect it, I don't know. Otherwise settings that would make it come on automatically are "disabled". Another strange thing is that when computer comes on by itself, I have to use an "old" password that I no longer use to get through screensaver. Is anyone else's computer turning itself on; if so, does anyone have any suggestions or comments? It's creeping me out, guys...Thanks a lot for any help offered!! Addie

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif forums!!

Is your modem set to 'wake on ring'? Try disconnecting from cable/phone lines to see if it continues.

Some system details would help us help you. Thanks.

[mjc]

Run don't walk to this thread (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15179) and grab one of the anti-trojan demos.

One of the scary items is, "Another strange thing is that when computer comes on by itself, I have to use an "old" password that I no longer use to get through screensaver.", that is not normal for something like wake on ring, etc...

[Addie]

I appreciate your replies. I am going to try one of the anti-trojan softwares and see what happens. Coincidentally, last night I turned computer off, unplugged modem from wall to see what might happen, and lo and behold, computer comes back on in a few minutes. Does this mean it couldn't be a trojan because I'm assuming you'd have to have the modem plugged in for a trojan to connect to computer; and if it's not a trojan, must it be an electrial problem because I checked and I don't have computer set to come on if phone rings? Again, Fruss Tray Ted and MJC, thanks a lot for your help, and I'll let you know if there are any more developments with anti-trojan software, etc. Addie

[Orion]

here's another question, that I was wondering about myself, but is your computer hooked up to a network? if so, is it set up to wake-on-LAN? From what I understand, that would cause it to turn on whenever another computer on the network made a request of it.

Otherwise, my Mom has an older gateway, and that one has the same kind of problem-you power it off, and it turns back on after a few seconds-usually enough time for the disks to spin down. we just lived with it, and remembered to hold the power button for 5 seconds after shutdown to fully turn the machine off, but I think my dad eventually narrowed it down to one of the energy-management settings in the BIOS. sorry I can't be of more help...
Orion

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Addie,
I'm sorry, I just now am seeing your second post.

Orion has a valid point as well.

But if your pc is not part of a network, I would be quite sure that you DO have a trojan embedded in your pc. They are mini programs that can start your pc and if you were on a DSL modem (always connected) it would then have access to your files again.

After you do what mjc suggested, get yourself a good firewall and antivirus program both of which can be gotten from mjc's links.

[Addie]

Thanks, Orion and Fruss Tray Ted!!
However, I'm not part of a nework, and I don't believe my bios settings are causing a problem. I downloaded and used Anti-Trojan 5.5 and I have also used The Cleaner in the past, but neither one found a trojan. I have Norton Anti-Virus and Firewall installed, and I'd like to think it is protecting me even if I have a trojan that was there before I installed it, but I'm concerned it isn't because the pc keeps coming on at night. I suspect that my pc may have an uncommon, and therefore, undetectable by commercial software, trojan. If I'm right, is my only recourse to wipe my Hard Drive clean? And if I do that will it get rid of any trojan? Also, do you have any general suggestions about the best way to clean a hard drive? I'd hate to have to do something so time consuming and inconvenient, but if it would give me peace of mind, I might give it a whirl. What do you think? I really appreciate your help...Addie

[mjc]

Go into the BIOS setup and disable any "wake on" settings you find.

Also run HijackThis (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/) (tutorial (http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt). It can be helpful in finding and pinpointing hidden startup/background programs.

[pzchen]

I have got similiar situation:
my computer, which installed a windows Me and windows 2000 professional, automatically turned itself on one night. I can't shut it down by ctr-alt-del or press power button for a few seconds or press restart button. Only way to turn it off is to unplug power. The problem is that once it is self turned on, just once flash of the light of CDROM, and power light on and that's it. No display at Monitor, No sound from Speaker.I keep hit keyboard, on one occasion it turn it off and next time after I switch on it works, but after it idle for a time then go into energy saving sleep mode, it can never wake up again now and can't shut down unless unplug the power.

The computer used to be OK for the last year. What I guess is either it is affected by a virus so that system can't boot up or the Advanced Power Management goes wrong so that system always stay at APM suspend status. Should I try change BIOS setup? Given situation that No output from Monitor, how can I wake up the system and get on to change BIOS setting? Should I remove CMOS batteries to reset BIOS, but is it means risking lost data at my hard driver? How can I keep my data at hard disk and fix the problem?

Thanks for any sugestion

[Budfred]

If you reset the BIOS it will not effect data on your hard drive. You can do this by removing the battery for at least 30 minutes (I would go for 24 hours) or by moving the CMOS jumper to the clear pins and back again.

It is also possible that you computer was fried by a power surge in which case there isn't a lot you can do to recover, but you may still be able to use the hard drive and some other components. I would do some testing before concluding that however.

That said, you may want to start your own thread to ask for help and make sure your include as much detail about your system and what you have done to fix the problem as you can.

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