Very strange, computer starting itself.

My husband has a Gateway Windows XP desktop. It is about 3 years old, no problems til last night. We immediately ran anti virus and malware checks and it came up clean. He goes to only a few usual places on the internet.

He turned of his compute to go to bed. We heard a noise like a fan running and that is a sound that this particular computer has always made when it kicks on. He thought it was my computer since he had turned his off.

The first time it sounded as if it turned on then off then on again.

He turned it off again, about 2-5 minutes later we got a repeat of the same thing, it turned on. This continued so we had to unplug the computer.

I am hoping that somehow a setting got messed up, or that this is a simple fix.

The fan that always runs for couple seconds when turned on did sound louder to me but perhaps that was since I was listening to it.

HELP!! ANY ideas, and a fix?

Get into your computer's "CMOS/BIOS Setup" and disable any "Wake On whatever" and/or "Auto On" settings. For example:

https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im...2009/01/25.jpg

http://wiki.cumps.be/_media/files/bl...onlan/bios.jpg

Why would it begin this all of a sudden?

O.K. folks here know I am not too computer savey, so after turning on the computer how do I get to this place?

So do I want it ENABLED? Should I set it according to the pics you show me?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Msbsgblue

Why would it begin this all of a sudden?

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Apparently, up until now, no one was attempting to access your computer via LAN or Modem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Msbsgblue

O.K. folks here know I am not too computer savey, so after turning on the computer how do I get to this place?

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Support.Gateway.com > Frequently Asked Questions
http://support.gateway.com/s/motherb...614faq42.shtml

Quote:

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Q: How do I enter the BIOS setup utility?

A: When the computer is turned off:

Turn on the computer and immediately press either the F1 key or the F2 key at one-second intervals to enter the BIOS setup utility.

When the computer is running:

Restart the computer. As soon as the computer begins to restart, press either the F1 key or the F2 key at one-second intervals to enter the BIOS setup utility.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Msbsgblue

So do I want it ENABLED? Should I set it according to the pics you show me?

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If you don't want anyone to be able to wake your computer via the LAN (NIC) card, you would Disable "Wake On LAN".

If you don't want anyone to be able to wake your computer via the Modem, you would Disable "Wake On Modem".

Etc., etc.

Still a bit confused.

We were on dial up for a long time, we went to DSL about 4 months ago. We are using DSL with a Quest phone company modem, so which should we do?

Disable both of them.

Disable anything that looks like the following:

Wake on LAN

Wake on modem ring

PME Event Wake Up

Resume by Alarm

Power on by mouse

Power on by keyboard (your cat or dog could have woken up the PC if these last two are enabled!)

Last night it began turning itself while he was using it.

Went into the Bios and it looks completely different from what you show. He had no cursor so had to hit "enter". Disabled "LAN". Did not see the other things. There are tabs at the top that say various things, the one we went into was "Power".

He just tried to use it again and it shut itself off again. Now what?

WOULD a system restore before all this started help?? This is XP by the way.

Bios, you have to use the arrow keys and the like. Mouse does NOT work there.

And do read the help in there which tells what keys to use.

Open Device manager
R-click the nic and select properties
Select the Advance Tab.

Click the "Wake on ARP/Ping" line

Change the value to disable.
Should take care of the ping wake up.

SHUTTING OFF NOW BY ITSELF TOO, WHAT THE HECK TO DO ABOUT THAT?

He can't get online to do anything it just shuts off.

WHAT ABOUT, trying a system restore to a couple days ago when it was o.k.?

Set the power back to where it was and see what happens then.

Here are the tabs at top MAIN, ADVANCED, SECURITY, POWER, BOOT, EXIT

Not sure we did the right thing first time. What tab do we go into? HE PUT IT BACK and it is now still shutting itself off, as you know before it was also turning itself on.

I will ask again if system restore would work?

It may fix some of the problems. Give it a whirl. Anyway I would.

May not be in BIOS if the nic is a pci card, but the trick in post #9 should take of the WAKE ON problem.

This sounds like it could be a power suppy problem :( Try testing it. If you have, or can borrow, a multimeter, here's how to test one:

Testing PSU Voltages

ATX Power Supplies

Trigger Power Supply for testing

In depth look at the power supply

Or alternatively you can buy a proper PSU tester, they don't cost much:

PSU Tester

ATX12V PSU Tester

I guess nic is suppose to be under the device manager and when we go to his control panel we do not see divice manager. Where else do we find this.

Now what?

To access Device Manager, use any of the following methods:

- Click Start, click Run, and then type "devmgmt.msc" (without the quotation marks).
- Right-click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.
- Right-click My Computer, click Properties, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
- Type the following command at a command prompt: start devmgmt.msc

There is nothing there like you are telling me. The only thing we see close is: 1394 Net Adapter Properties and there is no advanced tab. This device shows disabled.

Now we can only keep the computer on a few minutes or it shuts itself off as well.

My guess isthe nic has gone bad. If it is a PVI card remove it. If onboard , disable it in the BIOS. Now boot up. How does it act?

Train I need baby step instructions, step 1, step 2 and so on. I have NO idea what you are talking about and I do not understand abbreviations. Don't know what a PVI is, where it is or how to take it out.

We can be on for a few minutes if you tell me step by step how to disable it in BIOS.

Thank you, please help us.

Sorry it should be pci nic.

It would be mounted in a generally white slot like this one.

http://www.nuggetlab.com/comptia_fil...20NIC%2002.jpg

If it is, shut down , unplug everything from the tower, open the case and remove the card.

Hook everything back up and boot the computer.


Now if there is no pci nic , the go into teh BIOS [ Setup is another name ] and disable the on board nic .

Do not forget to Save and exit.
Now boot to windows and check out the computer.

How will I know what I am looking for if I go in there? I have NO idea what it looks like.

So sorry, but some of us use a computer for small things and don't know squat about the workings of one.

He is hesitant to do something if it could cause more problems.

Unless unplugged the computer is now turning itself on and then if my husband turns it on it is on about 4 minutes or less and then it turns itself off.

System restore DID NOT work.

Kind of wish you were on this side of the cascades, but will take a wild guess you folks are in the area where all the roofs are caving in.

Yes it is acting like the nic [ network interface card ] has messed up. Anyway like my onboard nic did.

Got a digital camera? if yes , take shots of each page of the BIOS, resixe them to about 100K and if they are legable attach them or post tham to a website and post a link .

We are both flying blind and by reading the bios settings, maybe we can beat this ness.

I'm in Yakima

Know the area.
Like to visit it.

On The Price Is Right, Come on down!! My husband and I would be happy to meet you. Seriously!

I will let you know how we fare on this tomorrow, hubby got to tired of it to work on it tonight. Except I am the one that will have to do the work if I figure this out, lol.

Open Control Panel--open System--click on Hardware tab--open Device manager.

OOOooooopppss--sorry--Ii missed a few prior posts.

This is all fine and well but what do we do then. We cannot find there what we are told to look for.

I will try taking pics of the BIOS pages when I get awake.

TRAIN, check your PM's for link to photos.

Sorry, been follow the flooding on the Chehalis and Cowlitz rivers. The flooding is effecting kin folk. Nothing bad so far.

Now to the BIOS.
On the advance tab, arrow down to Peripheral configuration and hit enter.

The onboard nic should be in there. As it says in the right pane, that will bring up the sub menu.

Thank you so much for your help tonight! You are a Godsend, you're the best!

Pat and Bill

Now should you need a nic, get one that is not expensive.

Examples: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...nterface-Cards


I have used this one and it has never given be troubles.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833156107

Also. it might be a right good idea to get some canned air to clean the dust and junk out of the computer. Then 90+% alcohol with q-tips to clean the fan blades.

After we spoke to you last night I had a thought that perhaps Bill has a virus on the computer since the problem continues.

So, I went to his email box on my computer and to his SENT box and clicked on the last email he had sent out. IMMEDIATELY, Avira popped up an alert that a virus was attempting to access my computer so I DENIED it.

Could this turning itself on and off by itself be a new type virus? That is my guess since it is obvious he has a virus.

QUESTION: Is there anyway to run a virus check directly from the antivirus disk since he cannot keep his computer on long enough to run it?

try McAfee stinger in Safe Mode.

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

There is a nasty that does that, but it normally throws up a count down applet before shutting the pc down.

So far the computer will not stay on long enough to complete the scan.

Is there ANYWAY a person can run a scan from a disk with the computer shut down.

Darn thing keeps turning itself off.

I am terrified that I am going to have to wipe his hard drive and start over, I do not know how to format the hard drive.

I will have to be the one to do it. I am dreading this at best.

Any more ideas?

Seems there are a few idea
http://www.claymania.com/virus-ntfs.html

I have used #5.

Along the lines of the BartPE idea in Trains link you could use this boot cd..

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

and scan using its antivirus programs. You'd need to use something like Nero or this freebie to create a CD with the downloaded boot iso file...

http://isoburn.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html

You would need to go into the stricken PC's bios and set it to boot from the optical (cd/dvd) drive first.

As fink brought it up, I will post this link just incase.

How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD?

http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm

Thanks, I see it does have 3 AV programs in it.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/index.html

So much information and we are not sure what is wrong. We have worked and worked and now if you turn it on it pretty much turns right back off.

We'll try later to do some of this, right now I am really stressed by it and stress does not help my illness.

IT WOULD NOT STAY ON IN "SAFE MODE" either, just shuts itself down.

I did burn a CD on my computer of the McAfee Stinger, now is there anyway to run it to check for viruses on his computer when it won't stay turned on long enough?