Windows 7 shuts down / powers up on its own?!

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Tell me if you've ever had this happen.

My PC has, on 3 separate occasions in the past two months, turned itself on. Just out of nowhere. I shut it down, leave the room, then 10 minutes later I hear it start up.

Then, other times, I start it up like normal, will be navigating things like usual, and about two minutes in, it'll say "Shutting down..." just like it would if I actually went to the start menu to shut it down.

Currently I can use my computer for about 5 minutes. Then, shuts down.

Weird. Weird? Yeah, weird.

Anyone have any idea what's going on? Is it a motherboard thing?

Don't know if it's related, but - my keyboard has a sleep button on it (a little crescent moon icon), which I've used quite a bit since I discovered it. I'd use this to close down between gaming sessions. Don't know if it's a good idea or not, but - figured I'd confess it now in case there is a connection.

SUBQUESTION: Would upgrading from 7 to 8.1 solve this problem?

Any help appreciated. Danke.

 

Hmm. A couple of months ago, a man came to my door, handed me a box, and told me that inside the box was a button that, whenever pressed, would start up or shut down somebody’s computer. He didn’t say whose computer it would be, but I guess I know now!

 

That was the most Splunge answer possible. I love you Splungy.

You know what else I hope you get from the box? Crabs. For Christmas. Christmas Crabs!! All festive and itchy.

Seriously though...I'd really like to know whuddup with my magical timewaster box. Er, I mean gaming PC. Thank you.

 

I assume it's a desktop rather than a laptop?

What's your level of computer knowledge as there's lots of possible things it could be.

 

Dunno about the self-starting (which is weird considering that you have to press the power-button to close the circuit; unless it is some sort of power saving rather than being off. ), but I had the shutdown problem once myself, and it was due to a dying Motherboard.
I was rather sporadic. Not 5 mins like yours. Sometimes more sometimes less.

Start up in safe-mode and let it idle for some time. Observe what happens.

 

It could also be the power supply overheating, and the BIOS might be set to turn the computer back on after a power failure.
My great aunt had an HP Slimline computer that would shut down after 5 minutes, but I don't recall the auto-power on. However, that might be a function in the BIOS.

I'd check the BIOS as I know both HP and Dell computers have features for Auto Power On and AC power Recovery (Dell terms). I'm going to have to check the BIOS on my Gateway computer again.

I normally would NOT recommend this, but another way to be sure you didn't miss it is once your computer is booted, try pulling the plug (or killing the power bar) with it turned on and displaying the desktop. Then wait at least 60 seconds and plug it back in. If the computer immediately tries to boot, then this is most likely part of what is going on.


In any case, this does sound a bit like a faulty power supply I saw in my great aunt's computer a few years ago.
Changing a power supply, while easier than it used to be in the old days, is still something to research carefully if you aren't a trained technician. I probably should say that only a trained tech should do it, but I was something of a prodigy with computers and sometimes have trouble gauging what should or shouldn't be beyond the average user for DIY with a bit of research and instruction.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone. This was very helpful.

Good to know that the software problem is highly unlikely.

It wouldn't surprise me if it's the Mobo, power supply, or both failing. The Mobo is 2 years old (which isn't super old), but since I've never had a mobo fail on me ever, I suppose I'm due. The power supply is a 550w - barely strong enough to power my rig - and is about 5 years old.

I think what I may do is bite the bullet, scratch $7-800 together and just build a new box. I've had the same case for almost 10 years now. The GPU, CPU and HDD are all in pretty great shape, so I'll carry them over. This should also save me from having to do a system wipe, but after a backup I may just do that anyway.

Sound like a good plan?

 

Now for a less-Splungian post:

If your power supply is 5 years old, that could be the problem since they degrade over time.

Have you tried opening up the case and cleaning the dust out? If it’s an overheating problem, that could be an easy fix.

 

I'd just try a new, more powerful power supply first. If the current one is "barely strong enough to power my rig", and it's five years old, it could be degrading. They have been known to give out slightly (not a significant drop, but a watt or two) less than their rated power when they get a few years old and start getting a bit of resistance in the conductors as the materials age. Then it's being overtaxed and overheating, thus shutting down.

If it's a standard ATX, it should be fairly simple and cheap to replace if you can build your own system like that.

If that plan fails, then go with yours.

 

By the way - for anyone still interested - I did a little digging here in past threads and realized my power supply is an Antec Neo HE 500w which I bought in late 2006. So I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised at its demise.

This weekend I bought a Corsair RM750, which seems like it'll cover me for the next 7 years. I'll install it sometime this week after work and see if it does the trick. The nice part is I should be able to fit it just fine into a new system build. It's also 80+ Gold Certified, which is nice on the power consumption front.

 

Good luck with it, and to get all those small motherboard sockets filled up