Question My PC has no output and pressing the enter key cause's it to turn off

[dannylamby]

Hello, my PC suddenly turned off, since then turning it back on cause's nothing to be displayed and pressing the enter key causes it to turn off. No other key cause's this behaviour (but still nothing is displayed). This persists when everything but the keyboard is disconnected and plugging directly into mains does not change anything. Has anyone ever encountered something like this, or does anyone have any advice on how to proceed. I built it myself around 2 month's ago. All components are new apart from the power supply (650W) and RAM.

MSI MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE WIFI Motherboard
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WINDFORCE OC 8G Graphics Card
Intel Core i7-10700K 10th Gen Processor
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3000 MHz CL15 XMP 2.0
EVGA 650 W G2 GOLD 80+ Modular PC Power Supply Unit
Windows 10

Any ideas on what's wrong or tips on troubleshooting it would be appreciated

 

[Ralston18]

How old is that EVGA PSU?

Was was the PSU originally used for heavy gaming, graphics work, or even bit-mining?

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Double check that all cards, cables, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly in place. Do so by sight and feel.

Do you have access to another known working PSU that you can install and test?

 

[dannylamby]

Hello, my PC suddenly turned off, since then turning it back on cause's nothing to be displayed and pressing the enter key causes it to turn off. No other key cause's this behaviour (but still nothing is displayed). This persists when everything but the keyboard is disconnected and plugging directly into mains does not change anything. Has anyone ever encountered something like this, or does anyone have any advice on how to proceed. I built it myself around 2 month's ago. All components are new apart from the power supply (650W) and RAM.

MSI MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE WIFI Motherboard
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WINDFORCE OC 8G Graphics Card
Intel Core i7-10700K 10th Gen Processor
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3000 MHz CL15 XMP 2.0
EVGA 650 W G2 GOLD 80+ Modular PC Power Supply Unit
Windows 10

Any ideas on what's wrong or tips on troubleshooting it would be appreciated

How old is that EVGA PSU?

Was was the PSU originally used for heavy gaming, graphics work, or even bit-mining?

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Double check that all cards, cables, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly in place. Do so by sight and feel.

Do you have access to another known working PSU that you can install and test?

Hi Ralston

Thanks for the response. I've taken it apart and put it together again, checked all the connections but nothing changed. The PSU is 3 and 1/2 years old but I don't have a spare I can use to test it. The thing that is confusing me is the fact the enter key causes a restart, but no other does. Could the PSU be causing that?

 

[Ralston18]

Apologies, did not correctly read your post.

Does the restart happen with another known working keyboard?

Does the restart happen if you connect the keyboard to another known working computer?

Determine if the restart problem follows the keyboard or stays with the computer.

Have you ever set up any custom key combinations for gaming or use in some application?

Or likewise created or changed any Ease of Access settings?

Reinstall the keyboard drivers. Skip any accompanying utilities to create custom key combinations.

Try running Windows built in troubleshooters. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Next try "sfc /scannow" via the Command Prompt.

Reference:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

 

[dannylamby]

Apologies, did not correctly read your post.

Does the restart happen with another known working keyboard?

Does the restart happen if you connect the keyboard to another known working computer?

Determine if the restart problem follows the keyboard or stays with the computer.

Have you ever set up any custom key combinations for gaming or use in some application?

Or likewise created or changed any Ease of Access settings?

Reinstall the keyboard drivers. Skip any accompanying utilities to create custom key combinations.

Try running Windows built in troubleshooters. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Next try "sfc /scannow" via the Command Prompt.

Reference:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

Hi Ralston

I tried using a different keyboard but got the same result. I tried using the "sfc/scannow" but the computer turns off when the enter key is pressed anyway. Part of the problem is when the computer is booting up it is not sending a signal to the monitor (via the graphics card or mother board) so its difficult to tell what happening. The HDMI is working as it works on my laptop when connecting to the monitor. I don't have a spare PSU, but at this point I don't know what to do apart from to buy a new one and hope it fixes the issue. Would you agree or is there something else I could try first?

 

[Ralston18]

Were you able to reinstall the keyboard drivers?

If so and the ENTER key problem continues:

Not one to immediately think virus, malware, etc. but if the problem is happening on multiple keyboards then run your AV software, Windows Defender/Security etc.. Use the mouse to select and launch. Just as a matter of elimination....

But the problem does not need to be malware or AV per se. Just a simple app or utility.

Look in Task Manager and Task Scheduler for some unrecognized app or utility being launched. Something that may be re-configuring "Enter" into "CTRL + ALT + DEL" perhaps.

Process Explorer may help find something running that is not expected. You may have to download Process explorer via Microsoft's website and then install it.

Has anyone else used your computer and could have changed or otherwise introduced a key reconfiguration? Intentionally or otherwise? Maybe wrote macros or some automated responses?

The direction I am going is to delve into ASCII codes.

When you press a key on the keyboard that keypress generates an ASCII code that the computer recognizes and knows what to do thereafter. If a letter then that letter may simply be displayed/typed on the screen. Or some logic is used to identify the letter and make a menu choice accordingly.

Some codes do not display per but simply tell the OS that some other action is to be taken.

ENTER

https://www.rapidtables.com/code/text/ascii/ascii-enter.html

More expansively:

https://theasciicode.com.ar/ascii-control-characters/carriage-return-ascii-code-13.html

So all that needs to happen is that the control code for ENTER be changed.

Or that there is some bit of code, running in the background, that interprets ENTER as a shutdown command.

Easily done - Python example:

https://codescracker.com/python/program/python-program-shutdown-restart-computer.htm

Instead of y/n (yes/no) the code reacts to a ENTER keyboard press.

The same can be done in other coding languages....

You should be able to use just the mouse to work through Task Manager > Startup, Task Scheduler, and Process Explorer.

Do not immediately delete or disable anything. Look first, and then google or post anything suspicious.

Hopefully I am not going too far off on a tangent. Would prefer some error of omission or commission on my part.

Maybe someone else will add other ideas and suggestions. No problem with that.

 

[dannylamby]

Hi Ralston

I'm not able to look at task manager (at least I don't think I can) as the monitor is not picking up any signal from the HDMI cable when its connect to the computer (I've tested the cable and it works). This is true of the motherboard and graphics card. The computer turns on, no signal is received. I can press any key but once enter is pressed it shuts down. I'm certain no one would have remapped keys or messed with my computer. I'm not sure how to reinstall keyboard drivers without a screen to look at either.

 

[Mike2009]

Try resetting cmos ,, (pull battery or use the trip prongs on the motherboardi f it doesnt have a button ) , What it is sounding like ,, is POSSibly a something happened and caused a currupt bios ,,, if this is the case maybe the reset will fix it. did you leave it on during a storm ,, and has it been plugged into directly to the wall or on a UPS or a surge protector?

 

[dannylamby]

Hello Mike/Ralston

Thank you for the help, I used the trip prongs to reset the CMOS and now the monitor is receiving signal
However upon startup windows will not load and i am unable to repair or reset it. I've tried using the "sfc/scannow" and the following came up:
Begining verification phase of system scan.
verification 100% complete.
windows resource protection could not perform the requested operation.

Would the next step to be to try to load windows via a USB or disk?