Question PC randomly won't start up (but powers on) - and then turns itself back on automatically after me shutting it down via the power button

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8bithero

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Aug 31, 2015
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So randomly my PC just won't start. The power comes on, the lights come on, the fans spin, but nothing appears on my monitor. It usually takes me a few times of hard shutting down via the power button and turning it back on for it to finally post and boot up.

Today this started happening again, but this time after a few tries of hard shutting it down, it wouldn't stay shut down. It was automatically turning itself back on. I eventually had to flip the power switch.

Another strange thing is I've noticed when this is happening and it's not booting up, only 1 out of the 3 fans on my GPU are spinning. Normally none should be spinning as they only activate once temps begin to rise.

I don't know if it's related, but for the past 2-3 years now my PC would randomly shut down and restart on its own while playing certain games with decent graphics. Less demanding games don't seem to trigger this. This doesn't happen too often, but occasionally. It's also not a temperature issue as it can happen after first turning a game on before things get hot. I've also monitored my temps and it wasn't overheating when it happened.

I thought I had figured out the "not starting up" problem a few months ago by unplugging cords from certain USB slots assuming they were causing a short or something, but the problem came back even with all USB's unplugged.

I've also ruled out the PSU. When the restarting during games started happening a couple years ago I installed a new Seasonic PSU, yet the problem persisted.

Any idea what the likely culprit is here?

Specs:
-i7-8700k
-16 GB RAM
-GTX 1070Ti
-Windows 10
-Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z370-P
 
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Colif said:
what motherboard do you have?
have you tried resetting the bios to defaults as it could be a conflict between its settings and windows.
Have you got newest BIOS on motherboard?
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for the response!

My motherboard is: ASUS PRIME Z370-P

I have not tried messing with the bios as I've been afraid of this issue somehow messing it up and bricking my PC. So do you think I should try resetting the BIOS to default then? I don't think I've ever actually changed anything in my BIOS.
 
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the only thing resetting bios might change that you might want on again is XMP.

Its worth a try, I have seen PC that refuse to turn off fixed in that way.

try turning this off. A pc that is off shouldn't be able to turn self on with that off - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html
I am assuming you use an ssd, as fast startup helps boot times if you have a hdd

that might help start up too, if the problem is an old driver.
 
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Colif said:
the only thing resetting bios might change that you might want on again is XMP.

Its worth a try, I have seen PC that refuse to turn off fixed in that way.

try turning this off. A pc that is off shouldn't be able to turn self on with that off - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html
I am assuming you use an ssd, as fast startup helps boot times if you have a hdd

that might help start up too, if the problem is an old driver.
Click to expand...
To be clear, when I keep having to hold the power button down to turn off the PC due to it not booting, it does turn off/shutdown power for like two seconds before automatically turning itself back on. Today was the first time it started turning itself back on.

Okay, thanks, I'll give that a shot. I'll try resetting my BIOS settings as well as turning off fast startup from the link you shared.
 
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if that doesn't help, have you tried taking GPU out and using the onboard graphics to see if that makes any difference to start. You can't play any games using it but is one way to see if GPU is involved in the problem. If it still happens, its not the GPU.

any extra dongles or external hdd attached?
 
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I haven't even thought of that! I honestly didn't realize my mobo had integrated graphics to be able to test that. Thank you!

So in order to do that do I simply remove the GPU then turn the PC on as normal?

As for the dongles, now that you mention it I do have a single bluetooth dongle on the front of my case I forgot to remove when removing all USB stuff.

As for everything else, I have my main SSD with windows on it and two regular HDDs inside my computer for storage - but they aren't external.

Edit: By resetting the BIOS, do you just mean going into the BIOS and clicking "default settings?" Because I did that but since I've never changed anything, it's telling me nothing has changed when I save and exit.
 
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8bithero said:
I haven't even thought of that! I honestly didn't realize my mobo had integrated graphics to be able to test that. Thank you!
Click to expand...
your CPU does, motherboard just has the connections
https://www.intel.com.au/content/ww...-12m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz/specifications.html

8bithero said:
So in order to do that do I simply remove the GPU then turn the PC on as normal?
Click to expand...
I think so. Its been a while since I had a CPU with a igpu
Helps to attach the monitor cable to motherboard or you won't see anything

8bithero said:
Edit: By resetting the BIOS, do you just mean going into the BIOS and clicking "default settings?" Because I did that but since I've never changed anything, it's telling me nothing has changed when I save and exit.
Click to expand...
It was worth a try.
 
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Odd results sometimes occur if the CMOS battery is reaching the end of life. Removing and replacing it should also reset your BIOS. This wasn't the solution to all my own problems, but did deal with the power button issue at least temporarily. GPU is next on my list of things to try.

For ease of reference, the CMOS battery is a silver disk on the MB held in place by a clip; mine is a lithium CR2032.
 
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Gotcha, thanks. I haven't considered that. I got my PC in 2018 so I'd be surprised if the CMOS battery was dying already, but I suppose it could be defective?

To update this thread, I did turn off "fast startup" but even then the problem persisted and it continued turning itself back on a few times. Though, turning itself back on hasn't happened the last few times it wouldn't start, so it seems very random.
 
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I've got a Seasonic Focus GX-750.

So then is it possible that this is all due to a faulty battery? Again, the turning itself back on thing seems pretty rare. Lately it's just been not booting windows despite powering on.
 
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No worries, I already appreciate all the help you've been giving me!

So would simply replacing the cmos battery potentially solve my issue?

And do you think this issue is at all related to how my PC will randomly restart itself while playing games? It's pretty infrequent but it happens while playing certain 3D games and most often when coming out of a loading screen. If they are related, it sort of leads me to believe there's an issue with the GPU causing all this.
 
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8bithero said:
So would simply replacing the cmos battery potentially solve my issue?
Click to expand...
Yes

Its also a cheap fix.

8bithero said:
And do you think this issue is at all related to how my PC will randomly restart itself while playing games? It's pretty infrequent but it happens while playing certain 3D games and most often when coming out of a loading screen. If they are related, it sort of leads me to believe there's an issue with the GPU causing all this.
Click to expand...
it may. That issue was what made me ask about PSU but your answer stopped me. I just replaced a Seasonic PX750 in my system, not because there was anything wrong with it, more it wouldn't have liked my new GPU.

My last 2 PSU have been Seasonic. I only didn't take one this time as the RM1000x was cheaper and just as good.
It is always possible but they the sort of maker you don't immediately suspect.

8bithero said:
-i7-8700k
-16 GB RAM
-GTX 1070Ti
-Windows 10
-Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z370-P
Click to expand...
your system hardly puts a 750 under stress. According to Seasonics own PSU Calculator it should only need a 550 and you over that. https://seasonic.com/wattage-calculator

next time it crashes out of a game, have a look in event viewer around the time of the crash and see if anything shows. There will be an event 41 (63) as windows makes it after any unexpected restart. But anything else might help.

Does anything show in reliability history at time of the crashes?
 
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Colif said:
Yes

Its also a cheap fix.


it may. That issue was what made me ask about PSU but your answer stopped me. I just replaced a Seasonic PX750 in my system, not because there was anything wrong with it, more it wouldn't have liked my new GPU.

My last 2 PSU have been Seasonic. I only didn't take one this time as the RM1000x was cheaper and just as good.
It is always possible but they the sort of maker you don't immediately suspect.


your system hardly puts a 750 under stress. According to Seasonics own PSU Calculator it should only need a 550 and you over that. https://seasonic.com/wattage-calculator

next time it crashes out of a game, have a look in event viewer around the time of the crash and see if anything shows. There will be an event 41 (63) as windows makes it after any unexpected restart. But anything else might help.

Does anything show in reliability history at time of the crashes?
Click to expand...
The random restarting while gaming thing started happening sometime in 2019 with my previous PSU, which is why I upgraded to the Seasonic thinking the PSU was the issue. I do remember trying to check the event viewer back then and couldn't see anything to pinpoint a problem. But next time it happens I'll take another look and even try to screenshot it to see if maybe someone else might notice something I don't.

I think I'll go ahead and try to replace the cmos battery to see if that helps at all. Really hope it's not my mobo that's failing with like a short or something. I love owning a PC but despise having to troubleshoot like this lol.

And to confirm, the "ECR2032" is the right one right? I'm assuming the "e" stands for energizer? Turns out I have a few laying around already. I'll pop one in the next time I turn my PC off.
 
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So to update:

I haven't had a chance to use my PC a ton, but I did change the CMOS battery a couple days ago. It may be too early to celebrate, but I'm happy to say that so far it's started/booted three times flawlessly. The first boot of course was a bit weird as the BIOS would proceed to boot without forcing me to reenter my configurations since it was fully reset. The day I changed the battery, I couldn't get it to boot at all beforehand, but afterwards it started right up. I did have to reseat my GPU since it was blocking my battery, but I'm not sure if simply reseating a GPU could fix an issue like this?

I haven't had a chance to play any games to see if the random shutdowns still happen. Even if they do they're fairly infrequent so it's not a big deal. I just hope my booting problem is solved!

I'll update this thread again in a few days after more boots to confirm that the issue has been solved.
 
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Another update: I think it may actually be fixed!

My PC has NEVER booted this fast the entire time I've owned it (that I can remember). I have only my OS installed on an SSD so it's always been quick, but this is like instant now after changing the battery. Kind of makes me even more confident that the problem is solved now and won't return. Still, I'll keep an eye on it and update again soon.
 
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