[SOLVED] Windows 7 PC turns itself back on after shutdown

[tvd]

Hi there, sorry if this is in the wrong sub forum but I'm not entirely sure which one to put it in as I don't know what the problematic element is (hardware? software?).

My PC, for the past few days, has been turning itself back on after I shut it down. Every time. There's a consistent 3-second delay between when the case lights go off, and when everything starts powering up again. So far as I know, I haven't changed anything since before the problem started happening (the last time I used the PC before that was a couple weeks prior). The only way I've been able to keep it shut down is to flick the physical PSU switch to OFF during that 3-second window.

I did some Googling and also searched here on TH for similar issues, but the solutions to everyone else's problems don't seem to work for me.

• I've disabled "Allow this device to wake the computer" for every single device in Device Manager
• The power plan I have running doesn't have wake timers enabled
• When I check for the last 'wake' in command prompt, nothing is listed
• In Event Viewer, there are no wake events at all

I'm at a complete loss. I'm not sure which system specs y'all need to help diagnose this, please let me know if I can provide further information that may assist. Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[rocktalkrock]

Have you checked if your power button is set to restart?

 

[tvd]

Hi rocktalkrock, I didn't even know that was an option BUT just checked it and it's set (correctly!) to shut down.

 

[tvd]

Alright, several virus scans later, the problem appears to be fixed. For anyone who might have the same issue, here's what happened:

1. Windows Defender scan. Found nothing wrong.
2. Bitdefender (free) scan. Found one potential issue, but it's a file that's been on my system for literally years without causing problems (a setup exe for a maintenance program), so I doubt it was that. Quarantined it anyway since I'm not using it right now.
3. Malwarebytes (free) scan. Found 13 issues. 11 PUPs (potentially unwanted programs, all from Reimage), and 2 actual pieces of malware (in setup exes floating in a few temp folders). Quarantined all 13, and shut the PC down. Issue no longer occurred.

I hadn't thought that Reimage could be the issue, because I tried to use that to solve another problem like 2 months ago -- i.e. many, many boot cycles ago -- and I figured if it was going to cause problems, it would have done so earlier. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. Maybe it was the 2 malware flags, I dunno. I probably should have removed them in two stages to work out which one was the culprit, but a bit late now.

At any rate, problem seems to be solved for now! I'm gonna keep both Bitdefender and Malwarebytes on my system and do periodic scans from now on. I've not had to bother with antivirus or antimalware for ages because the router firewall seemed to handle most of the junk coming through, but it doesn't hurt to have a bit more protection!

Thanks rocktalkrock for trying to assist anyway. Appreciated!