Not about access, but about a PC

[lappir]

Over the last few weeks I have arrived back home to see my computer with the screen saver on. Sounds normal right. What if you can swear you turned the computer off when you left to go to work. At first I thought I didn't actually wait for it to completely shut down before disconnecting my phone and that was the cause. Nope, it does not do it every day, but enough that I started to turn off the electric power strip when I leave. 

I have carted the computer to my Mom's for this weekend and it happened again. She say's she didn't touch it. At home there was no one there except a cat, but he's back at his usual home now. 

Do I need to unplug my PC now when ever I am not using it? Is there a way to check a log of time when the computer has been "ON"?/"OFF"?

I have an older "All in One" Lenovo. Is it time to replace?

 

Rod

[NamMedevac 70]

I also have an older Lenovo laptop that works great majority of time. However on infrequent occasions it will just shut down or restart when I am not around or using it and with no programs such as video running.  This is inconvenient and mysterious as I sometimes loose my many tabs in some browsers.  I have good anti malware and anti virus installed such as Malware Bytes.  NOW I log off the internet when not using the laptop to see if this stops the shut downs.  I suspect a long running scan with anti virus such as Malicious Software removal (MRT) may cause this but just a guess.

Edited January 18, 2021 by NamMedevac 70

[Jaydrvr]

26 minutes ago, NamMedevac 70 said:

I also have an older Lenovo laptop that works great majority of time. However on infrequent occasions it will just shut down or restart when I am not around or using it and with no programs such as video running.  This is inconvenient and mysterious as I sometimes loose my many tabs in some browsers.  I have good anti malware and anti virus installed such as Malware Bytes.  NOW I log off the internet when not using the laptop to see if this stops the shut downs.  I suspect a long running scan with anti virus such as Malicious Software removal (MRT) may cause this but just a guess.

If you're running a newer OS, like Windows 10, often they continue to operate in the background even though they're "off". Mine reboots regularly, but then I use hibernate mostly. Updates are usually the cause of a restart. I have my browser set to reopen with last used tabs, so I don't lose those tabs. I generally have 20-30 tabs open all the time. If you're on Chrome, you can go to history and reopen those tabs. Jay

[Bill Joyce]

Maybe your computer is set to sleep or hibernate instead of turn off when you use OFF and something is making it come back on.  Go to Settings->System->Power & Sleep and select "Additional Power Settings" on the far right.  Then "Choose what the power buttons do".  

[Will B.]

There's also something called "wake on lan".  Where a command, over the network, can turn it on.

[LindaH]

I always use the "Power" / "Shut Down" buttons on the Start Menu to shut off my computer and have never had it turn back on again all by itself.  I rarely use the "Sleep" button unless I'm going to come back to finish up work in a short amount of time and I want to leave some windows open.  Even then, I've never had a computer turn back on all by itself.

[lappir]

I'm not on a LAN, there is no internet available if my phone is not connected (that I can see anyway). I do not connect with any local WiFi in the area and see no open ones to connect with at all. 

It's a first for me. I always use Shut down and never choose the Update and shutdown unless I will be there to check and see if the computer light goes off completely and it has recently only to be back on when I get home 12 hours+ later. 

 

Thanks to all who replied. 

Rod

[lenp]

Is there a chance you have left a program running when you "shut down"?  I have had issues if I don't close all programs the computer will not shut down.  It usually asks are you sure and the option to "shut down anyway" is clicked it will shut down but sometimes I am in a hurry and just close the lid after selecting shut down and I come back the next day and it is still running.

Lenp

[trailertraveler]

I have noticed that our two Toshiba laptops will at times wake up and restart. I don't remember where, but I recall reading that the newer versions/updates of Windows 10 do not really completely shutdown the computer when just using the shutdown in the power popup at the bottom left of the screen. That article said that to completely shutdown, hold the shift key then click on shutdown and hold the shift key until the screen goes black. Seems to work.

[durangodon]

It must be pretty common.  https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffsb&q=windows+10+shut+down+not+turning+off&ia=web

[lappir]

On 1/19/2021 at 7:09 AM, durangodon said:

It must be pretty common.  https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffsb&q=windows+10+shut+down+not+turning+off&ia=web

Thanks for researching, guess I could have done a search before asking, but then I wouldn't have asked. Glad to know it wasn't just me. I will turn off the power or unplug it for sure till I am able to fix it another way. 

Thanks again Senior Member durangodon

[durangodon]

55 minutes ago, lappir said:

Thanks for researching, guess I could have done a search before asking, but then I wouldn't have asked. Glad to know it wasn't just me. I will turn off the power or unplug it for sure till I am able to fix it another way. 

Thanks again Senior Member durangodon

I'm glad you brought it up.  I'd never heard of this problem and I'm running three machines with Win10, one of which stays on all the time.  I don't like Win10's knack for updating on it's own and rebooting in the middle of the night.  The reboot wakes me up.  I prefer to choose when to update and when to reboot.

[Dutch_12078]

2 hours ago, durangodon said:

I'm glad you brought it up.  I'd never heard of this problem and I'm running three machines with Win10, one of which stays on all the time.  I don't like Win10's knack for updating on it's own and rebooting in the middle of the night.  The reboot wakes me up.  I prefer to choose when to update and when to reboot.

Change your Internet WiFi connection settings to "Metered" and only priority updates will be installed without asking.

[RV_]

I had a computer do that ten years ago or so. I forget what it was but when it does happen go to start, settings, view update history and see if there were updates on that date. If it is Windows updates doing it you can make a note of the second Tuesday of each month and anytime after 12 noon in your time zone (Windows staggers it across the world) go ahead and manually check for and install all updates. If it still does it then you will need to do some deeper diagnostics. I always shut down my computer with the start / power / shutdown. But I did it back then as well so it is not