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PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT
Why is my PC booting by itself?
Q I bought a refurbished Windows 10 desktop PC from Amazon, which I connected to the internet via Ethernet and is working fine for my needs. However, I’ve noticed that sometimes it appears to be ‘self booting’. By this I mean that I can shut down the computer manually, only for me to find a day or so later that the power lamp on the case is lit and the PC is ready to be used.
I am not technical or super savvy, so might end up doing more harm if I try fiddling with it – so your comments would be appreciated.
Joe Murray
A One culprit behind this issue could be a feature known as ‘Wake on LAN’ (WoL). This enables commands to be sent via a network to tell a PC to power itself up. We can’t say what might be sending this WoL request, but it’s unlikely to be anything malicious. It’s probably just another device on your network, or a software service that you use, sending a signal that your PC’s Ethernet connection is interpreting as a prompt to switch itself on. You could try methodically switching off other connected devices to see if you can isolate which one is the cause, and then troubleshoot from there.
However, a quicker and easier solution is to tell your PC to not respond to WoL signals. The precise method depends on the type of network card you have installed. We don’t know which one you have, but the basic procedure and key elements are similar for all, so we can tell you where to go and what to look for.
First, press Windows key+X to open the Quick Link menu then choose Device Manager. Next, click the ‘Network adapters’ category and then right-click on your PC’s network card before choosing Properties. Next, if
