How Do I Stop My Computer From Turning On?

To stop your computer from turning on unexpectedly after you've shut it down, you need to adjust specific power and system settings. These settings can cause your computer to wake up automatically due to timers, network signals, or system errors.

Here are the key steps to prevent your computer from turning on by itself:

Adjust Power Options to Prevent Automatic Wake-Ups

Windows includes power settings that can be configured to wake your computer from sleep or even turn it on from a shut-down state. Modifying these is crucial.

Disable Wake Timers

Wake timers are scheduled events that can wake your computer at specific times (e.g., for scheduled tasks or updates). Disabling these prevents the computer from turning on based on a timer.

Steps:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Navigate to Power Options.
3. Click on Change plan settings for your active power plan.
4. Click on Change advanced power settings.
5. In the advanced power settings window, expand Sleep.
6. Expand Allow wake timers.
7. Change the setting to Disable for both "On battery" and "Plugged in" (if applicable).
8. Click Apply, then OK.

Ensure Power Button Shuts Down

While this doesn't stop the computer from automatically turning on, ensuring the physical power button performs a full Shut down (rather than Sleep or Hibernate) guarantees that when you intentionally press the button to turn it off, it is truly off, preventing accidental wake-ups from light sleep states.

Steps:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Navigate to Power Options.
3. Click on Choose what the power buttons do.
4. Under "Power button setting," ensure the option is set to Shut down for both "On battery" and "Plugged in."
5. Click Save changes.

Stop Network Signals from Turning On Your Computer

The Wake-on-LAN (WoL) feature allows a computer to be turned on remotely by a network message. This is useful in some corporate environments but can cause unexpected power-ups at home.

Disable Wake-on-LAN

To disable this, you need to access your network adapter's power management settings.

Steps:

1. Open Device Manager (You can search for it in the Start Menu).
2. Expand Network adapters.
3. Right-click on your active network adapter (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and select Properties.
4. Go to the Power Management tab.
5. Uncheck the box that says "Allow this device to wake the computer".
   • Note: You might also see options like "Allow a magic packet to wake the computer". Unchecking the main "Allow this device to wake the computer" box typically disables all WoL functionality.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat for any other network adapters if necessary.

Prevent Automatic Restarts After System Failures

Sometimes, a computer might seem to turn on by itself, but it's actually restarting automatically after encountering a system error (like a Blue Screen of Death).

Disable Automatic Restart

This setting tells Windows whether to automatically restart the computer if it experiences a critical system error.

Steps:

1. Right-click on This PC or Computer (on your desktop or in File Explorer).
2. Select Properties.
3. Click on Advanced system settings on the left-hand side.
4. In the System Properties window, go to the Advanced tab.
5. Under "Startup and Recovery," click the Settings button.
6. Under "System failure," Uncheck the box that says "Automatically restart".
7. Click OK on both windows.

By implementing these settings changes based on the reference, you significantly reduce the chances of your computer turning on automatically or unexpectedly after being shut down.