Vista PC switches itself on?

**Taipan** · 08-04-12, 19:27

My Vista PC switches itself on at 20:00 every night? Aside from unplugging it, how can i stop it from doing this?
Thanks

**chewy** · 08-04-12, 19:38

Find out why its rebooting itself, look for scheduled tasks, software trying to finish installing or software 'set to reboot' while trying to apply patch etc....

**Loz** · 08-04-12, 19:38

There are various wake options if you sleep the PC rather than turning it off Fix Windows Vista/7 Sleep mode from waking up by itself

The obvious answer is to actually shut it down instead of sleeping it.

**NigelC** · 08-04-12, 19:50

Originally Posted by chewy

Find out why its rebooting itself, look for scheduled tasks, software trying to finish installing or software 'set to reboot' while trying to apply patch etc....

yeah that check for scheduled times for defregmentation of the hard drive

**Taipan** · 09-04-12, 13:28

Cant find anything? No malware or viruses and according to powercfg – lastwake command i get a -0 report?

**chewy** · 09-04-12, 13:30

Do you have an automatic virus scan set for 8pm

**Back-Marcus** · 10-04-12, 14:27

Have you definitley checked Task Scheduler as everyone else has suggested. There will probably be some task set to run at 8PM and wake the PC, such as a backup task or something.

Open the Start Menu (Click the round Start button, bottom left)
In the white line (Start Search) area, type taskschd.msc and press Enter. Look at any tasks in here.

**Taipan** · 10-04-12, 15:51

I get a red x box pop up first with this written in it?

User_feed_synchronization-{01DB4300-B888-48F1-AA2C-5374343BAC7C}

**NigelC** · 10-04-12, 17:07

hope this helps

how to remove scheduled tasks user_feed_synchronization from list - Microsoft Answers

**stoo** · 10-04-12, 17:25

Originally Posted by Taipan

I get a red x box pop up first with this written in it?

User_feed_synchronization-{01DB4300-B888-48F1-AA2C-5374343BAC7C}

That looks like a fairly standard thing to check websites for RSS feed updates - can't see it being what's waking your PC.

Have you had a look in Event Viewer to see if there's anything logged around 8pm to give you a clue why it's turning on?

Right-click on "Computer" (might still be called "My Computer" in Vista?) and click "Manage"

Go to Computer Management/System Tools/Event Viewer/System and double click on the first logged event around the time that the PC wakes.... hopefully there'll be something of use in there....

**Danny_Two** · 11-04-12, 10:29

It's been hacked by the Chinese and is now being used as a spambot. Expect a knock on the door soon.

**TightRS** · 12-04-12, 17:25

Is it turning on from fully shut down? In some BIOS settings you can make it boot daily at a specific time.

Maybe someone set it as a prank? I suppose if it got corrupted it could change random settings itself, but pretty unlikely.

**fulltilt** · 12-04-12, 19:17

If it's wired to the router, maybe uncheck the option on the ethernet controller to wake on LAN.

**Taipan** · 12-04-12, 19:41

Originally Posted by TightRS

Is it turning on from fully shut down? In some BIOS settings you can make it boot daily at a specific time.

Maybe someone set it as a prank? I suppose if it got corrupted it could change random settings itself, but pretty unlikely.

Yes, it wakes from full shut down. Did at 8 tonight. No one would have altered it as a prank as no one else here even knows what a BIOS is. Speaking of which i couldn't see anything in there either but will have another look.

**Loz** · 13-04-12, 09:38

Originally Posted by Taipan

Yes, it wakes from full shut down. Did at 8 tonight. No one would have altered it as a prank as no one else here even knows what a BIOS is. Speaking of which i couldn't see anything in there either but will have another look.

It is clearly possessed by demons. Kill it. With fire.