my PC turned itself on at 3 AM WHY?

[toybug2]

I shut my pc down last night(as I do every night) and I know that it did shut down all the way.(I've got a blue /green neon light inside which is quite bright, and when the pc is on, the light is on). My husband was awake at 3 AM(he's not a good sleeper) and was actually looking in the direction of the pc(he was facing me, the pc is behind me) and he said it just started up, the monitor came on(I leave it on standby) and the windows booted up and then the desktop was up. He got up and shut it down.
Any ideas why this happened? I've never personally heard of such a thing.
Thanks,

Windows 98 this is a new shop built pc with Nortons 2003 suite installed don't know what else you'd need to know.

[Force Flow]

Welcome to PCMech toybug2! :)

Power surge possibly?

Scheduled startup?

[Markoman01027]

Does this only occur at 3AM every night?

Try removing Nortons 2003 Suite.

[glc]

Network card with "wake on lan" enabled? Anything in Task Scheduler set to run at 3AM and to wake the computer up to do it?

[Statica]

Also check your BIOS for wake up events.

[toybug2]

Thanks for your imput all...I've brought this pc home about two weeks ago..As far as I know, the pc has not turned itself on at night (or any other time), this was the only time. I will watch to see what happens tonight.
A friend of my husband's came over last weekend and downloaded Kazaa and Nero and Popup Killer which has really made a mess of everthing so I've tried to uninstall it all(It's causing a lot of slow downs with all the popups coming in). Since he did that, it seems that almost daily there is something new coming in off the net and downloading/installing itself without my consent. When I boot up, I seem to always get a message about how Windows will take a few minutes to set up or configure the files. I don't use those programs(Kazaa, Nero etc.) and find them a major pain..could this be related to the pc coming on by itself last night?

* I don't see anything in Task Bar that would cause it..and Wake on Lan is disabled. No scheduled startup that I can find...maybe there is something I am missing? Wouldn't it have been waking up each night if there was something scheduled?
I was mostly afraid that someone got into my system and scheduled it to do this somehow. Is that possible? (there are a few hackers that have been into my old system and I have the same IP, unfortunately):(
I will check Bios but I am not thoroughly sure of each and every entry in there. If it is straightforward, I will probably be able to pick it out.

[SARGE]

Seems you've been hacked, or dang near close to it. At below site run the Shields Up and Leak Test. Without a firewall you're vulnerable anyway. Get a free copy of Zone Alarm.

http://grc.com/default.htm

And get a free copy of SpyBot:
http://spybot.safer-networking.de/

and also a free version of AdAware. Install and run now. Anything they find will give an option to "back up" before deleting. I'm not certain your problem will be fixed with these but it's a good start. Be sure and get Zone Alarm (a firewall).
"Since he did that, it seems that almost daily there is something new coming in off the net and downloading/installing itself without my consent. When I boot up, I seem to always get a message about how Windows will take a few minutes to set up or configure the files. I don't use those programs(Kazaa, Nero etc.) and find them a major pain..could this be related to the pc coming on by itself last night?"

[Computer Hobbyist]

KaZaa is loaded with software that uses odd cycles on your computer--part of their distributed software program. You agree to let them use your computer for their purposes when you "sign" the KaZaa agreement. Dump it. Dump it good. If you have to use something like KaZaa use KaZaaLite.

Sarge is right. Get a firewall. If you are on a static IP you are very, very hackable.


One of the places with instructions for removing Kazaa's Spyware is Majorgeeks (http://www.majorgeeks.com/article.php?sid=3110&cat=16) . There are lots of others. Disclaimer--I have never used the Majorgeeks software so I can't recommend it. I do suggest you take what ever steps are necessary to dump KaZaa. Remember, deleting KaZaa doesn't delete its spyware.

CH

[glc]

Some friend!

If you don't have any data files that need to be saved, I'd even consider wiping the hard drive and starting over. It can be time consuming and technically involved to get rid of all those parasites.

By the way - Nero is legitimate software - if you have a CD recorder.

[toybug2]

Wow! Such great information! I've gone to the sites you've suggested, used the spyware S&D(last night) and this machine is back to it's fast performance again! When I went to the Shields Up and tested..it said my shields were up and all my ports were closed. Tried to download ZA but the page was not available..maybe today!
I can't thank you all enough for the terrific help I've received on this site today and all the many times before that I've used it. Often times I don't even need to post, just read, read, read and I find the answer along with a good amount of other great info!
Oh! and this machine did NOT come on last night!:)

[Computer Hobbyist]

If you want to know more about KaZaA, the darling of millions of kiddies who love to download MP3s to mommy's PC, read this site. (http://www.imilly.com/kazaa.htm) . Follow the links. It is one of the most "creative" uses of the web ever devised. It is also one of the most deceptive.

CH

[SARGE]

Originally posted by toybug2
Wow! Such great information! I've gone to the sites you've suggested, used the spyware S&D(last night) and this machine is back to it's fast performance again!
Oh! and this machine did NOT come on last night!:)

Shucks, ma'am. :) Did the S&D find a bunch of junk?

[toybug2]

You're up early Sarge!
A big load of junk, I am pleased to say, is now removed!

[raftero]

i let a few people use my computer(not many)but i threaten them with bodly harm if they change any settings or download anything.

[Cricket]

Instead of using Zone Alarm, you might want to consider using Sygate Personal Firewall (http://soho.sygate.com/products/shield_ov.htm). Been reading about folks having problems with the newer versions of Zone Alarm. I stopped using ZA last year because I lost internet connectivity after I upgraded it over itself (a known problem). Been using Sygate ever since and haven't had any problems.

Yeah, you gotta watch those file sharing programs. I understand Kazaa is one of the main methods used for spreading viruses now. A computer I was just working on got hit with the Klez virus and had 598 infected files on the hard drive. Owner was downloading music off the net and she wasn't using any antivirus program.

:) Cricket

[jamesrpm]

Friends don't let friends use Kaza

[philwon52]

That's pretty funny jamesrpm.

[glc]

Have you done a Live Update and a full system scan with Norton antivirus to make sure none of those critters are hanging around?

[toybug2]

Yes I have, and all appears to be well, other than ZA giving lots of alarms...(that's a good thing, right?!)

*Jamesrpm...you're definetely on to something there!

[Computer Hobbyist]

ZA giving you lots of alarms is a good thing. It means it is working and doing its job. It is also a bad thing. If somebody attacks consistently and repeatedly you might need to take action. You will find that people attack all the time, mostly they are probing attacks looking for weaknesses and you can ignore them. When we setup our office alarm I spent the better part of a day calling tech support, until the tech told me to calm down and not to worry about isolated attacks.

CH

[rapidarp]

That's a power supply problem. No doubt about it. I had an eMachine that mysteriously started itself up at some point during the night. I called customer service and they shipped me a brand new power supply unit for free. I had a feeling that it was the power supply but I also thought it was my little brother turning it on during the night as some type of strange joke. :)

RapidArp

[cobra]

If you have to use p2p, find a good dc hub ;)

[jeresimo]

What kind of Mobo you got? Maybe it's the Keyboard power up function that does it?

[toybug2]

I gotta AMD chipset, but it only happened once in 17 days...if it was the keyboard power up function then wouldn't it happen every day?

"That's a power supply problem. No doubt about it. I had an eMachine that mysteriously started itself up at some point during the night. I called customer service and they shipped me a brand new power supply unit for free."
Perhaps it is a power supply problem..I guess if it happens again, I should contact the shop that build it, he stands behind his work, and I know he will fix it for free.

[scott_d]

I had the same problem a coupple of times with a sketchy power supply. It would turn on in the middle of the night, so i would get up and *bonk* the thing right on the top and it would turn off.....this isnt the best thing to do for your computer, but it was like 4 a.m. and i wasnt thinking too straight. The problem hasn't happened since i got my new psu.
I'd take the machine to the shop and have them test the psu, they'll prolly give you a new one, just to be on the safe side.
HTH

[edit:i cant spell]

[All Righty Then]

Here is some good information about security and Kazaa:

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/3107

Also know your DOS commands.
http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm#03

Using the netstat -n command at your dos prompt will display IP addresses of web sites your computer is connected too... including any IP address of computers used by hackers who may be connected to your computer.

WARNING: be carefull though if you have dial-up or cable always connected to the web for it will display the address of Internet Providers or web sites (servers) being visited, chat programs etc. Cable users should shut down their browsers, email abd chat programs before attempting to use netstat -n at the prompt.

In dos local address displayed is your IP address and foreign address is the address of computers servers connected to your computer.

Once the foriegn IP address is attained you can trace thier address by using the tracert (trace route) command at the prompt.
http://www.computerhope.com/tracert.htm

Or you can use this visual route tracer from this web site.
http://visualroute.visualware.com/

[RenegadeKing]

No matter how bad kazaa is, it can't be a software problem that would cause a completely shut down computer to turn on. I would guess a power supply problem as well. You also may want to check in the bios for an option called something along the lines of "State after power failure". If it's enabled set it to disabled.

[toybug2]

I checked the bios and found the command "state after power failure" and it was set to "off" which I imagine would mean disabled.

It may be a power supply problem...I didn't have time to contact the shop this week(...horrible week) and it will have to wait until next week
All the posters here have given me much GREAT information to go over in my spare time..so much to learn, so little time <sigh>

*This was too funny .."I had the same problem a coupple of times with a sketchy power supply. It would turn on in the middle of the night, so i would get up and *bonk* the thing right on the top and it would turn off.....this isnt the best thing to do for your computer, but it was like 4 a.m. and i wasnt thinking too straight"

[Psychodic_Greak]

lol... First off, Welcome to PCMech again :D
Okay.. um, no need to call the shop. You may just have found the problem yourself (Sketchy Power Supply.)

Contact your local FPL (florida power and light) and ask them about it.