Ok my pc's been starting up on its own for a while at odd hours, I have checked my bios settings and all automatic wake on settings have been turned off, but just to be sure I disconnected my ethernet cable and it still starts itself. I do have a wifi card which i have disabled in my device manager, but i doupt that is the cause. Its even started when I have not had any internet connections which makes me doupt that it is a lan issue, but i don't know.
I have run all the virus scans etc.. with no results so any ideas would be appreciated.

On a separate note (i think) , when I am working on my pc sometimes I get a 'device connect' 'device disconnect' sound even thought i have not connected anything. The icon in the systray goes by too quick for me to see what was plugged or unplugged, is there any way i can create a log for the device connect/disconnect so I know what is going on???

Thanks everyone, Merc

Your computer goes from powered off to on? Not from standby or hibernate?

What is your ISP connection? DSL? via a USB modem? Is there a Fax attached? Do you have any remote connections setup?

Are you saying that this also occurs with absolutely no ISP connection? Modem disconnected?

The device connect/disconnect issue is perhaps a USB port being triggered to search for a driver.
The usual trigger of course would be plugging in a USB device. Or a faulty port. Or device.
A device resetting itself would trigger a device connect/disconnect.

Have you checked the Device Manager Start/Run/ devmgmt.msc for any issues with your USB controller?

Also check your Event Viewer: Start/Run/ eventvwr

Every boot should leave some trace.

USB errors would probably fall under Service Layer Gateway errors.

Yes it goes from Powered off to on.

I have a ADSL connection which I connect to via an adsl ethernet router/modem , I don't have any Fax attached nor any USB modems, I have 1 VPN connection setup.

Yes it has occured when I have not had any ISP connection and when I have diconnected my ethernet cable from my computer so its not connected to anything (unless my wifi card is trying to connect somehow, but even then I had no ISP connections at all ??).

I have checked my device manager and found no USB issues. The only thing in there is the wifi card that I disabled manualy after this connect/disconnect and boot thing happened a few times.
I will check and make sure all my connected devices drivers are uptodate, or better yet i will disconnect all my usb devices and see if it still happens.

I've checked my eventvwr everytime the machine boots but to me it looks fairly normal, however I am not an expert and can't really say.

Thanks for the help

Originally Posted by jephree

Your computer goes from powered off to on? Not from standby or hibernate?

What is your ISP connection? DSL? via a USB modem? Is there a Fax attached? Do you have any remote connections setup?

Are you saying that this also occurs with absolutely no ISP connection? Modem disconnected?

The device connect/disconnect issue is perhaps a USB port being triggered to search for a driver.
The usual trigger of course would be plugging in a USB device. Or a faulty port. Or device.
A device resetting itself would trigger a device connect/disconnect.

Have you checked the Device Manager Start/Run/ devmgmt.msc for any issues with your USB controller?

Also check your Event Viewer: Start/Run/ eventvwr

Every boot should leave some trace.

USB errors would probably fall under Service Layer Gateway errors.

Here is a general search for your browsing:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=co...+starts+on+own

Most issues point to BIOS Wake On settings & or power supply problems.

Also perhaps the BIOS setting for automatically start after a power outage.


Another possible trobleshooter is to enable boot logging:

There is also an actual BOOTLOG option.


Start | Run | Type: msconfig | OK |
Boot.ini tab | select /BOOTLOG | Apply | OK


/bootlog = Enables boot logging to a file called systemroot\Ntbtlog.txt.


C:\WINDOWS\Ntbtlog.txt


/BOOTLOG - This option tells Windows XP to log everything it does during the
boot process to the c:\windows\ntbtlog.txt file. This can be useful for
diagnosing startup problems by seeing exactly where the boot process is
hanging.


Boot Logging
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...s/XP/all/reski...


When you use msconfig, after booting you will see a 'Troubleshooting
mode' warning. Check the 'do not show again' box and Exit.

---------------------------
One thing you can do with this is to compare an intentional boot with an unintentional to check for the differences.





.

Yeah, thats the same thing i've looked at.
1- I've disabled all BIOS wake on setthings (as i mentioned before)
2- If you're not connected to a LAN, or anything else for that matter, then it can't be a LAN issue.

I will try the boot log and see what comes up.

Originally Posted by jephree

Here is a general search for your browsing:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=co...+starts+on+own

Most issues point to BIOS Wake On settings & or power supply problems.

Also perhaps the BIOS setting for automatically start after a power outage.


Another possible trobleshooter is to enable boot logging:

There is also an actual BOOTLOG option.


Start | Run | Type: msconfig | OK |
Boot.ini tab | select /BOOTLOG | Apply | OK


/bootlog = Enables boot logging to a file called systemroot\Ntbtlog.txt.


C:\WINDOWS\Ntbtlog.txt


/BOOTLOG - This option tells Windows XP to log everything it does during the
boot process to the c:\windows\ntbtlog.txt file. This can be useful for
diagnosing startup problems by seeing exactly where the boot process is
hanging.


Boot Logging
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...s/XP/all/reski...


When you use msconfig, after booting you will see a 'Troubleshooting
mode' warning. Check the 'do not show again' box and Exit.

---------------------------
One thing you can do with this is to compare an intentional boot with an unintentional to check for the differences.





.