Windows 7 Starting by Itself

Lately, every morning when I woke up, my wife's computer would have started up by itself from hibernation. In delving into the mystery, there are at least three mechanisms for waking:
  • Devices set to wake the computer
  • BIOS Setting
  • Windows Media Center update
The first thing I did was look at the BIOS settings. I found that the BIOS on this motherboard, an Asus P8H61, would not let me enter setup by pressing the DEL key on a USB keyboard. Never throw anything away! I had a PS/2 keyboard in inventory and that worked. I went into the APM section of the Advanced Tab in the BIOS and reviewed the various device settings. All were disabled.
Next, from a Command Line in Windows 7, I checked which devices were set to allow waking from sleep/hibernation. The command to do this is:
powercfg -devicequery wake_armed
This returned the following list:
USB Root Hub
HID compliant mouse
Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
HID Keyboard Device
ASMedia XHCI Controller
To reset these devices:
Start\Computer\Properties\Device Manager
Right-click on each device to get into its own properties (you may have to do several for the USB Root Hub). Click on Change Settings. You'll be prompted for the Administrator password. Click on the Power Management tab. Uncheck the "allow this device to wake the computer".
Problem solved!
I also checked on the Windows Media Center Update just to be sure. Click on this link for a how-to.





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