W10 v1511 auto startup from shutdown

[Ken429]

I have been chasing a problem with several computers running W10.  Exactly 24 hours to the second some of the system(s) will reboot from a Shutdown state.  I think I've found why some have the start up issue every day and others only have the "problem" periodically.  When I look at the Automated Scheduling information I have the Threat Scan set to Weekly on some computers and Daily on others.  Is Malwarebytes rebooting the systems from Shutdown to run the Threat Scan?  Is this new to W10 with new hardware?

[David H. Lipman]

No, it is not MBAM.

 

Think...  If the computer is shutdown, powered off, how can it reboot ?

If the computer is powered off then Windows is not running so MBAM can't run either.

 

A computer is rarely completely off.  Unfortunately they are Vampire power users and also have a battery to get the ¹CMOS saved information.  That gives us two possibilities.

 

The first possibility is the computer can start is via a Magic Packet using Wake on LAN ( WoL ) or other variations of "Wake On" hardware events.

 

The second possibility is the BIOS was set to boot the computer at a specific time of day.

 

Since you indicate an exact 24 hr period, the latter is most likely the case.

 

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1.  Computers use a hard coded set of instructions that sits as middleware between any given Operating System and the computer hardware.  These instructions are called Firmware and comprises a Basic Input/Output System ( BIOS ).  Coinciding with the BIOS is a Lithium Battery and a volatile memory area that uses Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS).  It holds the date and time and specific computer configuration parameters.  Since the memory is volatile, the CMOS battery keeps the system from "forgetting" or losing the configuration parameters.  Some of the configuration parameters in the BIOS pertain to Wake on LAN.  If it is configured, a "Magic Packet" can be sent to the computer to boot it.  Another configuration parameter is to have the computer boot at a predetermined time every day.

[Ken429]

Your correct, it is not MBAM.  I uninstalled the program on one of my six systems and it still rebooted itself exactly 24 hours after it was shutdown!  One thing that appears to be clear is the only systems that have the issue are built on the ASRock Z197 Extreme6 MB BIOS version 2.50.  Trying to figure out who is the bad guy with the interaction between W10 and the UEFI firmware these days is tough.  All I think I know for sure is I don't have the issue on two systems based on the ASRock Z77 MB. All six computers are running W10 v1511.  Never ever had stuff like this go on until I met W10!

[David H. Lipman]

While you mention the ASRock Z197 BIOS, you haven't stated you have thoroughly looked in the BIOS settings for Scheduled Boots and/or Power Settings.

 

Please do so.

[Firefox]

Please follow the advice given by David above in checking the BIOS settings.
 
Just to add...
 
A quick google search did not yield any results on the Z197 board, is that perhaps a typo and should be the Z97 board?
 
The ASRock Z97 Board manual can be found HERE, if not then that is there site, you can look under support options for other manuels.  The concept is probably the same for most of their boards, so you can find the setting your looking for.
 
Look at page 55 - 3.4 Intel® Smart Connect Technology
Look at page 90 - Intel® Smart Connect Technology for how to enable/disable this feature to see if this is what is causing your issue.

[Ken429]

Ok, I appreciate your being polite, for some reason I like to type Z197 instead of Z97!! You may be on to something but...all the ASRock BIOS's (Z77 and Z97 MB at least) have Smart Connect Technology Enabled in the BIOS. I have not installed the Smart Connect Utility on any of the systems. Anyway, I Disabled Smart Connect Technology in the BIOS on one Z97 system and we'll see what happens 24 hours from now. I hope that puts an end to this saga.

[Ken429]

Thank you for the help.  Disabling "Intel Smart Connect Technology" in the BIOS made the problem go away.  Seems like ASRock made some sort of change with the implementation of the Z97 chip that caused the Reboot issue exactly 24 hours after Shutdown - ASRock Extreme4 MB's with the Z77 chip don't have the "problem" even though the BIOS options are very similar to the Extreme6 Z97 BIOS.  At least that's the case with my Z77 and Z97 based systems.  Now I know where to go to get solutions to ASRock MB settings - the ASRock and W10 forums were unresponsive or worse yet had me looking for the wrong bad guy.  Thanks again. 

[David H. Lipman]

I'm glad you got it all sorted out.