What to do about my computer turning on immediately after being turned off

Question

My computer turns back on every time I shut it off - you hear the click and everything stops for 1 second and then the PC turns itself back on. I can only turn the system off permanently by doing 1 of 2 things: holding down the power button for 4 seconds or unplugging the Ethernet cable before initiating the shutdown.

I feel like I've gone through every troubleshooting step I could find: I have turned off the ability for my network adapter to wake my PC under device manager and for my USB devices to do so. Under the advanced settings I have disabled the shutdown wake on lan, wake on magic packet, etc. I have encountered the problem with ErP (Gigabyte's WOL setting in BIOS) enabled and disabled. It is set to not wake in the case of a power outage. There are no scheduled tasks, Fast boot is off, I am using the latest version of my BIOS (Gigabyte Z690 Gaming x DDR4, version F31 from June of this year) which I also updated again after clearing CMOS, I have no pending windows updates, etc. I do not think it is a power button that is stuck given that I cleaned out the PC and it is able to stay turned off with the ethernet unplugged or after holding down the power button to shut it off. I drained the capacitors after clearing CMOS by disconnecting my PC from power and holding the power button down for 30 seconds.

I do not know then, how my router/modem is waking up my PC on shutdown. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

Hi,

Reaching out to Gigabyte is a smart move here. You can mention that ErP is enabled, Fast Startup is off, wake timers and devices are disabled, and the issue only happens when Ethernet is connected. That will help them rule out software causes quickly and focus on whether the Z690 firmware has a bug or hidden toggle affecting the NIC power state.

Kind regards,

Answer 2

Hi,

Since your PC only stays off when the Ethernet cable is unplugged, it really does point to the network interface getting some kind of wake signal, even with Wake-on-LAN and similar settings turned off. On your Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X DDR4, options like "Deep Sleep (S5)" or "Power On by PCI-E/PCI Devices" aren’t always visible, they’re often controlled indirectly through ErP mode. Enabling ErP basically tells the motherboard to cut power more completely during shutdown, which can prevent these phantom wake-ups. You can check your BIOS to make sure ErP is enabled, and that usually handles most of these Ethernet-related wake issues. If it still turns on after that, it might be worth consulting the manual or Gigabyte support, since they can point out any hidden or renamed power settings on your specific board that could be causing the wake behavior.

Kind regards,

Answer 3

Hi,

It definitely sounds like you’ve done a lot of smart troubleshooting already, and you’re right, if the issue only started after reformatting and updating your BIOS, it’s probably a setting that got reset or hidden in the new firmware. Some Gigabyte boards hide options like Deep Sleep or Power On by PCI-E depending on whether ErP is enabled, so you might not see them listed even if they’re active in the background. Since you’ve already updated your NIC driver, I’d check Windows next open Command Prompt as admin and run powercfg /devicequery wake_armed to see if anything, especially your network adapter, is still allowed to wake the PC. You can disable it from there or through Device Manager by unchecking "Allow this device to wake the computer." It’s also worth turning off Fast Startup and disabling wake timers under Power Options, since both can make Windows keep part of the system semi-active after shutdown. Gigabyte boards can be quirky about these hidden power states, so sometimes it’s just a mix of BIOS and Windows power features not playing nicely together after an update.

Kind regards,

Answer 4

Hi,

Since your PC only stays off when the Ethernet is unplugged, the issue is likely the network interface receiving a wake signal even with Wake-on-LAN and related settings disabled. To fix this you cab try first check your BIOS power settings: enable ErP and deep sleep (S5) options, and disable "Power On by PCI-E/PCI Devices' or "Resume by Ring/Link" to ensure the NIC fully powers down at shutdown. Second, update or reinstall your NIC driver, as some drivers keep the card partially active despite OS settings. Third, test with a different router or network to rule out phantom wake signals from your current setup, adjusting router Wake-on-LAN features if needed.

Kind regards,

Answer 5

Hi,

It sounds like your PC keeps turning on after shutdown because the network interface may still be sending a wake signal even though you’ve disabled Wake-on-LAN and other usual triggers. To troubleshoot, double-check your BIOS power settings make sure options like "Power On by PCI-E/PCI Devices," "Resume by Ring/Link," or "Power On by LAN" are disabled and that any deep sleep (S5) settings are enabled to fully cut power to the NIC. Test with a different network or unplug the Ethernet temporarily to confirm if the router is sending a signal. Updating or rolling back your NIC driver can also help, as some drivers may override OS settings.

Kind regards,