Shutdown leads to power off but 5-10 sec later comp self-powers backon and reboots to 98se

I'm re-posting this, but adding microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion to
the group list in case someone else there has other ideas.

wrote in alt.windows98:

My brother-in-law's brother has an old Dell computer with win98SE
on it. For the past couple months, when he chooses to shut down,
the computer actually does shut down, and the power light goes
off. Then about 5-10 seconds later the light comes back on and
the whole computer starts up again, starting with the Dell splash
screen, and then going on to restart 98SE.

Check the BIOS settings. Probably something changed there.

Could be because the on-board battery has died and needs to be
replaced.

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
I'm re-posting this, but adding microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
to
the group list in case someone else there has other ideas.

wrote in alt.windows98:

My brother-in-law's brother has an old Dell computer with win98SE
on it. For the past couple months, when he chooses to shut down,
the computer actually does shut down, and the power light goes
off. Then about 5-10 seconds later the light comes back on and
the whole computer starts up again, starting with the Dell splash
screen, and then going on to restart 98SE.

Check the BIOS settings. Probably something changed there.

Could be because the on-board battery has died and needs to be
replaced.

I don't see what the CMOS battery would have to do with it. Yes, the
BIOS settings can change if the battery fails, but it's unlikely this
setting would be changed to a non-default....plus he'd see more obvious
signs (clock and calendar inaccurate at startup, checksum error at
startup with prompt to enter setup).

I agree a possible cause is a change in the BIOS setting that controls
what action will occur in the event of a power outage (stay shut down,
or restart), but that would imply a problem with the power switch or
supply....maybe.

I'd have to review all his particular BIOS settings to see if there was
another one that could cause this. I don't recall seeing any that quite
align with this symptom, do you? Windows does not appear to be
involved, since it's actually shutting down, then doing a full start on
its own. A BIOS power management setting, maybe.....or the
aforementioned power failure setting combined with a hardware fault.

Dell BIOS....yuk...not much configurable in those....
--
Glen Ventura
MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
CompTIA A+
http://dts-l.net/

glee wrote:

old Dell computer with win98SE on it. For the past couple
months, when he chooses to shut down, the computer actually
does shut down, and the power light goes off. Then about
5-10 seconds later the light comes back on and the whole
computer starts up again, starting with the Dell splash
screen, and then going on to restart 98SE.

Check the BIOS settings. Probably something changed there.

Could be because the on-board battery has died and needs to be
replaced.

I don't see what the CMOS battery would have to do with it.

Well first off, any computer that originally shipped with Windows 98
that is still in use today and still has it's original motherboard
battery will almost certainly have a dead battery by now.

And not everyone notices a system time and date that is off - even way
off.

I agree a possible cause is a change in the BIOS setting that
controls what action will occur in the event of a power outage
(stay shut down, or restart), but that would imply a problem
with the power switch or supply....maybe.

Here's a theory:

Some Bios's have various power-on settings, like power-on from keyboard,
from LAN, and even power-on based on time or some combination of
date/time. It's possible that the battery has failed, that it did
change some power-on settings, and this system is now set to power-on at
00:00:00, which is what the on-board clock resets to when it loses power
5 seconds after shut-down.

It's possible that the user did get one of those "bios settings have
changed" or "checksum error", but that probably happened back when this
power-on problem started to happen (apparently several months ago) and
once the checksum has been reset, that message doesn't happen again.

Or it could be a stuck power or reset button on the front of the
computer case.

Or it could be a power supply problem.

But before doing anything else, I think it's wise to change the battery
(probably a type CR-2032, 3-volt coin-shaped battery) and then
methodically go through the bios settings and set them as desired, as
well as the clock date and time. If that doesn't solve the problem,
then look at the power and reset buttons, then swap out the power
supply. There isin't much else (or perhaps nothing else) that could be
causing this.

Dell BIOS....yuk...not much configurable in those....

I've never been a fan of name-brand computers - I always build my own
desktop PC's.

On Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:06:52 -0000, glee wrote:

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
I'm re-posting this, but adding microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion to
the group list in case someone else there has other ideas.

wrote in alt.windows98:

My brother-in-law's brother has an old Dell computer with win98SE
on it. For the past couple months, when he chooses to shut down,
the computer actually does shut down, and the power light goes
off. Then about 5-10 seconds later the light comes back on and
the whole computer starts up again, starting with the Dell splash
screen, and then going on to restart 98SE.


is it connected to broadband? I'd suspect "wake-on LAN" being set, and
some scrote on the internet is trying to hack the PC.

I suggest disabling wake-on LAN and see if the problem goes away.


--
"Nuns! NUNS! Reverse! Reverse!"

On Sat, 8 Jan 2011 11:06:52 -0500, "glee"
wrote:

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
I'm re-posting this, but adding microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
to
the group list in case someone else there has other ideas.

wrote in alt.windows98:

My brother-in-law's brother has an old Dell computer with win98SE
on it. For the past couple months, when he chooses to shut down,
the computer actually does shut down, and the power light goes
off. Then about 5-10 seconds later the light comes back on and
the whole computer starts up again, starting with the Dell splash
screen, and then going on to restart 98SE.

Check the BIOS settings. Probably something changed there.

Could be because the on-board battery has died and needs to be
replaced.

I don't see what the CMOS battery would have to do with it. Yes, the
BIOS settings can change if the battery fails, but it's unlikely this
setting would be changed to a non-default....plus he'd see more obvious
signs (clock and calendar inaccurate at startup, checksum error at
startup with prompt to enter setup).

I agree a possible cause is a change in the BIOS setting that controls
what action will occur in the event of a power outage (stay shut down,
or restart), but that would imply a problem with the power switch or
supply....maybe.

I'd have to review all his particular BIOS settings to see if there was
another one that could cause this. I don't recall seeing any that quite
align with this symptom, do you? Windows does not appear to be
involved, since it's actually shutting down, then doing a full start on
its own. A BIOS power management setting, maybe.....or the
aforementioned power failure setting combined with a hardware fault.

Dell BIOS....yuk...not much configurable in those....

Wake on LAN?

RL