Inspiron 3668 does a fake start when power is supplied

Do you turn off the computer by using the Shutdown command and not Hibernation that responds to a power interruption and wakes? I'm sure you do but had to ask. This model has a motherboard more like a laptop than a desktop. Its only main power is the adapter--no internal battery power--so you should not be unplugging and replugging. Treat it the same way you treat a normal power cord--unplug only when the computer is off and will not be used for extended periods of time like vacation. When you connect power it might wake the computer if the computer is not completely turned off. Or just it turns on lights and fan and shuts down when the computer is not already on.

It is my understanding that adapters should not be plugged into inexpensive power strips without battery backup. Try a direct connection to an outlet or buy a UPS unit instead of using a power strip. That is much better.Those UPS units can handle power adapters. Like this--www.newegg.com/.../ID-72

Check the bios setting for action after power interruptions. Make sure it is not set to turn on.

By turning the surge protector off, you are doing the same thing as disconnecting the computer power cable from the wall outlet. It is not necessary to turn a surge protector off. Unless you are going out of town or a storm is approaching.

When you turn the surge protector off, then on, the computer motherboard gets current causing the fans and LED to start, then stop. But the computer is still not on until you press the computer power button.

At the end of your workday, this is how you should turn things off =

* Click Start- Shutdown- Shutdown- Ok or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Turn Off
* Turn the monitor off

Next day, turn the monitor on, then the computer.

But in my case, I simply leave everything on, all the time. I have a screensaver on my monitor to black out the monitor after 5 minutes of no use.

hi Chris, thanks for your answer.

the point is that I NEED to disconnect the power cable from the wall outlet something like everyday, because the pc is far from the outlet  (i normally use a long cable power bar to connect it) and there are 2 doors in between.

And when you say:

"When you turn the surge protector off, then on, the computer motherboard gets current causing the fans and LED to start, then stop. But the computer is still not on until you press the computer power button."

That sounds so weird to me, as I NEVER experience this kind of behavior in a pc...and none of my PCs does that. Every other PC in my house does not turn on that way when plugged in, if they're off.

Regardless of how you disconnect from the mains, the motherboard won't be getting "flea power". And without flea power, the motherboard "thinks" there's been a power failure.

When you restore power by turning on the power strip or surge protector, the PC powers up briefly so it can check to see how the AC Recovery option is set in BIOS setup.

If AC Recovery is set to Do nothing, PC immediately shuts off again. If it's set to Reboot after recovery from a power failure, PC will automatically boot itself. You may have a 3rd option to Restore last state. So if it was off when power failed, it goes off after the brief power up. If it was on when power failed, it reboots itself. But in all 3 instances the PC has to power up to check that AC Recovery setting.

So what you're seeing is perfectly NORMAL operation.

And if you're lazy like me, set AC Recovery to Reboot automatically after a power failure. After I shut PC down normally, I turn the surge off. Next time I turn the surge on again, the PC boots without having to press the power button on the front. Since monitor, audio, printer etc. are all connected to the same surge, one button turns everything on at once.

Thank for your reply

I use the shutdown command, and it works fine. Everything is off, no led showing. The point is, this problem shows up even when the pc is off and i disconnect it from the outlet. that's weird. And i checked the BIOS and everything is ok about power interruption. Even the "wake on" are disabled (wake on lan, wake on usb, ecc.)

Hello Ron,

thanx for your answer!

"Regardless of how you disconnect from the mains, the motherboard won't be getting "flea power". And without flea power, the motherboard "thinks" there's been a power failure"

But there is a motherboard battery that provides """power""" when you shut down your PC, isn't there?

Ok thanks again Ron

You're right about the waste of time and money, and I'm a bit surprised too.

Honestly, I wasn't sure it was an hardware flaw, the support center should have worked better.

Marked as answered ;)

Bye guys! thanks for helping.