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High chance of restart after logging out
My company has given me a Dell XPS 13 (Core i7, 7th Gen). It came bundled with Windows 10 (64x) and a BIOS password.
Performance-wise it is a fantastic laptop.
But I have an issue which has almost taken its toll on me. I'm new in the community. Please let me know if I am posting this question on the wrong forum.
The problem is the unreasonable amount of restarts. It is very often that when I lock windows to go get coffee and come back, I face the BIOS password prompt which means my windows has restarted. At first I thought it is only an issue related to Wifi. So through device manager I told my Wifi not to cause any restarts. But it was not just about Wifi. I get 3 of these restarts on average on a daily basis.
I have used Windows 10 before and I never had the same situation.
I'm not sure if this is a hardware or a software problem. I hope it is the latter. But how can I troubleshoot this issue? Can I get more information about these restarts through Event Viewer logs?
I can provide more information if needed.
Thanks for you help in advance.
jphughan
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November 13th, 2017 08:00
A few other points/clarifications:
- It should be easy to tell whether your system restarted or simply hibernated. When you get back to your PC after getting coffee and log back in, are all of the applications/documents that were open when you locked your PC still open? If so, then your PC didn't restart. It was either sleeping or hibernating.
- If disabling hibernation doesn't fix the issue and your system is indeed only sleeping, check the BIOS settings because there may be an option to specify whether a password prompt should occur when resuming from sleep. I've never seen a BIOS password prompt when resuming from sleep, but maybe that's a new option.
- Why did you think this might have been related to WiFi? Also, what option are you talking about in Device Manager? The only power-related options there allow you to choose whether the PC can turn off the WiFi adapter to save power (which you should enable) and to allow the to wake the system up. There are no settings about "causing restarts".
- Yes, Event Viewer would log any shutdown, restart, sleep, or hibernation activities. Check the Windows Logs > System log. It will probably take a while to load.
jphughan
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November 13th, 2017 08:00
A BIOS password prompt can also occur if your system entered hibernation. Disable that if you only ever want your PC to sleep.
Saltgrass
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November 13th, 2017 09:00
When we speak of a Bios password, are we referring to the Windows Log on password? I have never used a Bios password, but I assumed it would allow access to Bios settings. If that is the case and restarts are occurring could it be a situation where a request was being made for the user to modify some Bios setting? Could the restarts be the result of Blue Screen shutdowns?
If we are speaking of Windows Passwords, they can be turned off (Settings-Accounts-Sign-in options) for everything except actual startups, unless you are using the Windows Hello where you are always required to use a password or PIN or face or finger..... ;)
jphughan
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November 13th, 2017 10:00
@Saltgrass, in the BIOS you can (usually) specify 3 kinds of passwords:
- Admin password, which prompts only when you wish to modify BIOS settings
- User password, which prompts every time the system boots. Requires Admin password.
- HDD password, which prompts every time the drive is accessed after booting in order to unlock it. Requires Admin password.
mobedi
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November 13th, 2017 23:00
I'm not sure if it's a BIOS password. It's a DOS like screen that says Dell Security Center and asks for a password. Yes, it could be the occurrence of blue screens. In that case, is there a place where we could check where do they originate?
mobedi
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November 13th, 2017 23:00
I think it's out of my hands. And to be honest, I'm not sure if it's a BIOS password. It's a DOS like screen that says Dell Security Center and asks for a password. I'm also not sure if this is what's causing all those restarts.
mobedi
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November 14th, 2017 00:00
- When this restart happens, all windows are closed. So I guess it is a restart. It's only Google Chrome that by re-opening, reloads all its tabs.
- I'm sorry if my comments may mislead you. But at this point, I'm not even sure if it was a BIOS password since on top of its DOS-like window it says Dell Security Center. I have go check. But anyhow another user mentioned that it could be due to a blue screen error when I lock (which is a recurring scenario since I received this laptop).
- The Wifi problem, I suppose was a separate problem. When I moved back from work to home, my Wifi disappeared and there was no way of bringing it back until I did a restart. I think this issue was unrelated and I'm sorry for bringing that on.
- I will go through the System Log. But I think I will wait until the next unwanted restarted occurs so that I can find the correct log entry.
Thanks for your time and comments.