Power up sequence

[Chris]

When I shut down my computer, it shuts down normal, and powers itself off.   Then, I shut the power off at the power strip.  When I go to power up again, I activate the power strip, the computer power lite and fan come on for about 2 seconds and then shut off.  Then I have to use the power button on computer to startup.  On my old computer, as soon as I put power to the CPU it fired up.  Is there something wrong with my power up sequence?  If not, can this short surge of power damage my hard drive?  I already replaced it once.   Maybe after I changed the hard drive, I set something up wrong.  Thank you in advance!

[chade]

Most newer computers have a control in the BIOS (under power management) that controls their state after a power failure.  States usually are on, or soft-off.  Soft-off refers to the state where the computer (motherboard) is receiving power, but the computer is off.  Pressing the power button at this point tells the computer to switch from soft-off mode, to fully on.

Older computers were incapable of this level of power management, and often did not have a soft-off function.  Thus the computer was either off (no power being received) or on (power being received).

If you want your computer to boot up as soon as you plug in/switch it on at the power strip, delve into the power management section of the BIOS, where you will find at option under something like 'State after power failure' which will be set to soft-off.  Change it to be full-on or equivalent.

[Chris]

Chad

Thank you!  Your solution worked.  Now, when I turn the power strip on,  the CPU doesn't power up until I activate the power switch.  That is exactly what I wanted.  Thank you for your help.