Public PC Power Problem

Hello there,
We have a public PC with the computer unit itself locked away, and only the keyboard, mouse and monitor accessible.

Is there any way to be able to power this computer on when turned off without access to the power button? IE a specific type of keyboard? LAN card, etc.

Help appreciated

 

Depends on power management options provided by the Motherboard and BIOS and also how they are set under the display properties screen saver tab. The hibernate option usually allows the PC to save the current settings and desktop in memory, powers off the hardware and restarts from the mouse and/or keyboard.

The "allow this device to bring the computer out of standby" needs to be ticked in the mouse/keyboard properties from the device manager so the standby option can be used. Standby lowers the power consumption and turns off the monitor, but hardware and fans generally stay running unless they have advanced management capabilities. Again dependent on the BIOS settings and motherboard capabilities.

 

Wake On LAN (AKA Remote Wake Up) maybe?

 

One of the most common mistakes that I see is people using that feature for their desktop PCs. Those power management settings are designed to conserve the battery life on LAPTOPS and have no need to be used on desktops. Wakeup on LAN is the best option here.

 

Not really a "mistake ", depends on how you prefer to use your computer. Difference between a laptop and desktop. Laptop is portable. Hibernate is fairly commonly used in desktops as well as laptops to speed up the bootup process as well as preserve the previous working environment. Personally I prefer the old fashoned way. Hit the power on button. Laptop or desktop.
Except in quackbal's situation where there are a couple of possibilities.

 

Power

Thanks guys,


I am not sure about the limitations of what I can do. I can certainly put the PC on Stand By and wake it up now, thanks to you, but I can not wake it from HIBERNATION.

I will have a look at WAKE ON LAN. Not sure if it is possible with the computer in question:


Compaq Deskpro SFF (small form factor)
Pentium II 350MHz
128MB RAM
6GB HDD
Win 2k Pro

Reason for low spec is because it is only needed for internet browsing.

 

Hard to tell but from the motherboard and NIC specs needed (all older stuff) I'm guessing you can do it. May need to replace a NIC and maybe flash the BIOS but I'd bet it will work for you. From the link in my first post:

 

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Will try it, thank you very much!