How to know by which method did my system boot?

Question

Is there any way of detecting as to whether my system started by manually pressing the power button or did it start because of a Wake-On-LAN packet??Can i store this value somewhere and use it programmatically??

Answer 1

In Windows, the wake source is logged in the System Log. I'm not sure if it specifically logs your WOL-packet as a source, but you'd have to try for yourself as there are different systems in place which why the method described below is not fail-proof. (I hope all the English terms are correctly translated as I am using a Dutch copy of Windows. Therefore, if you can't find something, look for anything remotely similar! ;-))

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The manual, human way:

1. Find the System Log by opening up the run dialog by pressing Win + r. Enter eventvwr.msc and then run.
2. On the left, open up Windows Logs and then System.
3. Right-click System and select Filter Current Log...
4. In the dialog that pops up, under Event Sources, select Power-Troubleshooter and click OK.

It should now list all power-related log entries. If you click one, the General tab should also list the Wake source.

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Example through PowerShell:

System logs can be accessed through PowerShell. The below command on PowerShell will return the last log entry about power containing the "Wake Source". Adapt it to your needs. (Regex that stuff!)

Get-EventLog "System" | Where-Object {$_.source -like "*Microsoft-Windows-Power-Troubleshooter*"} | select -first 1 | Format-List