Surge protectors provide false sense of security
The power went out in part of town last night. Before 10am this morning I had already received two calls from people who were having problems as a result.
This seems to happen every time we have a power outage or severe lightning storm. In most cases the computers were on a surge protector when the power went out. I have even seem a few on expensive battery backup systems.
The only way to protect your computer is to unplug it from the wall. No one can predict when the power will go out or spike but lightning is a different story.
A nice surge protector won't hurt, but it only adds a little more protection.
If you are leaving home for a day or more, unplug your computer just in case. Don't just turn it off. In many cases that I have seen, the computer has been turned off when the lightning hit and it still caused major problems.
It may be a good idea to check with your computer manufacturer and home insurance to see whether they cover such failures. Many surge protectors carry a guarantee, but cashing in on that guarantee sometimes requires you to jump through some hoops.
You can't live in fear of a power surge that may never happen, but you should always keep your data backed up. I am constantly reminded that the value of a computer system is not in the parts it is made up of but the data that is stored on it,
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Surge Protection
Good advice however I can not follow it. My wall power outlet is behind my computer " desk " and printer table and I can't get to it. If I did get down on the floor and try to reach the power cable I could not get back up. My old age and other health problems make that impossible.
I do have a power strip or two that many on my power cords are plugged into. If I trun the switch off will that helpmuch ???
In my small office I have two computers, two monitors,two printers, a cable modem, a router, and a speaker syster with a woofer and two side speakers.
Many many power cords and several " power cubes " that plug in to outlets and takes up lots of space.
George
GJ, CO
GFI
Just a note that a surge protector plugged into a GFI protected circuit will trip the GFI when a surge happens that shunts the spike to ground as that unbalances the circuit which the GFI detects & does it's job...
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