can a blackout damage my PC?

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Santuzzo

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Hi,

Tonight I was sitting at my PC when all of a sudden everything turend off also the lights went off.....there was a electrical failure in a few blocks for almost 2 hours. Anyway the elctricity is back now, and I have the following question:
If my PC is on and all of a sudden the electricity fails and my PC shuts off without me closing down windows, can that cause damage to my PC in any way?
 
Sure can. Can cause the PSU among various other parts of the PC to fail. I have seen Network cards, Sound Cards, Video Cards and much more get fried from a power failure and a PC not being connected to a UPS or Surge Protector.
 
Sure can. Can cause the PSU among various other parts of the PC to fail. I have seen Network cards, Sound Cards, Video Cards and much more get fried from a power failure and a PC not being connected to a UPS or Surge Protector.

Thanks for your reply.

What is a UPS?

What should I do to protect my PC for such cases?
Will a surge protector that I connect my PC's PSU to be enough?
 
UPS = Universal Power Supply.

Basically it is a big battery for your desktop. If the power goes out it allows you to safely shut down your PC without damage being caused to it.

You should get a UPS if you really want the best protection.

A good Surge Protector should do the trick. If it trips out before the PC. But even then the PC will still shut down suddenly and could still have damaged caused to it.

The only real sure fire way is a UPS. That way you can safely shut down your PC even with no power. No damage will be done. A Good Surge Protector will help. But is is not 100% effective every time.
 
I ended up having to format my hard drive once because of multiple blackouts. I'd get booted back up and the power would go out again. The next day XP was crippled... even a Repair installation didn't help.
 
I think its Uninterrupted Power Supply, isn't it?

Yes it is...



Anyways, something that conditions the power, and keeps it really clean helps, as most of the time, power being cut won't damage a product unless your writing/reading data or get a small surge or spike of some sort, or a quick brown out...
 
about 6 years ago (give or take 2) there was a thunderstorm in the area and lightning must have struck one of the cable lines (how when they are underground?) and a jolt of E came thru the cable modem and fried my mobo (computer was off at the time) and the cable modem. I was able to salvage everything else.
 
yep, general rule the higher the VA figure the better and always calculate how much power you need for your monitor and PC, not much point the PC being on UPS if the monitor isn't :) That one you linked to can support 240W...
 
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