Power spikes and surges

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Him

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Today I just had my second power surge. First one fried my optical drive (I think) and the second one just made my parents lose some work. Can someone tell me why I wouild be getting these? Is there a way to stop them? I know I can get APC's and stuff, but thats not a full fix. I think my computer is royally screwed too. Now when I restrrt, I get suck in a reboot loop where it restarts several times, a few bsod's, and then it works. I'm knda flippin out here.
 
Surge Protector is about the best thing you can do. Either a rapid drop in power or spike in the power can easily fry things in a computer so basically you just need to invest in a 100,000+ volts rated surge protector
 
I heard that the makers of the surge protector are liable if a power surge is the reaon a component breaks. Is this true?
 
You need a surge protector right away! I can't believe you have your computer running without one. Well now you know what that can cause, lesson learned...

You don't need to get an APC, I would get a nice surge protector with at least 3000 joules that should be more than enough.

To answer your second question most surge protectors come with a connected-equipment warranty. Meaning if a power surge gets through the surge protector and damages your equipment they will reimburse you up to the value of the policy.

I recommend getting this surge protector, I have it and it's great. It has 10 spots, 4 for AC adapters. It also has a lifetime warranty and a $200,000 connected-equipment policy. Also has 3000 joules protection.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...7102&skuId=5862694&type=product&ref=06&loc=01
 
Buy one immediatly. Buy some for your TV and everything else too. If you have any sapre cash, plunge it into surge protectors. And I would recommend a UPS for your computer. One time we had power flickers where the power would pulse on and off rapidly (1.5 times a second about) causing a computer to reboot every time it did so. When you do buy one, make sure it is powerfull enough to handle all your equipment. I didn't check that and as a result I am unable to power both my computer and CRT at the same time.

On your reboots, unplug that dead drive. It may be the source of your issues there.
 
I am running a surge protcetor, I'm usig two as a matter of fact. But, as I said, they are very cheap. Staples brand, got 2 for like $5. Cant really go wrong.

My mom has an APC on her computer, and it saved her computer. I have everything that has two or more plugs needed to run it on a surge protector. For example, my television and my dvd plaer and my cable box, that is three plugs. So I have those in a supressor.

Oracle, you think a dead optical drive would cause reboots like that? Once I get into Windows, it no longer reboots. It's not until I actually restart that it starts doing bad things.
 
Him said:
I am running a surge protcetor, I'm usig two as a matter of fact. But, as I said, they are very cheap. Staples brand, got 2 for like $5. Cant really go wrong.
Well apparently you can go wrong since they don't protect you!!
Get a surge protector that actually works.
 
I am unsure, but I know a dead optical drive stopped a friend's computer from POSTing (it would just hang while checking that channel), so I made the assumption. Really just a suggestion, I don't have the hardware know-how to determinewhat if it can actually cause such reboots, but in retrospect, if they are inconsisent (ie one time it boots fine first try, wihle others it takes varying numbers of tries, then it is unlikely to be your drive, which should treoetically generate consistant patterns of failures. But since it apparently doesn't wrok, there is no sense having it connected to your comp unless you are trying to fix it.

Anyway, I wouldn't trust 2/$5 bulk surge protects with much. My UPS (350W, I think (weak...) ), cost me only $30 and has 4 battery/surge outlets, 2 surge outlets, and a USB hookup (which I guess is pretty common for UPSs, although I don't use it). Made by Belkin. And even though it's battery is weak, it appears to be able to handle load (at a LAN I had my comp and monitor running off of it, as well as another comp, an LCD, a very old linux box, and a 15 inch CRT. Heh, we ran that whole 12+ computer party off 2 outlets in a 1950s building :0
 
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