Power Outage

[Ender]

Hey guys, I live in NJ so I was affected by that Niagra Falls generator going out. I had my computer on and running at the time, and when the power died it shut the computer down at the same time. The power outage was more of a 'hiccup' really, went out real quick and came back on in 2 minutes. My question is, did this event have the possibility to damage my computer? It was not a surge or anything, just your regular old power outage. :unsure:

[Nexus UK]

its possible that a surge could affect your system but as it was an outage i doubt it.

i'm guessing that when the power came back on, you then turned the pc back on!

it could have affected your partial downloads (if you were downloading at the time)

did any vanish after restart????????

if more outages are likley then try a u.p.s (uninteruptable power supply)

then you would still be able to run/shut down p.c avoiding any damage

[Ender]

I was downloading something, but it was still there after I restarted. So no damage then?

[Nexus UK]

fingers crossed but no

you should be o.k B)

[Ender]

Why fingers crossed? I really, really hope is was not damaged.....Its a new computer. :(

Anyone else ever have this happen to them?

[zapjb]

I just posted this: Surge protectors are NOT enough. You need a UPS (uninteruptible power supply). SP just protect your hardware. UPS gives anywhere from 3 minutes to 2 hours to properly shut down your computer after a power surge or failure. If you're in the middle of any process & the power surges or fails you could lose all your data. With a UPS you're protected. Belkin & APC are good ones. But make sure its a UPS not just a SP.

[Ender]

I realized this zapjb, thank you for the info though. So all the data that could be lost was temporary stuff that was in memory when it occured? Also, because it was a simple power outage, I dont have to worry about hardware damage?

[zapjb]

You're probably right Ender. Though a worst case would be a power surge or failure while you're defragging or something just as system intensive. Then one could be looking at a reformat or reinstall or RMA of a HDD. Or worse if that SP is just a blinking light strip or damaged & not a up to snuff SP. But I say why chance it. Get a good (Belkin or APC) UPS $30-$200. Versus all the headaches & time & expense from messing up or destroying a computer $300-$3000. My UPS by Belkin cost $42 delivered. And I've heard thing "pop" on at least a dozen times. I live in the lightening capitol of the world. So it's well worth it. I say a UPS is a must. Any digressers?

[Ender]

I was only asking because I am very protective of my new computer (3.2 ghz, 1 gig DDR, 9800 pro) :D

I will look into a u.p.s zapjb. So you really think my computer is fine? I thought it was, but I just wanted to get others opinions.

[zapjb]

Good idea Ender, that's costly hardware you got. Peace.

[zapjb]

double post oops! :unsure: