Take steps to prepare computer for power outage, surge

Questions piled in from my Midwestern readers following the ice storm that pummeled the region and left many readers with burned-out computers and fried power supplies and motherboards. This topic is not limited to snow-covered regions, so I thought I would cover those questions first.

Question: When we bought our computer, we followed your advice and bought a surge strip, not a power strip, and we still lost our computer and monitor after the power kept going on and off and on and off. The repair person said the power supplies on both are fried and the repair bill on both will exceed their value.

Answer: Well, I am sorry for the loss of the equipment, but there is potential good news. If you suffered a surge that damaged your equipment, you can follow the instructions on the surge strip manufacturer's Web site (or the packaging of the strip, which I always recommend you keep along with the proof of purchase) and file a claim for the damage. The surge strip likely will have to be mailed in to the manufacturer for tests (and perhaps the equipment too, so make sure you contact them prior to getting rid of any parts).

That is the benefit of the surge strip; they often come with guarantees to cover replacement or repair of the equipment that was plugged in to them. So your next step is to contact the surge strip manufacturer.

As for the loss of the PC and monitor, get a second opinion on the repair cost from a small, independent shop. Most repairs of this type won't exceed the value of the equipment unless your PC is old.

Question: I am really tired of my computer going down in a power failure. I am thinking about a battery backup system. I see one that costs about $110 online that is fairly well rated. Have you seen this model and what do you think of it?

Answer: I took out the model since that part of the discussion is fairly irrelevant here. What a UPS is designed to do is gracefully absorb a power failure and keep your system running for a set period of time with the hope that the power will come back on. If you're thinking you will keep working for hours and hours (especially if you have an old, cathode-ray tube monitor), think again: If you have a $100 UPS, you will be lucky to get 30 minutes of work time before you will have to shut your system down.

But the benefit of a UPS is a graceful shutdown. If you are working at your desk and you have installed the interface cable and the software, you can keep working (if you can stand the beeping) until the software tells you to shut down your PC. If you are not at your desk, the UPS will keep your PC up and running until it is almost out of battery power. It will then shut your PC off for you and shut itself off.

That sure beats a flash and dropping everything.

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm and a tech columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com.