May 4, 2005

Hi, All!

This Week: Power, Part - 2

Last week reader Greg told us that he used a power strip to control the power to his PC. This week I will elaborate possible power issues.

First, I should explain that there are usually two power switches on modern PCs. There is usually an electronic switch on the front of your PC (known as the hard drive or CPU, the box that contains all of the PC components). This switch has two purposes; if you press on it for a second or two, it puts the PC in sleep or standby mode, and everything is on but not active--using very low power. If you press it for more than five seconds, it turns off the PC. There is another switch on the back of most PC's a small black rocker type switch that also turns off the PC and its power supply. Turning this switch off disables the front switch, and the PC appears dead.

One should always use the Windows "start" button and the "power off" icon to shut down a PC; this protects from possible data loss and possible hard drive damage from just shutting off the power to a PC.

Using the power strip helps in two ways. First, if you have one with power surge protection, you can further protect your PC (and with some units, your phone line) from electrical power problems. Second, it does what Greg says: it saves wear and tear on the PC, monitor and printer switches.

While we are on the subject of electrical power issues, another device that is worth getting is a "UPS." This "Uninterruptible Power Supply," also known as a "battery backup" unit, keeps your PC and monitor working if the power is interrupted. They come in many different sizes depending on how long you want to work on your PC after the power is out and how big your budget is. These are the best in cleaning up bad electrical power as they have several filters to make sure your PC gets clean power.

Next week I will talk about why your PC should not be without power for an extended time.

'Til next week,

(ComputerFAQ#239)



Robert

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