Topic awaiting preservation: Closed-door murder: PC style!

So, the computer's turned off. It's plugged into a surge protector; it's networked via Ethernet, not phone lines.

One day, it burns. Motherboard, CPU, and both hard drives are dead. We're assuming that the power supply went bad, and started releasing dangerous current into the system.

Not the most reassuring scenario, right? Happened to my parents. Anyone heard of this? Know a way of preventing or predicting it?

As far as I know, if Mother Nature chooses you as the next target for an electrical surge, there is little you can do. The best is to stay away, so only the computer goes dead.
The guys from the distribution service are responsible for capturing surges and earthing them. You, as the user, cannot do much.
Well, you can pray...

[This message has been edited by viol (edited 05-07-2003).]

all you can do in this situation is buy a surge protector, and make sure it has a guarantee.

may not help you retrieve lost data, but can help replace fried hardware.

tough luck there.

yep, happend to me actually. Not as bad as it did to your parents though. Just fried my modem. Thought the whole damn thing was gone though. Wouldn't boot at all.

Sounds to me like the power supply that you had may have been running on a fuse system?? So if the fuse is bad then the surge protector doesn't work. Like reitsma said, if you get a REALLY GOOD surge protector they will come with a guarantee. It will replace your equipment up to a certain $$ if the surge protector was at fault.

Real bummer though.

Later,

C:\


~Binary is best~

didn't read the other posts too well, so sorry if somebody already mentioned this or whatever. But a power surge can go through your ethernet. If you hub, or wherever your ethernet goes gets surged it can travel through the ethernet and screw up whatever is connected. You could spring for a surge protector that costs more, but has room for ethernet and phone cables and such. Or better yet a UPS.

you do have fuses and breakers in you house, right?

If not, you're playing a dangerous game... your entire hose could burn down in the middle of the night...


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quote:

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As far as I know, if Mother Nature chooses you as the next target for an electrical surge, there is little you can do. The best is to stay away, so only the computer goes dead.

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How can you stay away from it when you don't have the premonision first? *did I spell it right?*, when you don't even know that it's gonna happen?

wow! yannah, that was actually a relatively intelligent question!

(premonition, btw )

Yes, almost a smart question.
I have no easy answer.
Have you ever heard of metaphors?

Well, anyway, the house has a fuse-and-breaker system (I've never heard of an electrical system that didn't?) And the computer was on a relatively good surge protector, one of those $30 jobbies. I've got a feeling that if the surge protector came with a guarantee, the registration card didn't get sent in , but all the precautions were in place.

At any rate, the parents bought a new computer in the $350 range, and given their needs that should be sufficient. They certainly learned the power of backups, though, having lost a few months of work on their genealogical projects.