GERRINGONG
GERROA
Where the Mountains Meet the Sea

Computer Survival Guide

Computers: ....  Love 'em...hate 'em....

They would have to be the most frustrating, at times incomprehensible, yet fantastic and, for many people, essential pieces of equipment we buy.

Since a major part of our TravellerTV business is proving sales, service and training to homes and small business, we pick up lots of useful information.

Usually we get called in after the disaster has occurred; so the aim here is to point out what you can do to avoid trouble.

We hope you find the resources here useful, and if you have any suggestions or comments, please email us.

Lightning Can Fry Your Computer - So protect it!

During thunderstorms many people are leaving their computer unprotected. Simply turning a computer off during a thunderstorm does nothing whatsoever to protect the computer. Nearby lightning strikes can cause surges through the power lines or phone lines into your house or office, and these often damage your computer. Sometimes just the power supply gets fried, sometimes the whole computer has to be replaced. Power surges also do incremental damage to electronics, so the computer works okay most of the time, but occasionally plays up. This type of fault is hard to diagnose or fix, so when storms approach, the best idea is to turn off the computer at the mains and unplug it from the power point. If isn't plugged into the wall, it's rather hard for a spike or surge to get through.

Don’t forget to unplug your phone line or cable from the computer too. Phone lines & cables are probably the Number One way for surges to get to - and fry - your computer. Many people end up with fried modems from surges carried through the telephone lines/cables. This information is particularly important if you have an internal modem, as the power surge can damage the computer electronics (particularly the motherboard) too.  We often have a rash of service calls in the days following a severe thunderstorm - most common complaint is: "I can't connect to the net. It worked last time I used it but now all I get is an error message saying no dial tone."

Having a surge guard is good sense for the minimal day-to-day power surges that most people are completely unaware of. (These surges/spikes gradually damage electronics). But if lightning strikes, a surge guard will be instantly destroyed along with anything it was supposed to be protecting. Also, keep in mind that cheaper surge protectors wear out over time, but there is no way of knowing their status. The power board type surge protectors can (maybe) protect you against one minor surge (although a direct lighting hit happily rips right through them) or lots of smaller ones, but they do wear out. Problem is, most of them have no way of telling you when they've become useless. So replace them often, or buy a heavy duty one from specialist electronics retailers or, best of all, buy a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Surge guards (suppressors) are not guaranteed against lightning strikes (read the packaging or instructions).
What is your computer, and the information it contains, worth to you??

An article from "The Recorder" on protecting your computer. And Fred Langa has more worthwhile information.

Also be aware that it is sensible to unplug your computer and printer etc during a power outage (blackout). The power surge that often happens when the electricity comes back on, can damage delicate components, even if switched off.

Remember to unplug computer and all components (modems, printers, scanners etc) when thunderstorms are in the vicinity, or when power outages or disturbances such as blackouts or brownouts are likely. While you are about it, also unplug TVs, VCRs, DVDs and sound systems.

Computer Essentials

• If you use the internet, have an up-to-date anti-virus program always running
• Regularly use Windows Update to make sure you have installed all the Windows security updates and bug fixes
• Do regular maintenance on your computer
• Make sure you have backups - both files which change often and images of your whole hard drive

Gerringong- Gerroa Computer Essentials

Fact of Life: We have a really dodgy power supply. As well as complete blackouts, we have a large number of voltage drops/gains and short duration outages. These often last less than a second, and most people don't notice. However over time, they stress their computer and cause failure.

Anyone who runs their computer without proper power protection is asking for trouble. Unfortunately, most times when we get called out, computers have those $20 power boards with "surge protection" - these are almost worse than useless because the protection gradually "wears out" from having to deal with the power fluctuations, and because the board still works, you don't realise your surge protection has evaporated...  just like a puddle in summer.

Also most of these boards don't protect your phone line - during one storm a few months back, we had to replace three modems. Luckily two were external, but the third was an internal modem, and the resulting spike through the computer has caused intermittent faults ever since.

So what should you do?

Install a UPS - these have power filtration circuitry and an inbuilt battery which can run your computer/monitor for five minutes or so if the power fails completely. This gives you time to save your work and shut down if there is a complete blackout. More importantly, the battery takes over if the supply fluctuates, protecting your computer from the high voltage spikes that can occur when the voltage fluctuates. Also they have a phone line protection to stop power surges coming though the phone line during thunderstorms. Although it is always best to completely unplug your computer and modem during nearby thunderstorms.

We have a 350VA model available for $85 - since most computers cost $1000 +, this is cheap insurance.

Healthy Computing

Many people are using computers who have never been told about the safe way to use a computer. Details here.