What is the best protection for my PC’s power supply?

When you mention protection to most computer users, they think of anti virus protection, firewall's or anti spyware programs. Needless to say, thanks to the sad Muppet's that seem to enjoy sending viruses to all and sundry, these are essential.

But, most of us live in rural France, which means one of the main sources of PC problems start before you press the power button on your computer or laptop. It comes in the form of “electricity”. I have repaired more computers in France from this cause than I ever did in Ireland, and as a percentage, repairs due to electrical problems are way up on the list of regular problems that come into our office. So power problems aren't something that “will never happen to me”!

Electrical problems come in two main categories, one is because of poor quality or fluctuating power supplies and the other is the infamous French electrical storms. The results of both can be pretty final for your PC, or at the very best parts within it.

Every PC or Laptop user in France, must use, at the very least a good “Surge Protector” (Parasurtenseur). The better of these will protect your system from surges in your electrical supply. These can be caused by electrical storms in the area or spikes in your supply which can be caused by sudden drops or increases in voltage when high power devices nearby are switched on or off. Your surge protector should also include protection for your phone line, as a lightening strike is just as likely to hit your phone lines as it is your power lines.

Here I'd also like to dispel one myth that I constantly hear (usually from people who's PC's have just stopped in a flash of blue sparks), the storm doesn't have to be in your region! So many time I'm told “I don't use a surge protector because I unplug my computer when there's a storm”. Here's a news flash (excuse the pun), a lightening strike in another area can travel down the phone or power lines, after all, carrying power is what they were designed to do!So at the very least, you must use a good surge protector which protects your PC and phone leads.

When buying a surge protector you need to look for certain ratings. If the “surge protector” comes in an unmarked plastic bag, put it back on the shelf and walk away, because it isn't going to do the job. You need at least protection from 40,000A (40kA), and protection from “lightening, spikes and surges” (contre la foudre, les ondes de choc est les surtensions). I have a preference towards the APC products, but that's just me, their basic protection starts at 44,000, includes protection for your phone line and has a light to indicate that your protection is working. Any surge protector that you buy, must be plugged into an earthed power socket, that is it has a metal earthing rod as well as the two holes for your plug.

One last thing to mention about a good surge protector, they are an excellent idea to protect your television, HiFi, satellite box from power problems. All of these contain many of the same hardware as your computer and suffer in the same way to the vagaries of your French power supply.

Surge protectors will give your PC a basic protection against power problems. They won't protect your computer or your data, from a power cut. More importantly they won't protect you from the times that your power goes off and comes on again within milliseconds. If this happens, certain parts of your computer are at risk and your surge protector will not save you. To protect yourself from this, you need what is termed a UPS (uninterrupted power supply or in French Onduleur). This unit does exactly the same as a surge protector, but it also includes a battery that kicks in if your power drops below a certain voltage or goes off completely. They aren't designed to allow you to work during a power cut, but they do give you enough time to save your work and shut down the computer normally, before the backup battery runs out of juice. A UPS, will cost a little more, but for what the offer, it's money well spent. A sudden loss and restore of power, will cost you the data you were working on, and can result in corruption and loss of all your data, your Windows operating system or even several important parts of hardware; any of which will probably cost you more than a new UPS to replace!

So that about covers how you should protect your PC from electrical problems, all the above is just as important for your laptops, don't be fooled just because they run on batteries they are safe. They are just as much as risk as a desktop computer (if not more so, due to their compactness). Once they are plugged into the power, the Livebox or the telephone lead, they're a target too.