Scott Spiro Blog

October is the start of the darkest time of the year and a perfect time to prepare for winter months. It’s not uncommon for a severe storm to hit without warning in the fall. That’s why protecting your computer and printer with a surge suppressor or uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is more than just a good idea- it’s an absolute must.

While a home circuit breaker can protect some of your appliances, it was not built to protect the sensitive electronic equipment in a computer. If an electrical surge hits your computer, it could fry your motherboard and CPU in seconds causing you to lose data AND the use of your computer.

The biggest mistakes most office administrators and users make is thinking that their power strip will protect them, when in reality it won’t. To adequately protect your sensitive electronic investments, you need a quality surge suppressor or UPS designed to handle the job.

Invest in a UPS battery backup for your computer. Your computer is continuously powered by the battery and the utility power recharges the battery. When the power goes out, surges, or drops, those problems affect only the battery charger, never your computer. The added benefit of a UPS is when the power goes out completely, you have anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes of power remaining to gracefully power down your computer without losing what you were doing. A surge suppressor will absorb power surges when they occur, but has no built-in battery to provide power should the electricity go out entirely.

A quality UPS can be purchased for $40.00 to $85.00, depending on the length of time you ned the battery to last. The larger the capacity, the higher the cost. In most cases you would want to shut down the computer immediately upon a power failure, so as long as you have 5-10 minutes you could save all of your work and shut down your computer properly.

Brands to look for are APC and Belkin. A great feature to look for in a UPS and a surge suppressor is a failure indicator light. This light will come on (or go out) when the device is compromised and no longer protecting your computer. Most devices have this but make sure to double check. A good surge suppressor can be purchased for $15 to $25. For superior protection… consider a surge station. These are larger surge protectors that fit under your computer or on the floor under your desk. Most have an input for a phone line that will protect your modem from power surges too. Many of these stations come equipped with built-in circuit breakers and can be purchased for as little as $40.00. Of course, there are also more advanced models with all the bells and whistles for upwards of $100.00. Finally, unplug your computer and all computer equipment, telephone, and modem lines during a lightning storm. This is the ultimate protection against sudden and devastating power surges. Most UPS devices have a cable to connect to your computer. This is so when the UPS is running on the battery it can notify the computer to begin shutting down on its own if you aren’t there.

Remember to backup regularly. We cannot stress this enough- always backup your important information. A remote backup solution or internet vaulting solution would always be recommended to ensure data is backed up off-site in case of emergency.