Comments for If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Comment from Annie on 2007-10-05

2007-10-06T03:00:50Z

Thanks for the feedback. I feel better now about leaving the battery in all the time and not just when it's charging. Surges, brownouts and total power failure, while not regular, are not uncommon where I am. I use my laptop many hours everyday so it's good to know I have the option to let my battery function like a UPS.

One more question. How do you know if your surge protector is actually working? According to the post by Brad L we may think they're working when they're not. I use a Tripp Lite voltage regulator and conditioner and would really like to know for sure that it's working. Is there a way to find out? It shows a steady green light most of the time but occasionally the boost or trim light would go on accompanied by a "ticking" noise. Any feedback would be appreciated.

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from sophie on 2007-09-24

2007-09-24T19:59:43Z

hi, you said "In the worse case your system might become unbootable."

well, this happened to my boyfriends computer. Basically, whenever the computer was turned on, it would freeze while booting up and none of the safety modes would work.

We fixed this problem by using a XP restore cd however when we finally go to the start up menu we realised that all his pictures/music/most of his programs had disappeared.
Yet, when we looked at the memory the computer was still taking up as much memory as it used to which we took to mean as the files are still on the computer.

Is there anyone out there who could help me on getting these files back?

Does anyone know of any programs that could do this for me?

We are not sure where the files could be, we've looked everywhere on the hard drive.
We've used some file recovery programs but because the files aren't techniqually 'deleted' as such, those programs are virtually useless to us.

Please help !!!

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Brad L. on 2007-09-21

2007-09-21T22:37:04Z

Re: '..while a surge protector includes additional circuitry to automatically and cleanly turn off power in the case of a power surge.

Granted, not all power strip appearing devices (multiple outlets) are surge protectors. Of the units that ARE surge protectors, many of them are useless! Why? Because after whatever protection in them has been 'used' and therefore NO protection exists at all, they STILL PASS POWER TO THE OUTLETS. They do NOT, '..cleanly turn off power..'

You think you are protected when you are not.

A surge protector/expansion strip device that works as it should will NOT pass power once the suppression/protection part of it is 'used' (damaged due to spike suppression). The simple 'damaged but still useable' devices would likely consist simply of MOVs (Metallic Oxide Varistors), avalanche or zener diodes.

I think! ;)

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2007-09-17

2007-09-17T16:07:47Z

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I know that there are many who recommend removing the battery from your laptop
if you're going to leave it plugged in for a long time. (After letting the
battery recharge, of course.) Supposedly it lengthens the life of the battery.

I don't do that. For various reasons, the batteries are in all the time on all
four of the laptops here. The battery acts as a UPS, particularly when the
power cord gets tripped over, or you want to move the laptop from one location
to another. A quote from an earlier article of mine:

"A concern that I've had for a long time is whether or not leaving a laptop
plugged in for extended periods of time would harm the battery. Today's designs
pretty much expect that type of usage, so it's not the issue I was afraid it
might be." - from http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_maximize_my_battery_life.html

But yes, if you do remove your battery, then you'll want to treat your laptop
as if it were a desktop, and plug it into a UPS.

Leo

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFG7qZrCMEe9B/8oqERAjKRAJ9wsL/FsW9aF3alfN0CFZ89ahyy5QCgi7FD
pI6sjEcPenqxLn9PtvmIrfs=
=qc9C
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Chris on 2007-09-16

2007-09-16T23:16:52Z

Not to leave the batter in while connected to an electrical outlet? How else would you recharge the battery then? The battery on your laptop will act exactly the same as a UPS.... If the power goes out, your battery will take over.. Notice you can freely attach and detach the power from your laptop without worrying or losing any kind of current form the computer... You can do the same with a UPS..

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Annie on 2007-09-15

2007-09-15T18:48:02Z

You said that connecting a laptop to a UPS is pointless but since we're told NOT to leave the battery in while connected to an electrical outlet then if there is a power failure wouldn't the machine still be vulnerable to all the nasty things that can happen from not being shut down properly? If a UPS is not the way to go then what is? My laptop (and printer, scanner etc) is currently connected to a good surge protector. When the voltage fluctuates I hear a "clicking" sound and see the "boost" or "trim" light go on.

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from David on 2007-09-15

2007-09-15T18:06:59Z

Fortunately, here in the UK, we don`t get too much in the way of serious power cuts, but I`m located rurally and if there`s a storm, the power does sometimes take a dive. Being an ex-telephone engineer, I`m fairly aware of the problems that can arise, especially in the situation where low volts is worse than no volts at all. This happened in the last cut we had for 16 hours and we had about 50 - odd volts coming through (normal UK is 240)and various pieces of my electronics gear over and above my PC`s, (hi-fi amp, etc) were initially trying to run, cutting in and out and doing odd things! I`d already turned everything off before being advised to do so by the electricity supplier when I reported the problem. This is slightly off-topic, but, as I understand it, motor-driven appliances (fridges/freezers, etc.) can sit there trying to run in a low-volts situation and can actually cook up if they are not running properly, as some motors/compressors have built-in fans to keep them cool. If these aren`t running properly you could end up forking out for a new one! Don`t do what I did (I feel silly here) and forget to turn said freezer back on after power is restored! No further comment!

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from S Deepak on 2007-09-14

2007-09-15T04:30:55Z

Sir your are not only giving suggestion but helping a lot to improve my power of knowledge thank you sir

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Dave on 2007-09-13

2007-09-14T04:53:47Z

While living in Florida a few years ago, I made friends with a fellow who worked as a manager at the local power company. He told me that many computer users have a surge protector, but aren't aware of the danger brown-outs can cause their electronics - including computers, TVs, and other expensive gear. It seems that most of the interfaces in modern electronics (the power supply) will attempt to keep the flow of electricity to the rest of the device at a steady state. If the incoming voltage begins to drop, the power supply will try to adapt; if the incoming power gets to brown-out conditions, the power supply may work so hard that it destroys itself in the process of trying to keep the proper power flowing within the device. Even a $50 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) will stop brown-out damage.

]]>

A comment on: If shutting down Windows cleanly is important, what happens when the power just goes out?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.