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Tech Tips / Windows 2000 Professional / Hardware and Drivers

Power protection

You'd be surprised at how "dirty" the electricity coming into your building can be. Voltage drops and surges happen all the time, and you might not be aware of them until it's too late. That's why implementing some type of power protection can go a long way toward increasing your computer's life.

Your building's internal wiring causes some line problems, as does the way the circuit is used. It's a good idea to connect computers to isolated ground circuits that maintain a separate ground from other circuits. It's also a good idea to make the computer the only thing on the circuit, where possible. You'd be surprised what a space heater, laser printer, or even a coffee pot on a saturated line can do to line quality.

Surge protectors are nice and catch smaller spikes, including those caused by lightning. But even a surge protector can't guard against all spikes, and it's certainly possible for a system to be fried by a close lightning strike or strong spike from another source, even when protected by a surge protector. A good UPS offers the best protection because it more effectively isolates the computer from the line.

And you notebook users out there have this advantage: you're always running on battery power. Consider pulling the plug and running the thing on batteries, only plugging it in when you need to recharge. Better still, use an external charger and keep a spare battery charging all the time.