Power Cuts and Hard Drives

Pete,
As I understand it, modern drives have an auto parking mechanism of the read head for when the power is unceremoniously turned off. So the chances of damage are very minor indead.
I recall an incident at work a couple of years ago when a collegues machine was running slooowww. Our IT co-ord found a few thousand temporary files on her machine causing the slowdown. She was switching the PC off via the power button on the front instead of through the start/shutdown route. Each abrupt power off was causing several Temp files from various programmes and the OS. After deleting the few thousand Temp files and giving the PC a defrag, all was well. Plus a little training on how to shutdown.

A power failure during a BIOS update is probably the worst thing one could do to your PC.I read somewhere that an abrupt off during a defrag and some running applications can cause a disk corruption, but is still of low risk.

 

The best safeguard is still a UPS. I have used several different brands ... APC, Conext, and Tripp Lite, and all have been reliable, saving my tail numerous times.

In addition to the one protecting my computer, I also have one protecting my TV and stereo, and another providing emergency power to my cordless phone and a table lamp.

 

A UPS doesn't protect just against power failures, but also against power sags and surges (as when an electric motor ... refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, etc. starts up), and brownouts (reduced voltage situations, such as those caused by everyone running their air conditioners 24/7), which are common in my area in the summertime.

You might not have the same problems in the UK, though.

 

It gets warm for a couple of weeks in the UK doesn't it? Or is that an excaduration
Way down hear in Hobart we may get about 3 weeks of barmy weather, (mixed with a few 4 seasons in one day!) although this past summer was a joke

 

This is true indeed. A couple years ago some people called me and asked me if I could help them with their computer (wouldn't boot). To make a long story short, it turned out the hard drive was bad. They told me they'd just replaced it a couple of months before. They also said they'd had one go bad about a year before this. Well, I thought, perhaps it's just rotton (like Johanna's kids ) luck. The hard drive was still under warranty so they called Gateway and they sent them a new one; no problem. I helped them get Windows installed and running and thought that would be the end of it. I was wrong. About two months later the new hard drive died. They called me and told me the puter wouldn't boot again so I went over to have a look. While I was working on it I noticed that every once in a while the lights in the house would flicker. I asked them what that was all about and they said "Oh, that's nothing. They do that all the time ". That was all I needed to know. I told them they should have a UPS. I explained the reasons why but they were quite skeptical of that (save that money). In the end, they agreed and since the UPS installation they've never had another problem.

I have no doubt the UPS is the reason. Four hard drives gone bad in a years time (three of them in about 4-5 months time) and once the UPS is installed they have no problems; it can't be a coincidence. If you can afford it, buy a UPS. They work!

For what it's worth, they say their lights still flicker. Power company says nothing can be done about it. That's not my line so I really have no idea.

 

Possibly they have neighbours with heat pumps on the same phase. I had a similar problem some years ago with lights flickering. (didn't affect the PC, maybe I didn't own one then ) Anyway the power authority changed my mains into the house to another phase and the flickering (mostly a night) stopped.

 

No neighbors involved. They live on a farm, not in town. BUT.... they do have a heat pump themselves. Hmmm.

 

Since your power Down Under is 240V, I'm guessing that you may have only a single phase coming into your home's electrical panel.

In the US, we have 120V power but some heavy appliances (e.g. electric ranges and clothes dryers) and central air conditioning systems use 240V. Normally, we have what is called three-wire service, with two 120V lines (two different phases) and a neutral line coming into the electrical panel. Each 120V line feeds a separate hot bus, with the distribution through the home's wiring system divided, more or less equally, between buses. 240V power is provided by tapping both buses.

Even though they probably have their own transformer, they still share distribution lines with others in the same area. If everyone happens to turn on a high load item about the same time ... *flicker*. And, they could have had too many things plugged into the circuit the computer is on, although I'd think, in that case, they'd also have been complaining about blown fuses or tripped CBs.

 

I live in an 88 year old house (electrical wiring, plumbing and ductwork were all afterthoughts, and the wires in the attic are from the 40s or 50s.) in a tiny village that runs its own power generator at the local sawmill. Every time the Central Air, microwave or washer come on, the house dims briefly. Since I have lived here, the house has been directly struck by lightning 4 times, that I know of.

I hired an electrician to run me a dedicated circuit to the breaker box, for the computer, bought a good UPS, and a box that goes between the cable coming in and the modem, and the telephone wires. (I have back up dial up)
Because I fried a few crucial computer components, I decided it was all worth the investment. My ISP swears their cable can't damage my modem, but in 2 years I replaced it 3 times, before I got the box, so, apparently my ISP lied. (Tip- sniff the mobo in a comp you suspect has had a power surge or lightning damage. You can not always readily see the damage, but you can smell where it melted.)

And a surge protecter is NOT sufficient, because, as Jim pointed out, it does nothing to level the power during brownouts. Brownouts damage computer parts slowly, and you can keep cursing Windows and reinstalling, but if the hardware is bad, the cure never lasts long. One of the first things I check when called to look at a comp is how it is plugged in, and with what else on the breaker. The newer PCs are more succeptible to damage from an uneven power supply than the old, can't be killed, Win 9X OEMs. Go figure.

Johanna

 

I should have added that I was talking about homes built after WWII, and that the electrical service normally provides 100 to 250 amperes, the minimum being determined by local electrical codes.

When Johanna's house was built it may not even have had electrical service, since the wiring in her attic dates from considerably later than the construction date, circa 1916. Homes built prior to 1945 usually had two wire service, in which one hot and one neutral wire delivered 30 to 60 amps at 120V only.

Brownouts (reduced voltage over a prolonged period of time) are insidious, because we're not normally aware of them, even if the power company announces them ahead of time. And, I don't think that most people are aware of the potential ill effect they can have on electrical items in the home (light bulbs excluded). I'd suggest that anyone not already knowledgeable about them do a web search for "brownouts" and read some of the many online articles available. And, at the very least, get a UPS for your computer ... it's cheap insurance.

 

Yeah...it seems everytime we have a power outage (planned or unplanned) at work some users Power supply is dead after the power comes back on and we have to replace it.

 

Yes, Jim, you are right. As I said, plumbing, wiring and ductwork were all afterthoughts in this house, but there are (shut off) gas pipes to every room, presumably for old time gas lights. We're upgrading the electricity this summer, because the power comes into the house, then supplies the barn. If someone is using power in the barn, the lights on the first floor of the house dim (where my comp is) which is one reason why I put my whole system on a dedicated circuit with a UPS. There is a well worn sidewalk to the barn, where the outhouse used to be. I can't imagine getting up at 2 AM and trekking through the snow to the barn in a cold Ohio winter, with that darned Indiana wind... We'll have the barn separate from the house when we're through. I also want all the wiring in the attic replaced, even though it passes every inspection. I don't want a fire!

But our village does not supply steady power- it fluctuates all the time, within a certain range, and that is considered acceptable. It is not uncommon, either, for a sudden storm to knock out the power to the whole village, so I keep flashlights handy. The UPS will shut my comp down after 3 minutes w/o power, but it will keep me going for about 6-10 minutes, in case I need to finish what I'm doing.

Like Jim said, a UPS is cheap insurance.

Johanna