Almost every computer owner knows that they should never plug their computer directly into a wall outlet,
but instead into a power bar equipped with a surge protector.
The question is, how many people really understand the possible consequences of not doing that?
In North America, interruptions to the power supply are rare, but not unheard of.
The danger they pose to electronic equipment isn’t so much in the loss of power,
but in the fluctuations that often occur when the electrical supply is being restored to normal.
These can result in physical damage to computer components.
Power Surge or Voltage Spike:
If the power goes out suddenly in your home,
you can protect your computer equipment from a possible high voltage surge
by unplugging it before the electricity comes back on.
Then, after normal service has resumed, you can plug your power bar back in with confidence,
knowing that your computer has not been damaged.
You may not be home when such a situation occurs, though,
so plugging your computer into a power bar with a good quality surge protector
will make the chances of significant damage less likely.
Remember that using a cheap, low quality power bar may not protect your computer at all,
since many of the bottom-end products are completely ineffective.
Basic Precautions:
Long before you need to worry about a power surge,
you should have made a backup of your data and stored it somewhere where a power surge cannot affect it,
such as the cloud.
A physical backup, such as an external hard drive is another good way to store your backup,
as long as you don’t leave it plugged into your computer all the time.
There are more sophisticated methods available if you are trying to protect business computers,
but they are quite expensive and not really worth it for a personal computer.