When the electricity goes out, it can harm the computer, how to protect it ?
A computer needs regular electricity to stay on. But sometimes your power supply may not be reliable. If the lights keep coming on in the neighborhood from time to time, then you might be thinking, does it not damage the computer when the lights go out? And how to avoid the effects of that? Today, we are discussing about the dangers that can occur when the lights go out from time to time and how to avoid them.
What causes the lights to go out, high voltage and low voltage?
The electricity you reach to our house is not stable. The electric current may increase or decrease, it may go below the required and proper amount. Too much and too little energy can cause problems. When the electricity is completely cut off, the situation at that time is understood as ‘blackout’, i.e. lights out.
Problems such as disruption of the transmission center, destruction of electric wires, etc. are beyond our control. Sometimes these types of problems occur when the wires touch each other and become shorts or when the energy load is excessive.
Another similar problem is low voltage. In this case, the light will not go out completely. If you find that the light is dimmed for some unknown reason, it is likely that there is a low voltage power supply, which in technical terms is called a brownout.
Such a problem may have been caused intentionally for the purpose of reducing the load of electricity and preventing the lights from going on. However, it does not mean that low voltage electricity will not come even if you don’t want it. Apart from this, there is also a thing called loadshedding, with which we Nepalis are very familiar. This kind of work is done especially when the demand is more than the available electricity and the light line is turned off at different places by adjusting the time schedule.
Load-shedding is done deliberately, so that the electricity grid is unable to cope and the lights do not go out completely. Similarly, another problem is power-surge, i.e. sudden electric shocks. Such a problem occurs when the electrical devices in the house receive more electricity than required for at least three nanoseconds.
There can be various reasons behind the occurrence of electric shocks, including short circuits and malfunctions in electrical lines. Although the high voltage only occurs for a nanosecond duration or two, it is probably due to a lightning strike.
Does going out of lights affect the computer?
If so, can a sudden power outage cause a problem with the computer? Not only in that case, there is a risk of problems with your data and hardware even if the power goes out suddenly. The computer may be damaged in this way when the light goes out: the computer’s health may be in danger because the light turns off suddenly.
Operating systems are complex and must have a complete ‘shutdown sequence’, so that all running processes are properly terminated before powering off. A sudden power outage disrupts these essential steps and can interrupt some processes. which can damage the operating system and ‘corrupt’ files and threads.
System files are very important. When the operating system is editing an important file, if there is a sudden power cut, the file may become corrupted. For example, the system update time can be taken.
Then when you try to reboot the computer, the operating system crashes due to such corrupt files and the reboot itself fails. If the system files are not corrupted then you are lucky. However, even then, you may be missing out on key tasks.
If you do not have the habit of saving the work done on the computer regularly, then you may have experienced the problem of having to start all over again when the light suddenly goes out.
In addition, frequent power outages can reduce the physical life of the hard drive. Because the ‘reading and writing’ part of the hard drive hangs on the rotating plate during operation. When the power is lost, the part returns to its original position.
Sudden power outages can cause small errors, which accumulate over time and increase the likelihood of a ‘head crash’. When the hanging part (head) touches the surface of the platter and opens it, it destroys the hard drive badly.
Sudden power outages can damage SSDs, i.e. solid-state drives. In which there may be problems ranging from data corruption to complete damage.
According to Kingston, most SSDs have ‘power-loss protection’ (PLP), but early-generation SSDs were not as reliable against sudden power outages as today’s modern drives. So if you have a very old SSD and live in an area with frequent power grid problems or harsh weather conditions, it is wise to upgrade your SSD.
After the light goes out, the effect of the electric shock on the computer:
It doesn’t mean that only when the light goes on, there can be a problem. Even after the light goes out, when it comes back on, the electric shocks keep coming. Such a shock can supply more power to the computer than it needs and can damage the materials inside it.
A power outage may not cause much damage to the motherboard, but a sudden shock can definitely cause a lot of damage. As a result your computer may not turn on.
How to protect your computer from damage caused by a power outage
When the light goes out, the parts of the computer will not be destroyed, but a sudden shock may. It can destroy your computer. In such a situation, if you want to take care of your computer and the data on it, the most reasonable option is to invest in equipment such as UPS and inverters that keep the power flowing to the computer even when the lights go out as a precaution.
A UPS has a backup battery, which provides continuous power to your computer even when the power goes out. UPS devices are also protected against electric shock. If you live in a building or location where the lights go out occasionally, investing in a UPS will save you.
The important thing to note here is that a UPS can only provide power to your computer for a few minutes. This means that if you want to continue your work, UPS is not the only option for that.
But these few minutes give you enough time to shut down the computer to prevent possible damage. In addition, the alarm sound on the UPS informs you that the power has gone out to take precautions or to shut down your computer immediately.
Using a laptop when the lights go out
If you want to continue your work even when the lights go out, why not use a laptop? A laptop can completely avoid a blackout situation. The laptop switches to battery when the light line goes out. If you are in an area where lights go out occasionally, it is better to get a laptop instead of a desktop.
Although laptops are not as powerful as full PCs, laptops are more useful than computers when the lights go out. Certainly, buying a laptop because the lighting conditions in your area are not good doesn’t feel so good. No matter what method you choose to protect your data from sudden power outages, you should also improve your protection against power surges.
It won’t protect your computer’s hardware as much as the lights go out. But it can protect well from the shock that comes after the light goes out. A surge protector protects against all kinds of dangers that may occur when the light goes out and can also prevent electric shock. Buying a surge protector can be a bit confusing, as the specifications dictate how well they can work.
