Bits'n'Bytes

As heard on CJCD

Episode 9

Good morning, and welcome to this week's installment of Bits 'n' Bytes - brought to you by Bowco Computer Services.

Every now and then, someone will ask me what they can do to keep their computer running well. I tell them the standard techie guy answer that they should defrag their computer once every couple of months, run a scandisk once in a while, get a router to protect yourself from outside intrusions and to make sure you have a good antivirus program. But, one of the main causes of computer problems in Yellowknife is power, or lack of it.

Blackouts, however they're caused, are really hard on a computer system. Right at the point where unlucky Ralph the Raven is realizing he shouldn't be where he's at, there's often a huge power spike. This spike can very quickly destroy sensitive components in your computer. Your power supply in your computer is made to try and absorb some of this spike, but it can rarely handle all of it.

The more interesting power effect is a brown out. You can see, every now and then, when the lights in your house dim for a second - that's a brown out. While a brownout isn't good for your computer's components, it's even worse for your computer's power supply. An extended brownout will cause your power supply to overheat. After many brownouts, your power supply becomes more susceptible to a spike - it can't dampen the effect of it any more - so your components take a hit of electricity, and something breaks down.

Surge protectors can protect you from power spikes, that's what they're made for. But they can't protect your system from brownouts. For those, you should invest in a UPS, or uninterruptible power supply. When the voltage gets too low, a UPS will kick in and give your computer the power it needs until the brownout ends, or the batteries die. Hopefully, if the alarm on your battery backup is going off, you know enough to turn off your computer for a while...

Cheap battery backups are about 85 bucks and are a great investment. Motherboards, hard drives and data are all usually worth a lot more.

Stay tuned next week for tips and tricks for happy internet surfing.

I’m Computer Dave, thanks for your time.