Here's my answer, friends. Expensive, but it lets me sleep at night ! After last year's fiasco of brownouts etc - I decided that the $ cost of fried Macs, and lost info without backup was insignificant in comparison with my time in trying to recoup everything. Tempus fugit for me !! I wanted to leave my G5 on 24/7 whether in or out of my dwelling - and not having to arise for middle of the night storms! After much investigation and help from Peter Miazga, I bought an APC C5 BackUp unit (expensive!) which automatically shuts my Mac down, after a preset save time, with or without my physical presence. Power bars etc are ok for a limited (and not inexpensive) solution, but I sought a more sophisticated, fail-safe system. It's operated okay now for 9 months through all sorts of storms and brown outs. We have to face the fact that we do live in 'tornado alley ' here in SWO, plus connection with the US powergrid :-) My 2 cents worth ( well not quite that !! ) Ilbert On 12 Jun 2004, at 9:40 AM, N. Barry Alexander wrote: > I also had my iMac fried once in a thunderstorm. So, if there is a > storm > nearby, I unplug everything just to be safe. I'm sure the powerbar with > surge protection work, but I'm not sure if I'm going to trust it. > Better > safe than sorry. > > Barry A. > > > > > On 6/12/04 8:45 AM, "Marty Peterson" <marty.peterson@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > >> I have held a bad experience with my MAC plugged into a wall outlet. >> In >> September 2002, I had plugged my MAC into the wall, the same outlet >> as the >> answering machine. Through the night we had a terrible thunder storm >> that >> hit the house or close to it. The answer machine was fried but the >> compute= >> r >> seemed fine. Over the next couple of weeks the computer began to >> become >> slower and slower. Thinking the problem was a lack of RAM, I order >> more fo= >> r >> it. (PowerBook G3 with standard 64mb). Six or seven pieces of RAM >> later we >> discovered that it was damaged by a power surge from the lighting. >> This of >> course meant replacing the computer totally and I now have a G4 >> PowerBook >> that I immediately unplug it from everything during a storm and >> continue to >> work on battery.=20 >> >> Marty >> >> >> On 6/12/04 8:29 AM, "Theresa Roth" <theresaroth@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> >>>> With all the storms that we have had recently - and who knows for >>>> the >>>> future!! - is it necessary to turn off the power, unplug the supply >>>> and/or disconnect the telephone line to the modem? It seems these >>>> days >>>> that people leave their computers on in storms!! Perhaps they are >>>> more >>>> robust now? >>>> =20 >>>> Paul >>>> =20 >>>> _________________________________________________ >>>> =20 >>>> =20 >>> I left mine on as I=B9ve never had a problem. I do have a $35 >>> powerbar whi= >> ch >>> I=B9m not sure if it=B9s also a surge protector. Here=B9s what >>> happened: My >>> o= >> ld >>> TV got cooked (straight horizontal line), my water heater fried, my >>> furna= >> ce >>> merely shut off, a cordless phone fried and I was without phone >>> service f= >> or >>> 48 hours. My Mac is ok but the phone jacks in the powerbar are >>> fried. I >>> assume the powerbar protected my Mac from surges both through the >>> electri= >> cal >>> and phone lines. But now, I can=B9t use the phone jacks in the >>> powerbar an= >> d >>> must plug the Mac into the wall directly. I=B9m unsure of whether >>> this wil= >> l >>> prevent surges and/or damages in the future. >>> =20 >>> Theresa >>> =20 >>> _________________________________________________ >>> =20 >>> For information concerning the MUGLO List just click on >>> =20 >>> http://muglo.on.ca/Pages/joinus.html >>> =20 >>> Don't forget to periodically check our web site at: >>> =20 >>> http://muglo.on.ca/ >>> =20 >> >> >> _________________________________________________ >> >> For information concerning the MUGLO List just click on >> >> http://muglo.on.ca/Pages/joinus.html >> >> Don't forget to periodically check our web site at: >> >> http://muglo.on.ca/ >> > > _________________________________________________ > > For information concerning the MUGLO List just click on > > http://muglo.on.ca/Pages/joinus.html > > Don't forget to periodically check our web site at: > > http://muglo.on.ca/ > _________________________________________________ For information concerning the MUGLO List just click on http://muglo.on.ca/Pages/joinus.html Don't forget to periodically check our web site at: http://muglo.on.ca/