Clint Wynne <n5tbs@gte.net>: Re: KCW <kw2@acsu.buffalo.edu>: Re: computers

Elian Degen degen@telcel.net.ve
Wed, 5 Aug 1998 23:33:10 -0400


Hi, again

I saw the new messages and couldnīt resist:


>The reboot is good for the memory.  The thing that is bad is thermal
>shock.
>Thermal shock comes from turning the pc
>on and off over and over

Sorry to correct you, it comes from turning it on and of, but it is not a
thermal shock, it is a rapture effect, it is the same principle used in the
old carīs ignition system, ( the ones that used points in the distribuitor )
whenever you open a circuit there is an arc that produces a peak of very
high voltage and low amperage, and that is fatal for all ICīs (integrated
circuits) as it is static electricity, that is why it is very important to
have a voltage regulator, a good grounding and use the computer switch to
turn it off ( computer switches are designed to send any arc to ground.

Rob wrote
>Lightning strikes that will go right through a surge supressor
>Brown-outs
>Nosy hackers trying to get into your drive
I wouldnīt worrie too much about them, maybe theyīll try to get into the
pentagon, but why in my machine ?
too much trouble for too little

>The constant (and ultimately costly) use of electricity.

New machines with APM will go from a typical 130 or 150 Watts consumption
into a 3Watt current drain in suspend mode, imagine a 3Watt light bulb.

Frank,
you are right, but depends your area, for example where I live there are no
electric storms or bad weather, for at least 10 month, and all city cables
are underground, when I see electric storms or is the bad weather season I
do sut it off and I use an answering machine.
about:
>.  When I go away for extended periods,
>like vacations, I unplug the computer.  So what if I have to re-set the
>date and time!

Now they are using a lithium battery in modern computers, and it should last
somethig like three to five years, probably your computer uses a
rechargeable NiCd back up battery, and itīs if tht is so and you have to
reset time when you come back from hollidays, unless your hollidays are six
month or longer, I would advice you to replace the battery, a Ni-Cd battery
after it shortens itīs life, next step is to shortcircuit, and that will
prevent you of using the computer when it happens.

As a last word, please donīt get paranoid.

UPS is good but expensive, unless your ares blacks out constantly I donīt
see point, and yes, there are some systems that allow you to run your
computer for very long times on battery, I even designd one for a client of
mine who has a bussines in an area were electricity is very scarce ( he
lives in a forrest and has an emergency station )  itīs a 600VA system and
instead of the normal rechargeable battery I installed a box with 4 car
batteries in parallel.

But if you want to keep safe buy a back up unit for your hard disk and if
the worse comes to the worse you can load everything back in your computer
after repair or in a new one

Any other questions are welcome

Elian








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