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Thread ID: 96343 2009-01-07 20:20:00 avoiding head crash / power cuts mark c (247) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
735731 2009-01-07 20:20:00 Hi, the power line up our road is being redone and this will mean rolling power outages and some of us are worried about getting head crash on our PCs when the power goes off.
AFAIK a PC does not have some sort of emergency power supply to return the HD head to a safe place after a power cut, so using one when you're likely to have a power cut is taking a risk but then I have had lots of power outages while using the PC and it does boot up again later.
I've had a look a various sites about HDs and head crashes but can't find anything that tells me what happens with a power cut and more particularly how come you don't get a crash with a power cut.
TIA -mark
mark c (247)
735732 2009-01-07 20:27:00 The easiest way to avoid it, is leave it off. Till they finish Speedy Gonzales (78)
735733 2009-01-07 20:33:00 Hi, the power line up our road is being redone and this will mean rolling power outages and some of us are worried about getting head crash on our PCs when the power goes off.

head crash due to power failure is a very old problem, was solved in 1994-ish
moden drives auto park the heads and so avoid head crash.

the problem you may get is data loss due to a data write at time of power fail.
or you may get other damage due to power spikes.

best advise is to get a surge protector, turn off and unplug computer if you know that there is work being done in the streat.
robsonde (120)
735734 2009-01-07 20:35:00 Or borrow (or buy) a UPS. wratterus (105)
735735 2009-01-07 20:53:00 Yes a universal power supply which runs on batterys gives you enough time to turn your computer off after the power goes off.
:)
Trev (427)
735736 2009-01-07 20:55:00 Uninterruptible Power Supply. ;) wratterus (105)
735737 2009-01-07 21:08:00 Uninterruptible Power Supply. ;)
X 2 A UPS will safe you from a power Drop / outage -they also have surge protectors built in.

A stand alone surge protector will do NOTHING in a power cut - the PC will still suddenly shut down.
wainuitech (129)
735738 2009-01-07 21:18:00 Thanks very much for all that. I know about UPSs - I was more wondering about what happens in a cut w/out UPS and why you don't get a head crash. So thanks robsonde. It doesn't bother me to use the simple solution suggested to just not use the PC but then I'm not the only user up the road. Will encourage them to get a UPS. mark c (247)
735739 2009-01-07 21:40:00 Good idea. A decent one can be picked up for around $300 now, and it's really good cause it acts as a surge/spike protector as well as not allowing 'brown outs' to affect the equipment plugged into it.

Brown Outs are often worse for PCs than a normal power cut, they like a constant supply of power.
wratterus (105)
735740 2009-01-07 21:55:00 Uninterruptible Power Supply. ;)
I new that ;)
:)
Trev (427)
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