Power Outage / How to protect my PC

[Dario]

Sorry, if I ask a stupid question.

We have very frequent power outages in our village and more than once I was in trouble wit my PC afterwards. I know that in the good old time people used a machine called a UPS to protect their PCs. Question: Is there something smaller, more compact as I don't have so much space next to my computer? Maybe a link to Lazada would help me. Thank you in advance.

[koratkarlos]

If it is a storm you can simply unplug it.  This is clearly the best protection.  But if you are working and you need more reliability you can buy a power strip with surge protection which willl give you some protection.  The next step would be "on lazada" search for an uninterrupted power supply.  You should check the power supply rating inside your machine, maybe 800 W or less, I don't know and make sure the power supply has enough capacity for your computer.  If you really want to be safe, then run a surge protector into an uniterrupted power supply then your computer.  I hope this helps.  I think it is a good idea to do if you are having power issues at home.

[sometimewoodworker]

40 minutes ago, Dario said:

Sorry, if I ask a stupid question.

We have very frequent power outages in our village and more than once I was in trouble wit my PC afterwards. I know that in the good old time people used a machine called a UPS to protect their PCs. Question: Is there something smaller, more compact as I don't have so much space next to my computer? Maybe a link to Lazada would help me. Thank you in advance.

Like this? 
 

though it’s a lot bigger than you need as it will run my equipment for about 60 minutes.

[JustAnotherHun]

A power strip is mandatory in Thailand imo. A small one will at least give you the time to shut down your hardware.

Power cuts can damage your hardware. I lost 2 or 3 HDDs years ago.

The power strip also prevents your hardware from overloading but in case of a severe thunderstorm you simple should unplud all electronics.

[JetsetBkk]

APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 is my favourite:

 

[Dario]

Would this UPS protect my computer for at least 5-10 minutes? If I'm not wrong I have a 850W power supply. I don't need the UPS to be able to continue to work, just to protect my computer.

 

[recom273]

56 minutes ago, Dario said:

Would this UPS protect my computer for at least 5-10 minutes? If I'm not wrong I have a 850W power supply. I don't need the UPS to be able to continue to work, just to protect my computer.

 

Yes .. you will get longer than 5-10 out of that. I have several from these small ones to run the router and a wifi AP to APC rack mount UPS that will run multiple severs for over an hour.

 

I really like products guaranteed by Synnex, the batteries will go eventually, but I thought my zircon UPS died prematurely, I called into Synnex  on the off chance and they explained in clear Thai that it had a year guarantee on it and they would take care of everything, 10 days later they called and asked me to collect.

 

You might want to look into the price of APC ones, certain models have a feature to power down your PC if needed. Thats if you need that facility.

 

You can buy replacement batteries from Amorn if needed. I think they are essential kit.

[Dario]

Thank you, recom273! You convinced me for that model.

[moogradod]

I have two APC, one for my main PC and a local backup facility and one for a NAS because its constantly updating redundant disks. Work like a charm and they were needed a couple of times. Outages are unfortunately not a rare occurence here.

 

As mentioned that APCs will softly shut down your designated device when the battery content is in the process of loosing too much power in order to power what you want.

 

I may as well recommend invade IT as a supplier. Have been dealing with them intensely to my satisfaction.

[arick]

2000av best thing I bought. Rubs my screen wifi computer for nearly two hours.  Power early goes off in a storm at my place. But can easily go off for a split second. In a middle of a meeting. 

[rwill]

A voltage regulator with surge protection can be good.  But it doesn't keep your computer on during power outages.

 

Like this one for example:

AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR SCHNEIDER 1500VA 750W (homepro.co.th)

[ChaiyaTH]

Most make awful sounds when the power goes off, I have since figured out where the speakers are and removed them. 

 

If you have an normal pc you can even connect them with software so that the UPS will properly shut down your pc.

 

As the outages at my old place often were at night I connected a bright low energy led light to it as well it charged my flash light batteries and powerbank (with usb fan).

[Surasak]

14 hours ago, Dario said:

Would this UPS protect my computer for at least 5-10 minutes? If I'm not wrong I have a 850W power supply. I don't need the UPS to be able to continue to work, just to protect my computer.

 

That should do the job very well. I have three at our place, one for computer, one for internet and one for my music keyboards. Allows plenty of time to save and/or turn off. Will give about 45 to 60 minutes run time depending on the power being drawn.

[BananaGuy]

Cheap solution :- a surge-protected power board as recommended by many here plus replace your mechanical hard drive holding your operating system with a small cheap SSD (1 GB will nail it with likely enough space left to include a few critical personal files).

 

Power outage doesn’t bother an SSD plus you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the performance boost to your PC or laptop.

Adding a UPS imo is simply adding cost and complexity … if you need a backup power supply then put together your own Mickey Mouse system for peanuts (car battery + 1000 watt 12v->240v inverter).

 

Likely less than the cost of a UPS plus you can use for LED lighting, small appliances whatever, whether the power is on or not.

 

Add a solar panel to the mix and you’re cooking with gas (so to speak).

 

[moogradod]

37 minutes ago, BananaGuy said:

Cheap solution :- a surge-protected power board as recommended by many here plus replace your mechanical hard drive holding your operating system with a small cheap SSD (1 GB will nail it with likely enough space left to include a few critical personal files).

 

Power outage doesn’t bother an SSD plus you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the performance boost to your PC or laptop.

Adding a UPS imo is simply adding cost and complexity … if you need a backup power supply then put together your own Mickey Mouse system for peanuts (car battery + 1000 watt 12v->240v inverter).

 

Likely less than the cost of a UPS plus you can use for LED lighting, small appliances whatever, whether the power is on or not.

 

Add a solar panel to the mix and you’re cooking with gas (so to speak).

 

Do not forget those update situations where the PC displays "Do not switch off your PC" ???? You wont like a power disruption just then I suppose. It might work because of build in security in the OS, but maybe it will not if you are unlucky - SSD or not.

 

I have encountered just that situation and my APS UPS (it is a 1500 and one 550) took over seamlessly. Nearly same annoying situation during backup. Not to talk about surge protection which of course is build in. For Thailand I highly recommend a UPS and no Mickey Mouse if you can afford it, even if you maintain a regular backup anyway.

[Tuvoc]

I found a UPS totally useless. When the voltage dropped (but there was no cut) the UPS would start beeping away madly, switch to battery, and then the PC would power down. All the while, the power was still up, and a different PC just plugged straight into the mains keep running quite happily.  So, just voltage drops kept triggering it once a day or more, and now it just sits gathering dust unused. It was an APC so a good brand, but yes one of their lower priced models. Maybe a more expensive one would have been better.

[Seeall]

17 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

A power strip is mandatory in Thailand imo. A small one will at least give you the time to shut down your hardware.

Power cuts can damage your hardware. I lost 2 or 3 HDDs years ago.

The power strip also prevents your hardware from overloading but in case of a severe thunderstorm you simple should unplud all electronics.

A very good topic...  but powerstips will not give you and power...  you need batteries for that.. in fact they can hardly handle s decent spike/drop..

[Seeall]

Depending on what your needs are, I found at home , YES, power that router as long as you can, turn off big screens/PC get onto the Notebook/tab  to continue work.  I even got a puresine wave inverter which I feel from the trucks battery, works well.

 

Then there are the condos which dont have any backup so the inernet dies anyways.  So considering mobile data is so cheap now it seems kinda pointless to battle the outages... yes I trade online and spend all day and half the night online..  so in that is my thought:

 

spending say 8000 vs 1500 THB to gain 1 hour on my big PC seems kina pointless...  however, can power the notebook for hours so that could be worthwhile.. but even though I have quite some sums floating up/down in the market I can easily use my phone/tab all day if needs.. yes the charts are <deleted> but I can get by until go to a nice cafe and sit there all day...

 

So my take on the expence of a vps and that you should change the batts every 2 years (costs) which seems to be my last smoky scary short out (4 years I think) on an AOC 1400 I think a small 1400 thb just enough to turn of my big pc in the middle of writing a big email or such.

Again, why spend x 10 and still go to the cafe?  What is important is it seems the cheaper units dont have spike protection and wont protect your hardware..  my ol APC 1400 use to switch and slide when power was unstable, seems to work well....  All the best guys.. POWER to yee all

[nickmondo]

Get a power strip with surge protector.......number 1

then get an APC as mentioned in other posts.

I have power losses every day in my village, Nice Breeze 6.........every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[millymoopoo]

For what it's worth I have a Toshiba P870 laptop, very old model now.

It's so big, powerful and reliable I use it as a desktop.

It has specs that are still the envy of many middle range laptops.

It's so big and heavy I don't know how they can call it a laptop.

And I've even got the TV on it, built in tuner.

But it's obvious advantage here is it's battery, no need for any power/battery back up system, depending on use it can last way longer than an hour on battery.

Maybe only 1 hour if your watching movies.

And if it gets low, it won't turn off, it just goes into sleep mode, all work/programs are saved.

Dumping the tower/monitor was the best thing I did, 8 years ago.

But I still use a decent surge protector.

 

[BananaGuy]

2 hours ago, moogradod said:

Do not forget those update situations where the PC displays "Do not switch off your PC" ???? You wont like a power disruption just then I suppose. It might work because of build in security in the OS, but maybe it will not if you are unlucky - SSD or not.

 

I have encountered just that situation and my APS UPS (it is a 1500 and one 550) took over seamlessly. Nearly same annoying situation during backup. Not to talk about surge protection which of course is build in. For Thailand I highly recommend a UPS and no Mickey Mouse if you can afford it, even if you maintain a regular backup anyway.

I wouldn’t worry about ‘do not switch off’ messages … they are purely decorative … any process bar maybe an iPhone OS upgrade will be able to be interrupted at any point and should restart gracefully. IPhones and the like of course safeguard themselves by checking for a mains supply AND a charged battery before they start.

 

Don’t be too dismissive of Mickey. Ask yourself what’s inside a UPS? A tiny battery, tiny inverter and tiny charger. My Mickey solution comprises industrial-size versions of the same components … minus the shiny casing.

 

Oh and all those components are useable in other ways too … for example in your car.

 

But of course if you want to collect shiny boxes …

[Ralf001]

3 hours ago, BananaGuy said:

Power outage doesn’t bother an SSD plus you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the performance boost to your PC or laptop.

You sure about that ?

 

https://superuser.com/questions/1348647/how-vulnerable-are-ssds-to-power-failures-compared-to-hdds

[khunPer]

22 hours ago, Dario said:

Question: Is there something smaller, more compact as I don't have so much space next to my computer? Maybe a link to Lazada would help me. Thank you in advance.

Not really, but an UPS is not big, I use THIS ONE from Lazada for a number of years, which gives me enough time to probably save work and close down...????

 

[mirage]

I use a wall mounted UPS, works well.  https://www.lazada.co.th/products/cyberpower-ups-bu800e-bu800e-as-800va-480w-by-dkcomputer-i2836016116-s10348777998.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.1.2d1f30c1RZvlnv&search=1

[xtrnuno41]

Your UPS has to handle the amount of power drawn from your computer

IF your computer is 850 W and up, it has to be at least over 850 W.

THE more batteries are in the UPS , the longer you can survive.

For droppings in the power you need a power regulator, which keeps power on right level. 

[Darksidedude]

On 11/8/2021 at 1:08 PM, koratkarlos said:

If it is a storm you can simply unplug it.  This is clearly the best protection.  But if you are working and you need more reliability you can buy a power strip with surge protection which willl give you some protection.  The next step would be "on lazada" search for an uninterrupted power supply.  You should check the power supply rating inside your machine, maybe 800 W or less, I don't know and make sure the power supply has enough capacity for your computer.  If you really want to be safe, then run a surge protector into an uniterrupted power supply then your computer.  I hope this helps.  I think it is a good idea to do if you are having power issues at home.

Get rid of the desktop computer all together, best to have a laptop setup with a monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse

 

power outages will be a thing of the past

[Dario]

17 hours ago, Darksidedude said:

Get rid of the desktop computer all together, best to have a laptop setup with a monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse

 

power outages will be a thing of the past

I'm running a PC and a laptop running together all the time, for some things I need a large screen, so there is my PC.

 

How would I connect a large monitor with my laptop, Darksidedude? Also, I need a lot of GB to run Microsoft Flight Simulator with all the programs I need to create. I don't have that many GB on my laptop.

[BananaGuy]

On 11/9/2021 at 4:46 PM, Ralf001 said:

You sure about that ?

 

https://superuser.com/questions/1348647/how-vulnerable-are-ssds-to-power-failures-compared-to-hdds

Yes - my experience yanking an external SSD USB drive repeatedly causes no problem. It will not fail when reconnecting, i have several SSDs in external USB enclosures - if i'm not actively accessing data on them, i happily disconnect. External mechnical HDD, even if apparently idle, i disconnect via software first. 

 

It's the mechanical nature of a HDD that is the problem with power failures - a very fine tolerance set of arms 'floating' over disks rotating at 7200rpm is understandably not keen on power cuts or fluctuations.

 

Please examine the Q&A that you reference up there carefully - it relates to loss of data, not device failure.

 

Loss of data is trivial in the case of power failure - as i mentioned earlier, a well-designed piece of software will either 'resume' or 'restart' gracefully when the process is resumed. One, several or many 'blocks' of data being 'lost' (it's not really lost - all data in transit should be merely a copy of the original) is irrelevant if the entire process can be repeated after power is restored.

 

Device failure is different - in the case of a HDD 'crashing' the whole device will likely be rendered useless or at best, compromised.

I've used both HDD and SSD devices extensively - while SSDs by their nature do not have a long history yet, i've had to trash many HDDs for various reasons but have never yet needed to toss an SSD.

 

If the software is not well designed (eg if the software 'assumes' hardware integrity through the whole process) then the user's data is of course at risk - but this would apply whether the hardware is HDD, SSD or steam-driven.

I'd suggest that such poorly-designed software is hard to find these days - certainly all mainstream products are designed to survive predictable hardware failure.

 

 

Yes - if your operating system is currently residing on a mechanical HDD i guarantee that transferring it (and any frequently-accessed data) will give you a pleasant surprise.

[BananaGuy]

6 hours ago, Dario said:

I'm running a PC and a laptop running together all the time, for some things I need a large screen, so there is my PC.

 

How would I connect a large monitor with my laptop, Darksidedude? Also, I need a lot of GB to run Microsoft Flight Simulator with all the programs I need to create. I don't have that many GB on my laptop.

Unless your laptop is 10 years old plus, connecting monitor is not a problem, they either have identical ports to a PC or an HDMI port or can be configured via USB 3.0 ports to any size monitor - most contemporary laptops have graphic cards that will happily support it's native screen plus an external monitor or even twin external monitors.  Ditto processing capacity - even cheap laptops now will run any game you like with ease. Sounds like you need to bite the bullet and replace your current hardware. You will be pleasantly surprised at the price/performance improvement over last 10 years.

 

Darkside advice is sound - if budget is limited - go laptop plus external peripherals - but kinda missed the point of the original topic i.e UPS.

 

Buy a laptop and you get a battery (UPS) built in for free !

 

... the laptop battery/UPS functionality is totally seamless and when the laptop battery eventually drains, your laptop's operating system (since it can communicate with the battery) will handle the failure gracefully and close down or enter 'sleep' mode..

 

Unless you have a full-scale managed network and a lot of support (you don't), your PC cannot communicate with an external UPS, which merely delays and does not eliminate power disconnects.

[Ralf001]

18 minutes ago, BananaGuy said:

Yes - my experience yanking an external SSD USB drive repeatedly causes no problem.

 

And thats where I stopped reading.