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Lightning storms and external Hard drives.
Jul 4, 2015 22:51:52 #
For those of you who live in areas like me that tend to get lighting during the summer storms, do you eject your external drives from your computer and power them down, or do you have them plugged into a backup power supply with a surge protector built in. I recently purchased my first externally powered external hard drive and have been ejecting & unplugging it when I leave the house or when I am not in need of it. My older drives were non powered, so they were always just left plugged into my computer and were off when the computer was.
Jul 4, 2015 23:02:46 #
RWR
Loc: La Mesa, CA
jethro779 wrote:
For those of you who live in areas like me that te... (show quote)
Since my external drives are for backup, they are only plugged in when backing up. And I do use surge protectors.
Jul 4, 2015 23:04:53 #
RWR wrote:
Since my external drives are for backup, they are only plugged in when backing up. And I do use surge protectors.
I have an iMac and run Time Machine, so it is backing up all the time.
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Jul 4, 2015 23:15:18 #
RWR
Loc: La Mesa, CA
jethro779 wrote:
I have an iMac and run Time Machine, so it is backing up all the time.
If you have frequent power outages, a backup battery would be a good investment. Surge protectors are a must anyplace, in my opinion.
Jul 4, 2015 23:36:38 #
I have all of my equipment on multiple UPS units due to unpredictable power outages and surges.
Jul 5, 2015 00:14:41 #
jethro779 wrote:
For those of you who live in areas like me that te... (show quote)
In the case of a local lightning storm, it is best to power down and unplug your equipment. Surge protectors are no match for the surge coming from a lighning strike to a power line. I have seen damage to very expensive equipment including frying the guts beyond recognition. Unplug the equipment and remove that possibility.
Jul 5, 2015 00:53:55 #
I have had lightning storms that I have lost everything in the house, TV, Computers, Back up drive, Clocks, Micro wave, blew electrical plugs out of the wall, I now always unplug everything when a storm in near.
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Jul 5, 2015 01:21:10 #
HOT Texas wrote:
I have had lightning storms that I have lost everything in the house, TV, Computers, Back up drive, Clocks, Micro wave, blew electrical plugs out of the wall, I now always unplug everything when a storm in near.
Sounds like you had a direct lightning strike on your house there HOT Texas.......I'm not sure any protection can counter that kind of event ....even a UPS setup or a complete powered down system.......if it was physically plugged in ON or OFF it would have gotten fried......so don't feel too bad, I don't believe you can avoid all strikes even when real careful !.....unless your name is Jerry Bunge (old buddy of mine) who wears a belt plus suspenders so to speak! :XD:
Jul 5, 2015 07:53:28 #
Dale40203
Loc: Louisville, KY
Your utility company can in stall a whole-house surge protector which would halt a surge before it comes into your building.
A UPS is a good idea, especially one that will power down your computer in the event of an outage.
The small under-the-table UPS's don't give you much time if you have several drives, and the batteries eventually need replacing which can be expensive.
Related info:
Tesla has announced it whole-house battery called the Powerwall
(http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall)
and GM is looking into repurposing the Chevy Volt batteries for auxiliary power
(http://www.zdnet.com/article/gm-starts-using-older-chevy-volt-batteries-for-power-backup/)
A UPS is a good idea, especially one that will power down your computer in the event of an outage.
The small under-the-table UPS's don't give you much time if you have several drives, and the batteries eventually need replacing which can be expensive.
Related info:
Tesla has announced it whole-house battery called the Powerwall
(http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall)
and GM is looking into repurposing the Chevy Volt batteries for auxiliary power
(http://www.zdnet.com/article/gm-starts-using-older-chevy-volt-batteries-for-power-backup/)
Jul 5, 2015 12:16:36 #
A couple of years ago my TV aerial was hit by lightning and the wiring and most of the electrical items throughout the house were well and truly blitzed. If lighting wants to go somewhere believe me it will go there no matter what you do it wiped out my desktop and laptop which was charging at the time along with the external hard drive which was connected. Luckily I had just backed it up with a larger new external drive. There is only one sure solution back up the back up and keep one disconnected.
Jul 5, 2015 12:29:43 #
Dale40203
Loc: Louisville, KY
Bob Smith wrote:
A couple of years ago my TV aerial was hit by lightning and the wiring and most of the electrical items throughout the house were well and truly blitzed. . . .
Just curious, how was your aerial grounded?
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Jul 5, 2015 13:00:42 #
jethro779 wrote:
For those of you who live in areas like me that te... (show quote)
Keep mine plugged in via UPS, but like some others have correctly mentioned, even that is no match for a direct strike. Since I cannot guarantee being able to unplug everything during a thunderstorm, at least all my files (especially photos) are backed up off site.
Jul 5, 2015 13:41:51 #
And if your computer is plugged into the internet providers modem and not using WiFi, your computer is vulnerable. Cooked a PC last year when lightning hit the in ground cable for TV and the internet.
Each night I do an incremental back up on an external drive that stays connected. And once a month do a full image backup to an external drive that once I am done is disconnected from the computer and unplugged from power. The monthly backup is to protect me from an encryption hack.
Each night I do an incremental back up on an external drive that stays connected. And once a month do a full image backup to an external drive that once I am done is disconnected from the computer and unplugged from power. The monthly backup is to protect me from an encryption hack.
Jul 5, 2015 16:38:39 #
It was a European style aerial and grounded through the coax directly to the TV
Jul 5, 2015 20:39:17 #
jethro779 wrote:
For those of you who live in areas like me that te... (show quote)
All my stuff, computer, hard drives etc. are plugged in a power supply with a surge protector. I do not unplug anything, but I turn off everything during a lightning storm (actually a little before until a little after)!
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