jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Programs like Acronis, Macrium, Easeus can make a clone of your drive, and you can get working copies for free.

"Swap the old drive out for a freshly made clone and there should be no functional difference. You can also use the cloned drive in another PC, and aside from some potential missing drivers due to hardware differences, it should work just like your old system, making it an ideal backup in the event of a damaged PC. "

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421302,00.asp

EDIT: I put a Samsung 500GB SSD into a laptop, and I used the Samsung software to make an exact copy of my old drive. There is a small wire adapter you can use to connect the new drive.

https://smile.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1478260317&sr=8-2&keywords=hard+drive+cables

Big Bill Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Just as a clarification: A power outage won't fry a computer. It's just like unplugging the computer.
When there's a storm causing the outage, there's usually a power surge just before the outage; it's this that does the damage. That's why surge protectors are a good idea.

A better idea is an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). These are more expensive than a surge protector, but offer two advantages: They offer much better surge protection, and they also offer a power supply independent of the house's power lines if that power goes out, to allow you time to shut down properly.
The one for this computer offers over 30 minutes of power for the computer, the main monitor, and a small light.
Older UPSs power my other computer, my DirecTv box (if it's recording, this allows it to continue without house power), and a few lights to act as lights (duh!) if the power goes out at night. When I buy a new one, it usually has a higher power rating than the older one it's replacing, so they get moved down the line as new ones are bought. The batteries are replaceable, so they can remain useful.
Maybe this will help some.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Very true and understand that there is a HUGE difference between an UNINTERUPTIBLE power supply and a BACKUP power supply. The Uninterruptible power supply is always taking power to charge the internal battery which is always providing the power to the computer system. So, if the household power drops, the computer never sees the drop. Many of the uninterruptable power supplies have a connector that automatically shuts the computer down if the main power isn't restored before the charge in the uninterruptible power supply expires. (this same feature is also available on backup power supplies.

NOW, a backup power supply is different from an uninterruptible in that it does nothing until it detects a power drop, then it kicks in. This is SUPPOSED to occur in micro seconds and the computer supposedly won't see it. It's been my experience that many of the newer / faster computers see the interruption and crash or lock up.
You will find that uninterruptible power supplied tend to be more expensive than the power backups. But in my experience they are worth it. I have 3 uninterruptible power supplies on my servers and one on each of my 2 desktops. I have a backup power supply that I use for my laptop because it has an internal battery that (theoretically) should ride the power drop.

One Jughead Loc: Greene County, OH

Surge protectors have a rating on them. They are like a battery - every surge depletes from the rating and there isn't any indicator on most of them to know when they are depleted. I would guess that if something got through to your electronic equipment that the protection is now zero.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

True. The absolute best surge protector I ever bought (and I am a firm believer in both surge protection and uninterruptible power supplies) is the Monster Powerbar 2100 Home Theater Reference bar. It has a 5 year warranty and guarantees $350,000 full replacement value of equipment connected. I bought my first about 6 months before Hurricane Sandy hit the Philly area. The power pole behind the house got hit my lightning. I had Fios light fiber cable coming into the house to their converter and then coax through the house. I have the power for my home theater all connected to it which is the 60in. 3d TV, 3d Blu-ray DVD player, Pioneer Elite receiver, Sony turntable, a HD dvd player, Wii, Dish TV box, and a few other things including s gb switch and a Wi-Fi router. NOTHING was damaged by the lightning strike but the Powerbar died. I called Monster, gave them the serial number and they overnighted a replacement and a return label so that they could get the old one back to look at. They wanted to see what they did right and what needed improvement. I called them about 3 pm as soon as we got power back and they had the replacement to me by 10:30 am the next day. Their warranty says that you have 60 days from the occurrence to report the issue and they will replace all damaged devices up to $350,00. Best $125 I've spent on a surge protector. I had 4 APC uninterruptable power supplies on computers and servers and they did fine too.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

I got one on ebay for 5.00 when my computer died and it works fine.

renn faire Loc: cailforna

If u do not what you are doing------- like me---- take it to the geeks at best buy!!!!!

One Jughead Loc: Greene County, OH

The Joules rating on that surge protector (Total Energy Dissipation 2775 Joules) was used up in one shot. If it had received several other surges previously to reduce the effective joules, it might not have handled the big one you got that fried it. Things connected to it would then have been affected and probably blown? Sure beats having to go through the headache of collecting on their guarantee.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Well the equipment (entire home theater system) was about 3 months old so I doubt that there were any (or very many) previous times. And Hurricane Sandy hit us almost dead on. The entire neighborhood was without power for 10 days before they got it restored. Ironically, Duke Energy from Florida owned the crews that did our repairs. (Now we live in Clearwater, FL and they are our provider). The had to replace 74 electric poles in our subdivision in Warminster PA and we were not nearly as hard hit as some areas. And again, just as soon as we got power back so I could test things I discovered the blown surge protector and it did EXACTLY what it was supposed to do. It died saving the rest of the system. And I had the replacement surge protector the next day along with a NEW warranty.