Hello Everyone,
It’s spring time again! Beautiful weather, pretty flowers, green grass, new green leaves and thunderstorms. This week’s topic will deal with my opinion on thunderstorms and how to make a plan on dealing with lightning.
Over the years, I’ve dealt with many thunderstorms and well over a thousand of computers during these storms. It’s always interesting to observe individual behavior of people with their computers during a storm. Some are completely complacent while others try to unplug every computer from any electrical source. My experience suggests an approach combining a little forethought and planning will ease the tension of what to do during a storm both with your home computers and your business computer.
The most common danger to your computer during a storm is not your electrical outlet, but your connection to the Internet. If you are using dial-up, DSL or a cable modem, you might want to consider disconnecting them from your computer first. Almost all of the computers I’ve seen damaged during a storm have received their damage via the communication line and not over the electrical system. The electrical system of most places has a sufficient ground to protect from everything except a direct lightning strike.
So here’s my tip if thunderstorms make you nervous. Put a note beside your computer to remind you to unplug the communication line of your computer during a storm. Go ahead and unplug the electricity as well if it makes you feel better. Don’t wait until a storm comes up to try and figure out how to disconnect your Internet. I’ve heard from a lot of people who knew to unplug their modem and got anxious and forgot and lost their computer. Just look at your computer ahead of time and make a plan. Find your Internet connection and try disconnecting it and putting it back a couple of times so you are comfortable with it. You should also put a surge protector on your home computer that protects both the electricity and the Internet connection in case a storm comes up and you are not there.
Until next time,
mike@abilenecomputing.com
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