Computer Died

Mike Amos

I have a batch of Crucial ssd, I'll let you know how they stack up.

Gus R

@Mike-Amos Mike, is your house grounded? Are your outlets grounded?

Mike Amos

All outlets are linked and grounded. It's a standard required for ALL rental properties now, the last place I stayed did not have this feature but the gas safety engineer simply rubber stamped the safety forms. I got that place checked by my energy supplier and basically it bankrupted the owner.
A similar situation back in 97, Sara and I stayed in an attic bedsit. The idiots owned six flats in two adlacent buildings and denied everyone access to the gardens. When we left, the fire service and council fit for rental scheme handed them work orders that were in excess of £30k per flat. Our skylight was not secured to the rafters and opening the skylight basically took it out of the roof.
When we left, the owners wife came out and flipped the bird, I said to her it was rude and should I report it to the police. Grovelling apology.
Some people really are sad.

Gus R

@Mike-Amos Place I'm at isn't grounded even though it's a three prong plug. I'm certain. It's not a rental property anymore it's a 100+ year old house.

I think my only option for protection is either a UPS or I found this one outfit that builds non-grounded surge protectors. Called "ZeroSurge." Only problem is their 2-plug version is $263. I called them up today to double check and the man said, yes. No need to be grounded.

2 Outlet Surge Protectors - Zero Surge

2 Outlet Surge Protectors Customer Reviews ZeroSurge 2 Outlet, 15 Amp Surge Protector - 2R15W - #002-00703 2 always on outlets with 15 amp capacity 6 foot, 14 gauge power cord Flat, space saving plug Heavy duty, magnetic shielded steel enclosure Non-sacrificial

Zero Surge (zerosurge.com)

You or Rich think a UPS alone would work?

Mike Amos

I'm not an electrician so cannot say and the last time I came into contact with UPS it was work related. ALL hospital departments have to have a UPS local to them and all the homes I have lived in as an adult were grounded to some degree or other. Any elctricians in the forum membership?

Mike Amos

Pardon me, dyslexic tryping fingers. Electricians...... Doh.

Gus R

@Mike-Amos said in Computer Died:

I'm not an electrician so cannot say and the last time I came into contact with UPS it was work related. ALL hospital departments have to have a UPS local to them and all the homes I have lived in as an adult were grounded to some degree or other. Any elctricians in the forum membership?

I'll consult the tech that's dropping off my computer on Thursday.

L i am

Found this if it is of use

It depends on your situation. There are those who will disagree, but I believe that in most of what we call the "first world", the power grid is reliable enough that a UPS doesn't provide much additional protection beyond what a good surge protector will give you. A rare power failure isn't going to damage most things.

Where a UPS really shines is in situations where you have a lots of small brownouts — the power doesn't cut out entirely, but it wasn't all there for a brief moment either, and this happens frequently (numerous times per day). This can happen in places where the power is less reliable. For example, you may be in an older building, a very rural location, or in a country where the power situation is less stable. In that case, a UPS will definitely pay for itself quickly, and you want to get one that not only provides stand-by protection but also what they call "sine wave output".

And, of course, you might also be going for a high-availability solution. In that case, a large UPS (and maybe even generators) is a must.

Gus R

@L-i-am

Thanks. You know, I think I caused it by unplugging the backyard spotlight on the same dual outlet. I might have sparked it. I'm going to leave the single extension chord connected to one outlet and shift the spotlight to another outlet across the way. I think I did that last time and I ended up having to reset the BIOS. This is an old house. I tried getting someone to check the ground yesterday but as usual he never showed up. He's always late.

Gus R

This sucks.

Rich O Brien

@Gus-R said in Computer Died:

This sucks.

Yes, mirrored backups would save you a ton of time and frustration.

I use this to create images and sync weekly.

Windows 11 doesn't do a good job letting a user know its available as it pushes you to use their OneDrive option. But if you launch classic Control Panel you'll find it under System & Security.

Won't help you with your current situation but for future its probably worth it.

Gus R

@Rich-O-Brien Is that an external drive?

Rich O Brien

yeah, its a Samsung Portable SSD T7