Technical Support Site

With the storm season upon us, it is important to understand how damaging a common thunderstorm can be to your computer equipment.

Lightning striking around your neighborhood or town has the ability to send intense power surges across telephone and power lines. These power surges can travel a great distance and enter your house via the power and telephone lines. Your home's wiring and fuse system should be adequate to protect your home against these surges, but even a small surge can devastate your delicate computer hardware even if you are using a surge suppressor or other protection device.

The average thunderstorm is 6-10 miles wide and travels at around 25 miles per hour. Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles from the leading edge of the storm. You can be in immediate danger even in clear skies.

What to do if a storm is approaching your area:

• When storms are in your area it is important to disconnect from the internet and turn your computer off. To completely protect your computer, it is advised to completely unplug your computers power cables from the wall outlet.
• Also it is advisable to unplug the telephone line from the wall jack as well if you computer connects to the internet via your telephone line. Most users forget this step and their modem is damaged by a lightning strike.
• Once your computer is completely unplugged it should be relatively safe from potential power surges across the power lines and telephone lines in your home.
• After the storm has passed you can then plug your computer's power and telephone line again and use your computer as normal.
   

The information on this page and pages herein should not be construed as any one solution to your problem. This page, its creators and owners in no way take any responsibility for any problems caused to systems by viewing this page or by changes made to systems by the information contained herein or within links from this site. As with any computer problem always consult your manual and attain information from a certified computer expert before making any alterations to your system or software.

Software downloaded via this website or via links on this website is not necessarily supported by the technical support department. Please always read all documentation that accompanies the download (including the ReadMe file).