Now you might be asking why I’m using this column to tell you about the need to own one or more Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS). When I had a recent power failure during a nasty storm that hit all of San Antonio the first week of September, one of my UPS units failed to kick in and my equipment shut down. I took it over to a battery store on Bandera Road who tested the internal battery and recommended replacement with a new internal battery for much less cost than buying a new comparable unit.

Windows, and even the new Max OSX operating system, does not like to be turned off without following the normal shut down process. I’ve made a lot of service calls over the past few years as a direct result of a Windows system losing power one too many times. One particular system was a ranch out in west Texas with unreliable power. However, the primary threat to his computer was not the power company, it was his 3 year old son who had just figured out how to jerk power cords out of the wall. Dad had to learn how to buy those restrainers to protect little fingers from high voltage and in the process, protect his computer from frequent power outages.  He also went to town and bought a large UPS to protect his system during outages caused by storms or other reasons. My trip out there to reinstall his Windows operating system plus applications, cost him much more than the cost of the UPS in the end.

When deciding what size UPS to purchase, bear in mind this simple guideline. The smaller units will keep a system up for a few minutes and the larger ones obviously keep a system up for longer times. The larger the rating, the longer it is supposed to support your equipment. The actual length of time your system can be supported by a UPS depends upon how much power your system will draw from it when running on the battery. Yes, these little puppies have sealed gel cell batteries inside them, with circuits to convert the AC power to DC power and back again to AC power for your computer.

The larger units (read that more $$) will typically have more AC plugs on the back side and will include free software to interface with your PC computer via a serial cable to allow your computer to be shut down normally should the software detect that the battery in the UPS is nearing the end. Larger units normally have voltage regulation to protect against power fluctuations (up or down). Some have built in surge protectors, but I still use an external surge protector in front of my UPS, and I use other surge protector strips if I have too many plugs  These batteries have an expected life span of 2-3 years depending upon size, use and other factors. They should be tested periodically by unplugging from the wall and see if they keep operating (using non-critical items plugged into the unit).

I’m not going to get into all of the math involved with calculating how many amps your computer system is using. There are other websites for the various UPS manufacturers (APC, Triplite, etc.) with that helpful information available. Instead, I’m going to recommend that you simply buy the largest UPS that you can afford at the time, and to shop around to compare pricing before purchasing one or more. I will tell you that laser printers will typically drain or overload a UPS even under normal AC use, much less while under emergency operations. Large monitors will also draw higher amps unless you have the newer LCD screens.

I personally run several different sizes, each with their own assignment of what to protect. My smallest UPS protects my telephone, answering machine and other low power items.  I use a slightly larger sized UPS to protect my Amateur Radio (Ham) equipment during normal operations so that I don’t risk losing power during storms while running emergency nets via Ham Radio. My largest UPS is the 1100va Back-UPS Pro from American Power Conversion (APC) which I bought at the bargain basement price of around $120 at the local Sam’s Club. This unit protects my cable modem, routers, hubs, monitor and primary computer. I don’t back up unessential equipment like my speakers, scanner or printers.

I hope that this column provided enough information to convince you to go out and buy a UPS to protect your computer. Think of this as a bit of preventative insurance to keep from having to call the computer technician to visit your house after every major storm. There is much more I could go into about this topic, but space limitations prevent me from filling the magazine with all the technical details and gory examples from true stories to convince you to install a UPS tomorrow.

And don’t forget…if you haven’t updated your anti-virus program since last month’s article you are at risk of catching some of the newer viruses that have been released this month.