SUMMER SAFETY FOR YOUR COMPUTER
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by Paula Eisenberg
You're surfing the Net one evening when you hear the
rumble of distant thunder. A summer storm is building,
getting closer and closer. What should you do?
Lightning is dangerous even if you're inside your house.
 A
nearby lightning strike can follow wiring right through
electrical outlets and even the phone line, so it's
best not to be holding electrical appliances or a corded
phone during a storm. But what about your computer?
Let's assume you've connected your computer to a good
surge protector. Is that enough? No, because a lightning
strike can overwhelm even the most expensive surge protector,
frying your computer's innards. Even shutting your system
down is not enough. The safest thing to do is to unplug
your computer from the wall socket and move the plug
some distance away from the wall.
What about your modem? Well, it's vulnerable to lightning
damage too. Larchmont residents Rosita and Mark Fichtel
found out the hard way, during a particularly severe
thunderstorm. "Both our computers were plugged
into surge protectors," Ms. Fichtel said. "Mark's
was turned on, but mine was shut down. We never actually
lost electricity, but there must have been quite a power
surge. Mark's system (the one that was on) had its modem
burned out. Mine (the one that was off) only had the
modem portion of the surge protector burned out."
The moral of this story: Even if you're using a surge
protector, unplug the phone line (or network cable)
from your computer until the storm passes.
Any household electronic equipment can be damaged by
electrical surges, so it's best to unplug televisions
and stereo systems, too.
Lightning tip:
To estimate your distance in miles from a thunderstorm,
count the number of seconds between a flash of lightning
and the next clap of thunder. Divide this number by
five.
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