Windows

Power Outage While Online

Posted by on Aug 21, 2007 | 2 Comments

Gnomie Doug Manne of Mt. Vernon, Illinois writes:

Chris, heard the question about a power outage while online. Unfortunately, where I live we still have phone lines above ground — and for the last few years, a lot of windstorms both in the summer and in the winter. This means downed power lines.

Yesterday, something unusual happened. Across the road from our home are the blade circuit breakers for the power line; for the first time all three circuit breakers were blown.

I do not have a power backup, but only a power surge protector. It did not blow, but what happened is that, the second time I tried to power up, the power went down again. The next time I tried to bring the system back up, the bars that go across the screen in about the position of the 4th or 5th bar would stay on like a ghost and the system would seem to boot fine. Then the blue screen error code and then a reboot… over and over again.

Not sure why, but I tried safe mode, then ran cleanup utilities and reg cleanup utilities. Then I went to my computer’s C drive preferences, Tools, and I clicked both boxes to check for errors. Then powered I down for a few hours. When I rebooted, everything worked.

My suggestion, then, would be: If anyone has a system go down from a power outage, run chkdsk and power down for an hour. Then power up.

At that point, I’d agree that it’d be worth a try!

[tags]surge protector, power outage, power backup[/tags]

  • Willi Bornemann

    Hi Chris, supplementary to your article. I met something similar a few days ago. After a power outage (not a simple one, but one that did happen three times in a few seconds [=flickering} and then darkness for half an hour) my computer did not start. Only a bios-beep every 4 or 5 seconds. Switch off the computer, switch it on again, same result. What to do now – a little panic.
    Then I had the lucky idea to pull the connector out of the outlet. After a second or two i connected it again and – surprise! – system did boot as usual and everything worked fine. I think, this tip may help someone else also to master such a situation. (to run chkdsk after that will be no fault, of course)

    Greetings from Austria, Willi

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/windows/category/bills-web/ Bill Webb

    Better yet, blow sixty bucks at TigerDirect and get a UPS, because those surge suppressors degrade over time, and won’t stop — say — a lightning strike surge from those exposed lines when they’re brand-new. The blades are waaaay too slow, and a hundred thousand volts will fry the suppressor.