Tools: Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and surge suppressors

Subject: Tools: Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and surge suppressors
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: CEL <copyediting-l -at- listserv -dot- indiana -dot- edu>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 08:55:40 -0400

Yesterday, with a loud concussion that shook the windows, a
transformer appears to have blown near our house. (I'm not morally
convinced it was a transformer, since power was restored in about an
hour, which seems too fast.) In any event, some kind of voltage surge
passed through the house, judging by the flash of brightness from the
lights before they went dark.

But all our computers survived because they were hooked into APC UPS
units. (Most of the other valuable electronics is only plugged into
garden-variety surge suppressors, since we don't need to keep it
operating until we can shut it down.) Thus, I can now pass on some
advice from personal experience: if you don't have a UPS for your
computer, buy one. They're cheap insurance.

I also discovered an interesting problem that required a solution
that might be of interest to someone. I'm working on a laptop, with
the main screen being an external monitor. When the power died, all
the windows, menus, and other controls were displayed on the external
monitor, which wasn't plugged into the UPS battery backup because
I've prioritized other equipment for battery backup. The laptop
stayed live, but I couldn't see or get at any of those windows and
menus, even when I turned off the external monitor. That was a
problem because I wanted to save several open documents I'd just
recently modified in a handful of open programs.

The solution was obvious once I figured out what was going on: put
the laptop to sleep, unplug the monitor's video cable from the
laptop, and wake the laptop. Voila! Instant menus and windows, and
all was well again. Apparently, some laptops can tell that the video
cable is physically attached, and if you've specified that external
monitor as your primary monitor, they won't automatically transfer
the display to the laptop screen until they're convinced the external
monitor no longer exists.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
Coming soon: _Effective onscreen editing_ (http://www.geoff-hart.com/
home/onscreen-book.htm)

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