Dramatic electrical storms are common around Sydney over the summer. Yesterday’s weather disturbance may have been brief – three minutes of rain and a single deafening thunderclap immediately overhead – but we are still counting the toll on our computers and other appliances:
- one TV antenna (installed late October)
- one ADSL router and everything connected to it by ethernet cable being
- one brand new digital personal video recorder and set top box
- one zapped network card in David’s PC (although his PC seems otherwise operational)AND
- my main PC in my studio
Zapped, dead, gone. So much for surge protection.
Fortunately it appears that most* of my data is more or less backed up or otherwise recoverable and we’ve been able to restore a temporary internet connection using a supplementary lap top and modem. However, it’s going to take some time and expense to get things buzzing back to normal again and I have to confront decisions such as do I rebuild the PC or replace it with a laptop (Vista**, groan). I’ll be checking back in from time to time but have enabled comment moderation.
* If you have an external back up drive, it pays to check that it is actually recording ALL the files that you want it to and not just “My Documents”. I thought I had set mine to back up miscellaneous other applications that were sitting on my C drive (eg Electric Quilt and Quicken). I have some but apparently not all…
** Yes I know Macs are great but we are a networked household and will probably stick with PCs. Then again…
Gerrie says
Oh my goodness. We had this happen in North Carolina where lightning comes often in the summer.
Candy says
What a pain! So sorry to hear about this. Vista – don’t believe all the bad press…we upgraded my machine to Vista last november and it A) was no trouble and B) is much easier to use. I really like some of its new features, and waiting as long as we did, all the kinks were worked out! Good luck!
Nic says
Sorry about your damaged equipment. A surge protector will not stop a direct strike, which is what it sounds like. Your home insurance should cover replacement/repair though?
Judy says
Brenda,
What a bummer, I’ve had it happen but only to one computer, hope its all fixed soon.
sharonb says
What a pain – I am sorry to hear this
I am on a Mac but still unplug it during a thunder storm (I am in Canberra and we have some great summer storms)and I have a surge protector , that said everyone tells me I am protect – I just don’t believe them after a neighbour having the same thing happen.
As a side note – you can network Macs – we have two computers and three laptops all on wireless.