Computer turns on after a power outage (when power returns)

[Guest]

I have an APC surge arrest surge protector. It has 11 outlets. I’m not using
two of those.

It recently occurred to me that it might not be working properly because
after a power outage in my home, when the power comes back on, so does my
computer.

Shouldn’t my surge protector prevent my computer from turning on by itself
when my electricity comes back on?
There’s a green light lit up on it indicating ‘protection is working’.

 

[Tom Willett]

http://www.apc.com/support/index.cfm?isocountrycode=us&segmentid=

|I have an APC surge arrest surge protector. It has 11 outlets. I'm not
using
| two of those.
|
| It recently occurred to me that it might not be working properly because
| after a power outage in my home, when the power comes back on, so does my
| computer.
|
| Shouldn't my surge protector prevent my computer from turning on by itself
| when my electricity comes back on?
| There's a green light lit up on it indicating 'protection is working'.
|

 

[smlunatick]

http://www.apc.com/support/index.cfm?isocountrycode=us&segmentid=


|I have an APC surge arrest surge protector. It has 11 outlets. I'm not
using
| two of those.
|
| It recently occurred to me that it might not be working properly because
| after a power outage in my home, when the power comes back on, so does my
| computer.
|
| Shouldn't my surge protector prevent my computer from turning on by itself
| when my electricity comes back on?
| There's a green light lit up on it indicating 'protection is working'.
|

blondieblue227

A surge protector is an enhanced power bar with electonics to "filter"
out the power spikes (surge.) If the surge protector is still powered
on and the PC's BIOS is set to "power on after power failure", or
"resume last power state", whenever the power is turned back on, the
PC will start.

You are maybe confusing the surge protector with a uninterruptible
power supply (UPS.) UPSes are a different stul of devices where there
is a battery in the unit and the PC can read this unit power status
"codes." The monitoring of the UPS unit power status "codes" will
tell the PC operating system (ie: XP) to shut down because the UPS has
no power coming into it.

 

[David B.]

The surge protector has no control over your computer, it is likely turning
back on because of a BIOS setting, you need to go into your BIOS setup and
find the setting that controls what the PC does when power is applied to it,
you likely want the option to stay off, it is probably set to last state of
always power on.

 

[Guest]

how do i get into my BIOS settings?

thank you.

The surge protector has no control over your computer, it is likely turning
back on because of a BIOS setting, you need to go into your BIOS setup and
find the setting that controls what the PC does when power is applied to it,
you likely want the option to stay off, it is probably set to last state of
always power on.

--

----
Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
How to Post http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
_________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Guest]

When turn my protector off and on my computer turns on. Something tells me
that’s not right.

I think I found my BIOS Settings.

F2
Scrolled down to Power Management

Here are my current settings.

Suspend Mode S3
AC Power Recovery ON
Low Power Mode Disabled

AC Power Recovery was marked OFF I switched to ON then turned off my
computer. I tried it out to see if it did the same thing. It did. After I
switched AC Power Recovery ON, The computer still came on automatically when
I switched the protector on.

I don’t know. Something tells me my computer should not turn on just by
flipping the surge protector switch.

There’s two lights on the protector to indicate a problem. They aren’t lit
up.

 

[Guest]

'You are maybe confusing the surge protector with a uninterruptible
power supply (UPS.) UPSes are a different stul of devices where there
is a battery in the unit and the PC can read this unit power status
"codes." The monitoring of the UPS unit power status "codes" will
tell the PC operating system (ie: XP) to shut down because the UPS has
no power coming into it.'

the device is called a surge arrrest, so i'm guessing it's not a UPS.

 

[David B.]

That's the setting you need, turn AC Power Recover to off.

 

[Guest]

Last night I switched AC power recovery to ON. Which means when I was having
my problem it was set to OFF. If it was set to OFF why did I have that
problem?

Now it is set on OFF and I placed the computer power cord in an ‘always on’
outlet. No more problem. The computer stays off when I turn the protector on
and off now.

Which brings me to my next question.

Is it safe to have the computer power cord plugged to an ‘always on’ outlet?

 

[Guest]

'outlets controlled by the On/Off switch are not surge protected when the
unit is Off. The always-on outlets are always surge protected.'

Is that true?


_______________________________________

 

[w_tom]

...
Which brings me to my next question.

Is it safe to have the computer power cord plugged to an 'always on' outlet?

Plug the computer into one receptacle of the AC eclectic outlet.
Plug the surge protector into the other outlet. Now you have the
exact same protection as if the computer was plugged into the power
strip.

There is nothing between those power strip outlets and the AC wall
receptacle. The protector circuit inside that power strip could be
removed from the power strip, plugging into the other duplex wall
outlet - and the electrical schematic is unchanged.

Those protector components connect to AC mains as if an AC light
bulb. There is nothing between AC electric and the computer - except
a 15 amp circuit breaker so essential to human safety.

What happens when a surge occurs? It confronts protector circuit
and computer simultaneously. So yes, if you are having doubts about
what it really does, then you are on track to learning some damning
facts. Power strip protector does not filter anything. Power from the
wall receptacle connects directly to computer via a power strip.

What is the difference between the 'always on' receptacle and
others? Others connect directly to AC mains and that 15 amp circuit
breaker via a switch. 'Always on' connects directly to AC mains via
the 15 amp circuit breaker.

 

[David B.]

It is safe. It's a matter of preference, some people turn of the surge
strip, some unplug completely, up to you.

 

[Guest]

thanks w_tom but that was a little long for me. short and simple works for
me. i'm a blonde, sorry.

thanks david. thou i think i'll leave my protector on and plugged to the
wall. something tells me if i turn the protector off when i'm not using it
AND it's still plugged to the wall, my things aren't surge protected.

i clearly need a surge protector FAQs. i searched APC.com and the net last
night. i couldn't find a basic guide. so thanks for your help.

 

[bojimbo26]

Might help
http://www.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector.htm

 

[w_tom]

thanks w_tom but that was a little long for me. short and simple works for
me. i'm a blonde, sorry.

Unplug computer from power strip. Plug computer into same duplex AC
receptacle used by power strip. Nothing is changed. With computer
powered from the other wall outlet, it is electrically connected as if
plugged into the power strip. All protection circuits remain exactly
same. Makes no difference which side of power strip computer
connects. Same protector circuit connects to both sides of power
strip.

APC, et al hope you don't learn that. They need you to believe that
power strip is some kind of 'magic box' filter device. Myths because
the profit margin is so massive. Taking a $3.50 power strip, adding
some $0.10 parts, and sell it for $25. Massive profit margin means a
niave customer is important.

As others noted, nothing in that power strip affects your computer
other than to turn power on and off. Computer connects direct to AC
mains when plugged into a power strip or when plugged into an AC wall
receptacle. There is no 'magic' inside that power strip.

 

[w_tom]

Might help
http://www.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector.htm

That howsuffworks.com explanation is an outright embarrassment;
written to promote myths and confusion to the naive. It was clearly
written by an english major who had no idea how electricity works.
Many of its errors cited in:
http://tinyurl.com/yqyah
http://tinyurl.com/3bn64
http://tinyurl.com/2fy7u

The third citation is a long post that only discusses errors and
misrepresentations on one page. Other pages are also full of
technical errors. howstuffworks.com is embarassing for so many myths
and errors on this subject.

 

[Guest]

w_tom - So all surge protectors are bogus? Funny tons of companies sell them.
They should’ve been brought to justice ages ago for profiting off something
people don’t need.

 

[bud--]

Very good information on surges and surge protection is in a guide
from the National Institute of Standards and Technology
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/practiceguides/surgesfnl.pdf

I agree with w_ that the information at How Stuff Works is quite
dreadful.

Outlets on the surge suppressor should be protected whether the switch
is off or on.

APC, et al hope you don't learn that. They need you to believe that
power strip is some kind of 'magic box' filter device.

Magic because w_ can't figure out how they work.

Note that all interconnected equipment needs to be connected to the
same plug-in suppressor, or interconnecting wires need to go through
the suppressor. External connections, like phone, also need to go
through the suppressor. Connecting all wiring through the suppressor
prevents damaging voltages between power and signal wires . These
multiport suppressors are described in the NIST guide.

 

[Guest]

thank you bud--

Very good information on surges and surge protection is in a guide
from the National Institute of Standards and Technology
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/practiceguides/surgesfnl.pdf

I agree with w_ that the information at How Stuff Works is quite
dreadful.

Outlets on the surge suppressor should be protected whether the switch
is off or on.


Magic because w_ can't figure out how they work.

Note that all interconnected equipment needs to be connected to the
same plug-in suppressor, or interconnecting wires need to go through
the suppressor. External connections, like phone, also need to go
through the suppressor. Connecting all wiring through the suppressor
prevents damaging voltages between power and signal wires . These
multiport suppressors are described in the NIST guide.

 

[w_tom]

Note that all interconnected equipment needs to be connected to the
same plug-in suppressor, or interconnecting wires need to go through
the suppressor. External connections, like phone, also need to go
through the suppressor. Connecting all wiring through the suppressor
prevents damaging voltages between power and signal wires . These
multiport suppressors are described in the NIST guide.

Bud promotes for plug-in protector manufacturers. Therefore he will
forget to provide all facts. From his own citation on page 6 (Adobe
page 8 of 24):
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/practiceguides/surgesfnl.pdf

You cannot really suppress a surge altogether, nor
"arrest" it. What these protective devices do is
neither suppress nor arrest a surge, but simply
divert it to ground, where it can do no harm. So
a name that makes sense would be "surge diverter"
but it was not picked.

What does Bud's protector divert to? His protector has no dedicated
earthing connection. So what can it divert to? He forgets that hoping
you will have a blond moment. He hope you will assume a protector is
protection - using word association as a replacement for science.
Bud's NIST citation says a protector is nothing more than a diverter
to protection. Protection is earth ground. Effective protectors
(from responsible manufacturers) have a dedicated connection for that
'less than 10 foot' wire to earth. Bud's plug-in protectors have no
such earthing wire.

Bud's plug-in protectors don't even claim to provide protection.
View that yourself. Get its numerical spec sheet. It does not list
each type of surge and protection from that surge for very good
reason. It does not claim to protect from destructive surges because
it does not have that earthing connection. Bud forgets all this to
promote a device that installs some $0.10 parts into a $3.50 box
selling for $25 or $100. Where is the 'magic' in that box? Its has a
magical profit margin; does not even claim to provide protection.

View that profit margin. Why would he say anything but half facts?
Right there on page 8 is what the protector does. How does a plug-in
protector earth when it does not have that dedicated earthing wire? It
does not. Bud hopes you will not notice.

All this is detailed in that longer post. Bud's myth are promoted
by telling half truths. Even right there in his own document: Page
6 (Adobe page 8) says a protector works by diverting the surge to
earth ground. Where is the dedicated earthing wire that is found on
effective protectors? It does not exist on plug-in protector with a
massive profit margin. Bud's ineffective protectors have no earthing
wire - are not from those manufacturers with highly regarded
reputations.

Notice how many times additonal facts were 'forgotten' by Bud;
including quotes from his own citation.