Prevent Computercide

Your computer is often the lifeblood of your recording world, not to mention your personal life - and an ounce of protection is worth a ton of cure

by Craig Anderton

Somewhere in the world, there are thunder and lightning storms happening right now. Is your computer ready to deal with the damage that can occur from a nearby strike?

The most important element in computer protection is an uninterruptible power supply, which isolates your computer from the AC line, keeps your computer on long enough so you can give it an orderly shutdown in the case of a power outage, and maintains a constant supply voltage. Don’t cheap out and get a “surge suppressor” barrier strip; it’s (arguably) better than nothing, but the $100 or so for a true uninterruptible power supply will pay for itself many, many times over if it saves your computer—and your valuable data—from a meltdown.

However, it’s also important to note that surges can come through cable, DSL, and phone lines that terminate at your computer. So, choose an uninterruptible power supply that also lets you run phone or cable lines through it, and incorporates a surge suppressor for those lines.

Finally, when I lived in Florida and would get bombarded regularly with lightning, I made a special IEC line cord where I cut off the AC prongs, but left the ground line connected. If I was going to be away from the computer for a long time, I’d swap out the standard AC cord with the custom one so that nothing from the AC line could get into the computer, but the chassis was still grounded. I’m not sure if this helped, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t hurt.

Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.