Three Ways to Avoid Losing Computer Data During a Power Surge

There is no worse feeling than waking up in the morning, starting up the computer as usual, and finding that your computer doesn't boot up. This happened to me once and left me panicked, tearing the apartment apart for a phone book that I'd long thrown away after having divorced it for my online Yellow Pages. After some analysis, I discovered that a power surge had wiped my hard drive clean, resulting in losing data I'd accumulated for five years. Had I known better, I could have avoided this devastating loss by taking some very important preventative steps. So to prevent you from going through the same thing, I've provided three tips to ensure that you will not suffer in the event that you experience a power surge.

Buy a Surge Protector

The smartest thing you can do to protect yourself against a power surge is to buy a surge protector and plug all of your crucial electronic devices into it - especially those containing data. This is because the job of a surge protector system is to protect from "surges" or increases in voltage in office or household wiring. When the voltage too high, it can cause harm to devices the wiring it is attached to. But the surge protector works to redirect any extra electrical energy into its grounding wire, not allowing it to affect your devices.

Since purchasing a quality surge protector can be a daunting task, you will want to make sure to do your homework before going out and spending your money. One thing to look at is price, which can be a good indicator of quality (a $10 surge protector may not be your best bet). Also, make sure that it has a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) rating, which guarantees that the surge protector is, at the very least, safe and not putting your household in jeopardy of overheating and fire. Another good indicator of quality is if it is listed as a "transient voltage surge suppressor," meaning it meets UL's minimum performance standard for surge suppressors. Finally, a protector having an indicator light (the light that lets you know when the protector is functioning properly) is a great way to rate its quality.

But while these are all good indicators, no surge protector is 100% foolproof, so never rely completely on one to protect your computer from data loss.

Have an Operating System Reinstallation Disk Handy

In the event that you have not yet purchased a surge protector, I will advise, without a doubt, that you get your hands on your operating system's reinstallation CD-ROM, which is used to reinstall your entire operating system (i.e. Window Vista, XP, 2000, 98, etc.) onto your computer. I always make sure to have my disk handy for an unfortunate occurrence such as a power surge. This is because, though a power surge may have wiped my operating system off of my hard drive, I may not have lost all of my data, simply needing to reinstall a repair version of my operating system, which gets me back up and running without the risk of losing information.

I was lucky in that my computer came with a reinstallation disk. But I am learning from my fellow consumers that including the disk is being practiced less and less by system providers. As unreasonable as this sounds, it is true, and leaving a lot of unsuspecting computer owners in the tough position of having to purchase a new $150 disk when technically they already paid for it in the cost of the computer. To avoid this issue, definitely inquire with your system provider to verify that you will receive the reinstallation disks for as many programs as possible that were installed on your computer. But if you can't receive them all, definitely insist on your operating system disk - or simply don't purchase the computer.

Buy an External Hard Drive

An external hard drive is the same as an internal hard drive with the exception of it attaching to your computer through a USB port. An external hard drive is an excellent means of backing up the data on your computer and is not terribly expensive. I bought a 40 gig hard drive two years ago for about $50. So I'm sure you can find one for an even more reasonable price today. But, to be honest, almost any price is worth avoiding the devastation of an astronomical data loss, so I highly suggest dishing out the cash for this data-saver.

If you do these three things, you will be much more prepared to face a power surge, or any other unfortunate occurrence that stands to compromise your computer's data. So don't wait until it's too late assuming it can't happen to you. Get out there and get prepared. It'll be one of the best decisions you can make for yourself and your computer.