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Originally Posted by Sdiver
4) "Condition your Power". I'm in the dark on that one (no pun intended  ). I have my PC, Monitor, and Modem plugged into a surge protector. We occasionally get some good lightning storms here, like in Florida, and the lights will, dim then brighten, when there's a nearby strike occasionally. But very rarely.
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Conditioning power in simple terms means making sure you don't get to much or little power. There are products that give a lot of protection and less expensive ones that give a little..
I'm not an electrical engineer,, but at one time I was responsible for several hundred PC that interconnected into a system of inventory control, warehousing, manufacturing, & shipping. When we 1st started using PC we found all sort of thing that "hurt" them..
One of the early problems was static electricity,, from employees clothes, rubber wheels on fork trucks, long hair hippies.. We ended up putting ground straps on each persons wrist,, kinda like chaining them to the bench,, didn't go over well, but stooped the static arch..
One GEEK engineer wanted us to ban nylons & nylon underware... We didn't go there...
Another problem we found was the "HOUSE" ground loop in one part of the complex had a higher potential than the ground loop in another part, this caused humming on the interface cables, This problem is common to home theater systems and cable TV providers.. If you hear about friends using LINE FILTERS on their system??
Older homes are where you find ground potential problems or large apartment/condo complexes. Also anyone that has had a lightning rod system installed on their home,, with multiple ground rods, could also run into ground potential problems.
If you have questions about house grounding you need to contact a good electrician,, not your borther-in-law..
ENOUGH GEEK,, If you are not losing gear annually,, if your not losing data on your hard files,, if your system is running fine,, you probably don't need to much conditioning..
It not so much the PC as the environment that supports the PC...