Can power interruption affect my pc?

Philippines
March 20, 2012 11:00am CST
We have some power cut going on in my place that would happen everyday but it won't be too long. Now, I'm going to ask you if the power went out and my pc is still on and it's not properly shut down, will it affect the performance of my pc? Would love to hear from you. Thank you!
9 responses
@hanuma34 (819)
• India
20 Mar 12
By and large we are accustomed to use our PCs with a gadget called UPS. When power supply goes off the UPS takes over the power supply giving some time to properly shut down the PC. When there is no UPS or if the UPS is not able to give standby power even for a short time the PC shuts down abruptly. Depending on how many programs are open at the time of interruption there could be some hazard for the hard disk. This can happen when the RAM is inadequate for so many programs and some partitions in the hard disk are used up, so called Virtual Memory, which may be affected. If it happens too often the hard disk sectors get damaged. As long as the RAM is adequate we can consider the hard-disk is safe.
• Philippines
20 Mar 12
Really? Thank you for that hanuma! I would take precaution measures. I'll make sure my RAM won't get used up just in case. I appreciate your suggestion.:)
• Davao, Philippines
21 Mar 12
I agree with hanuma34. UPS is the best thing you can purchase for your computer at this time. At least it will give you enough time to properly shut down your PC.
• Philippines
22 Mar 12
Thank you, all! As for the moment, power interruption has just stopped but this is a good thing you shared to me. I would really want to protect my hard disk. It helped resolve my concern, I appreciate you all!:)
22 Mar 12
mostly causes hardware failure in my case most of the time that i experience. the memory(ram) is commonly damage. secondly is the hard disk and may also cause to corrupt the files and worst is damage to the operating system
• Philippines
22 Mar 12
Hi, spicyhot! If ever that happens and my hard disks got corrupted, is it still possible to retrieve the files? Before, I went to the technician and got it fixed but the files weren't retrieved. That was really disappointing..Anyway, thank you for responding!
@agmamayo (804)
• Philippines
21 Mar 12
Definitely it will affect your computers performance in the long run especially if the power outage is frequent in your area. You may not notice the changes immediately though in some cases if your PC is an old version with an old Windows OS, a blue screen or black screen will pop up before booting telling you that windows was not shut down properly. However, it is best to avoid corrupted data and protect your hard drive by using a backup UPS. It helps you to shut down your computer properly even though a power outage or blackout occurs. These piece of equipment may at times be expensive specially the branded ones but there are generic UPS out there that are not too expensive to get, and performs like those branded type.
• Philippines
22 Mar 12
I've experience something like that before, a blue scree would show upon turning my pc on and there's this beeping. That is why, that could be the reason, before there are times that I just turned off my pc without properly shutting it down because I'm in hurry and I needed to turn it off. I hate to lose my data again so I'm surely going to buy this one. Thank you, agmamayo!!
• Indonesia
22 Mar 12
Well first of all i think you should UPS, it can make a pc still running when the power is cut off. After that you can turn off the pc normally. If the power cut off happened frequently, it could ruin your hardware in the long run. And it will make your pc run more poorly. So i think UPS is the best solution for you.
• Philippines
22 Mar 12
Thank you, lordcaocao!How I wish I learned that long time. That must be the reason why my hard disk crashed a lot. I was thinking it would be just okay to turn it off right away without proper shut down first because when I start it on again nothing happens but later on problems in my hard disk surfaced. But I won't take it for granted now. Thanks again!
@Zer0Stats (1147)
• India
21 Mar 12
Yes they can do mess up your computer.Much more likely is data damage.Your best option is a UPS device,more commonly known as battery back up.A reasonably priced one will give you 10 minutes or so of battery life,more than enough to time to save your work and shutdown till the power resumes.
• Philippines
22 Mar 12
I really don't want that to happen.:( Thank you for your suggestion, I will buy one soon, so far nothing's wrong with my pc, but it's better to be safe so definitely purchase UPS device. Thank you!:)
@pawan1 (91)
• India
22 Mar 12
hey frnd... . . . well,it may be affect ur pc performance sometimes it could crash ur system i think u have to use ups(uninterupted power supply)so u can save ur files nd shut down ur system properly if power supplt went off...::)))
• Philippines
22 Mar 12
Yes, thank you pawan. Now it is very clear to me that could cause bad things things to happen in my pc. I would buy UPS, I can't allow again my hard disk to crash. Have a nice day!
@SinfulRose (3527)
• Davao, Philippines
20 Mar 12
Oh, it will. I would really wish you can properly turn off your PC first before that power cut because it's your memory (I mean the hard drive; Not your memory as in mind memory) that will really suffer. If the improper shut down always happens, don't be surprised to see that soon you can no longer use the majority of your hard drive and see corrupted files around. It won't be the fault of a virus this time but because of that power cut you frequently have around.
• Philippines
20 Mar 12
That's what I am worried about. I really don't want this thing to happen. Of course, I would really properly shut it down first but my problem is when the power goes out so suddenly and I was not prepared for it, :(. Thank you for concern, Sinfulrose!
• Philippines
29 Mar 12
It might not cause heavy damage to your hardware. But your software it does. When a sudden interruption in its normal process, it will drop a bit. Therefore, every time it will happen, you will notice your computer will have abnormal process. Why? some of the files in your software particularly in your Operating System is corrupted. Not now, but slowly, once enough damage/ "corrupt files" are likely to accumulate, your system will crush, not maybe the hardware, but your software "you are killing your computer slowly dude.
@bluesea3 (167)
• Indonesia
5 Dec 12
Hi.. shutdown pc improperly, will cause damage especially for your hard disk. It will make bad sector if it happen for several times. How? when the hard disk on, it has some head to read, write, and erase the data on its. If it shutdown suddenly, the head wouldn't back to their place properly. The effect, when it on, the head will crash your hard disk pieces. SO, be careful..