There's a new sign at the California border: "Warning: Area subject to earthquakes, riots, salad bars, floods, mud slides, and rolling power blackouts." At least there's finally a disaster I'm prepared for: My PC is protected from nearly every type of power problem, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg--just a digit or two.

Of course, you don't have to live in California to be worried about keeping the power flowing to your PC. Power glitches can happen anytime, anywhere, and they're more common than you may think. Only about 20 percent of power surges come from lightning or power-company problems. Most surges are caused by copiers, printers, air conditioners, and other office machines (and household appliances).

Okay, how's your protection? A show of hands: Who's using a surge suppressor to plug several devices into a single wall outlet? (If you're using a simple power strip, you have my permission to lie about it.) You may feel protected, but if the suppressor cost you less than $20, it probably won't shield you from power glitches.

Sacrifice a UPS, Save a PC

Before you kvetch about the cost, remember Bass's power-protection rule: It's better--and cheaper--to let your UPS or surge suppressor commit suicide than to watch your PC sizzle into oblivion.

So for your shopping pleasure, here are some specs: If your suppressor has a response time of 5 nanoseconds or more (this rating should be posted on the box or at the vendor's Web site), it's too leisurely to be effective. Replace it with one that responds in no more than 1 nanosecond (a billionth of a second, which is about the time it takes my editor to call when I'm late with a column). Next, the amount of electricity that gets through during a surge (the suppressor's "let through" factor) should be 330 volts or less. Look for a rating of at least 300 joules (higher numbers are better). And don't scrimp--these are the minimum specs to look for.

The suppressor I use with my peripherals, APC's Network SurgeArrest Net8, has eight outlets, three of which are for big AC adapters. It sells for about $45 street.

Surge suppressors are your first line of defense, but they protect you only from power surges (hence the name), not from drops in power. To guard against power sags, you need an uninterruptible power supply. A UPS protects you from surges and--with its built-in battery--from dips in power. Depending on the UPS and your equipment, the battery may run your PC for as much as 20 minutes, which is plenty of time for a graceful shutdown.

To save space in my tiny home office, I opted for APC's small Back-UPS CS500 (about $129 street). It's roughly the size of a clock radio, and it ran my test PC (a Pentium-based system with a 15-inch monitor, a hard drive, a DSL modem, and a CD-ROM) for about 16 minutes.

Here are a few power-protection tips:

Keep it fresh. Metal-oxide varistors (MOVs)--the suppressor's components that save your PC's bacon--wear out. Replace the suppressor every few years.

It's not a generator. Looking for a good way to damage your UPS? Use it to do something it wasn't made for, such as running a printer, vacuum cleaner, or other power-cycling appliance. (Don't ask. Just trust me on this, okay?)

Every wire counts. Protect everything that connects to the PC, including phone lines, DSL and cable modems, and network wiring. Most surge suppressors and UPSs protect at least one phone or network line (RJ11 or RJ45). If yours doesn't, grab an extra phone-line protector.

Blackout? Start unplugging. Even if you have UPS or surge protection, when a blackout occurs, unplug all your critical components and appliances--PC, monitor, refrigerator, home electronics. When the power comes back on, your equipment won't be harmed. Leave one lamp plugged in and turned on so you'll know when the power returns.

Dedicate your power. I reduced my surge risk further by spending $100 for an electrician to install a dedicated power line in my home office, isolating my PC from other appliances in my home.

Gotta go. I just heard that a tsunami is about to give Malibu a wash and rinse, so I'd better get my lamp turned on.

SUMMARY

Network SurgeArrest Net8, Back-UPS CS500 SurgeArrest $45 street, Back-UPS $129 street APC 800/800-4272 www.apc.com

• See more like this:
• blackout,
• outage,
• ups,
• network,
• surgearrest,
• net8,
• back-ups,
• cs500