Thoughts, tips, suggestions on what UPS to use?

[Martin Heffels]

MY laptop died this morning and shows nothing on the screen.
It starts OK, with the MSwin logo on the black screen and the
"progress" bar, but as soon as it flips into the native resolution,
the screen goes dead. This may be the first time I have booted
it since one of those automatic MS "patches" or "upgrades" or
whatever.

Could be. I had this happening after updating my videodrivers one day
of my Nvidia-card (on my desktop, but that doesn't matter). Removed
them, reinstalled, and the thing worked again.
I would disconnect from the internet, do a System Restore, reboot, set
the update to just warn you, and connect to the internet and update
what _you_ want.

cheers

-martin-

 

[Martin Heffels]

um.. guys... The message was in the subject..

Didn't mean to throw you all for a loop.

You ar vague in your details. We need to know more. What operating
system, software etc etc.

-m-

;-)

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

D'oh.. a newbie!

After ten years? I suppose you've bee on USENET since the early
'20s?

Without a sense of humor even.. !

We already know that you have no humor, but hopefully, you have
enough sense to provide enough information to help you, before everyone
just kill files you.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Noozer]

NEVER get HARDWARE updates from Microsoft. They'll bugger your installation
more often than not. IF you want to update a driver, visit the manufacturers
website and download it directly.

What the above sounds like is just a settings issue. Use F8 to get to the
Windows boot menu and choose VGA mode. It should start and then you can set
the display to the proper resolution and refresh rate.

 

[Richard Crowley]

"Martin Heffels" wrote ...

Could be. I had this happening after updating my videodrivers one day
of my Nvidia-card (on my desktop, but that doesn't matter). Removed
them, reinstalled, and the thing worked again.
I would disconnect from the internet, do a System Restore, reboot, set
the update to just warn you, and connect to the internet and update
what _you_ want.

I had always reviewed the patches before agreeing to install
them, but this time I forgot they were pending and when I
shut it down for the night I wasn't thinking clearly when I
selected the option to "install pending patches and shutdown"
I'll never do that again. :-(

 

[Richard Crowley]

in...

NEVER get HARDWARE updates from Microsoft. They'll bugger your
installation more often than not. IF you want to update a driver, visit
the manufacturers website and download it directly.

What the above sounds like is just a settings issue. Use F8 to get to the
Windows boot menu and choose VGA mode. It should start and then you can
set the display to the proper resolution and refresh rate.

I used F8 to get to the "last known good configuration", but
then it went bonkers again and now it won't boot at all.
I was thinking about getting a new laptop anyway, anybody
have any outstanding favorites?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

um.. guys... The message was in the subject..

Didn't mean to throw you all for a loop.

Sorry, nappy, but you didn't throw *me* for a loop.

loop.

loop.

loop.

OK, you know what I mean.

Meanwhile, nappy, note that not everyone notes the change of subject
inside a thread...Some people have even posted that they *never* pay
attention to the subject lines, in other threads I have seen
complaining about empty messages.

It would've been helpful to some if you had put some text inside your
post, although if you had, some others of us would have thereby been
denied an opportunity to pull your chain a little

BTW, when I was discussing aspects of this thread with my girlfriend, I
even mentioned that she wouldn't need a UPS, since she uses a laptop -
and this was after reading only your subject line. I'm so proud of
myself. I had already told her as much in the past, of course (and I
still don't have a UPS myself. Hmmm.)

 

[Les Cargill]

Maybe his laptop died and that's all that shows on the screen ...?


geoff

MAYNARD:
'...The Castle of aaaaaagggh'.
BEDEVERE:
What is that?
MAYNARD:
He must have died while carving it.

 

[Richard (the original)]

I've got two computers - a PIV and a PIII that share a monitor. I use
them primarily for doing audio/video.

I thought I'd look into a UPS. What I'm looking for is mainly
something to guard against momentary power outs that might happen in
the middle of tweaking a file or the like. When I hear the lightning
coming near, I shut down and unplug everything. But around here, it
seems like the power can flick off at any time.

How much UPS would I need to protect and keep both computers going in
the event of a short brown out or power loss or keep them running at
least long enough to shut things down if it looks like the power is
going to be off for a while.

I've seen where there are issues with the type of power that comes out
of some UPS units. Are any of the units at Best Buy/Circuit City -
such as the APC brand - any good? What are important features to look
for? These various units have charts indicating how long they should
power a computer, but I don't know how realistic they are.

On the other end, how much unit would I need to keep a computer going
for say an hour if I were doing some rendering of a DVD and didn't
want to start over. I usually turn off the monitor when rendering
video, it's my understanding the monitor is a big power hog.


Thanks for all input.

I've had a SmartUPS 700 in service since 1999 and replaced the batteries
(2 12v Gel) with generics from Zbattery for about $20 each, no problem.
Different UPS's will produce different types of waveforms and this
can cause problems with some power supplies.

Here's some graphic pictures to illustrate what I mean by waveforms (I
was happy to see the Smartups puts out a true sinewave vs the chunky
stepped wave of the cheaper models)...

http://www.jkovach.net/projects/powerquality/

 

[Spence]

Here's some graphic pictures to illustrate what I mean by waveforms (I
was happy to see the Smartups puts out a true sinewave vs the chunky
stepped wave of the cheaper models)...

http://www.jkovach.net/projects/powerquality/

Thanks for sharing that. Makes me feel a whole lot better about
my Smart-UPS 1500

 

[clifto]

I've had a SmartUPS 700 in service since 1999 and replaced the batteries
(2 12v Gel) with generics from Zbattery for about $20 each, no problem.
Different UPS's will produce different types of waveforms and this
can cause problems with some power supplies.

Here's some graphic pictures to illustrate what I mean by waveforms (I
was happy to see the Smartups puts out a true sinewave vs the chunky
stepped wave of the cheaper models)...

I was really unhappy with my SmartUPS 700 the morning it woke me up to
the sound of the gas alarm in my house. Thoroughly overcharged and fried
the six-month-old batteries. Trashed the gas alarm, too.

I replaced the 700 with a TrippLite that probably has a modified square
wave output, but no hydrogen or sulfuric acid fumes.