Who all does this?

How many of you actually shut your computer down and unplug it when the weather gets really bad?? I do!!! Seems like I have been shutting it down soo much lately because of all the bad rain and storms we have been having here in Ga.
I guess I am just not willing to take the chance that lightening will zapp my puter, and leave me without!! I even unplug the phone line to it too! Can you tell I really value my puter?? LOL
The storms here in the last week or so has left me unplugging my computer soooooo many times!! I guess if I wasn't soo hooked on DG I would simply unplug it until the weather is said to be clear. I have been plugging it back in, in between each storm just so I can check in here!
I even have it plugged into a power surger strip, but I still refuse to take any chances!! Anyone else do this?

Can you tell I screwed up the title of the thread?!! I sure wish we could "edit" the titles too!

This message was edited Saturday, May 4th 8:57 AM

I only do it if I see lightnings and we have very heavy rain..

That's what we have been having here Evert..kinda scarey too!

To be perfectly honest. I only shut mine down. Have never unplugged it from the wall.
Am I stupid or what????

Well CoCo, I actually don't unplug it but on the power strip there is a switch that stops the power from going to the puter, so I guess I just consider it to be unplugged. (bad choice of words I guess LOL) sounds like I should have given this thread a little more thought before clicking send LOL

I usually also unplug my pc.. I don't have the power strip. Anyway I have somekind of 'button' in my pc which completely stops all power transfer to my puter.

Cool Deal Evert! I think they should all have a button like that!

I shut down. I only unplug if the lightening is really bad. and these rains are about to get the best of me, so much for a good day for a plant sale!! it always rains on Saturday! argh

:( tiG, I forgot about your plant sale! Well maybe it will give you a little more time to get your stuff ready and maybe even add a few more plants to the sale. Are you going to reschedule it? If so when do ya think it will be?? Maybe we can ride out there.

I have the signs up in case it clears any. and I might just do it tomorrow! but next Saturday for sure, and it will probably rain :(
you can come anytime!! no wallet necessary

:) tiG!! That is sweet of you.
when you get a few mins, e/mail me some directions to your house, just in case we decide to come out there and I will be sure and let you know when we're coming.

You bet i do,lost a tv once because
of lightning. I turn off power strip
and all. Also lost a freezer once on
account of lightning. Boo!

I do exactly the same thing. Unplug and pull the phone line. I do this bc dsil had his computer unplugged but still got his modem fried from lightening. And yes, I think poor puter has been unplugged more than plugged - LOL

what is rain? we haven't had it in so long i forgot what it is lol. if we should ever get it again i just shut down the pc and leave the power surg strip on.

:) Finnish summers are usually very warm (up to +40 in sun sometimes..!) and not always rainy. Scand Mountains 'filter' the rain so people in Norway and Sweden get soaked sometimes.. :) But I like when it is hot and after that comes the clouds and we get horrible hard rain, and thunderstorms.. ;)

I shut down durning storms,but don't unplup as the puter is plugged in to an APC with battery back-up as is the phone line. I do get tired of hearing it beep at me...called the folks at APC and asked if I would still be protected if I turned the APC off..they said yes. :-)))

I think we have a surge protector (is that the correct term?) and normally I don't unplug from the wall, but with the tornado watches of the last few days, I did just that - everything came out of the wall - even the washer and dryer!! :-)

Louisa, me too! I have set up most of my appliances with surge protectors, so one of those unplugged means up to six appliances are unplugged at the same time. I don't unplug my frig, but the televisions, everything puter and window a/c unit upstairs in the puter room are all unplugged. And I unplug the phone line into the puter. Our power lines often spike, blowing light bulbs frequently if I don't use the 130v ones. And the little hesitations caused by distant lightning can ruin the compressors in the a/c and frig. If we are going into a really serious storm time, I even unplug the frig. And then I go outside to enjoy the light show!

oooo Aimee I follow all of what you do EXCEPT for the last part!! I am soo scared of those kind of storms I am usually huddled in the hallway with my 3 boys while dh paces the floor going from door to door!! And I thought you were pretty smart?!!! LOL j/k

My front porch is the perfect spot to watch storms, covered so the rain has to be really horizontal or blowing ferociously to totally soak it. I can stay near the door and still see some really neat light shows. And I am probably as well protected there as I would be in most areas inside the house. I find storms exhilarating.

I find them scarey!! Just call me a big ole chicken!! LOL

You and me both Molly!!! Interestingly enough, last night I was watching the weather channel and they have were showing just what we need to do to protect against ourselves during bad storms!! There are quite a number of lightning fatalities Aimee and you really shouldn't go outside at all!! Phones - don't use them unless they are cordless. TV and electronic equipment - unplug them!! Keep away from windows and doors etc, etc!!! But there was also mention of actually keeping away from anything electrical. Oh yes, don't wash clothes, or take a shower. Don't run the water!!! My uncle was a farmer in Dorset, England and he was watching the TV one night during a storm. No screens or shutters much in England at all!! The lightning hit the TV screen as he was adjusting it, manually of course, (no remote then) and killed him!! That was the story that my aunt told us!! When we lived in Germany, my mum used to take us down into the cellar during bad weather; she was always terrified of storms. We used to have a great time, all seven of us children during these times and now when I think of it - she was merely protecting her brood but unnfortunately we inherited her fear!! She wouldn't have lasted a minute living here in the States. Our storms back home are nothing compared to the monsters over here!!

I remember storm cellars well! My grandma always ran for the potato cellar, which doubled as a storm cellar, and she called any high wind a cyclone. She was absolutely terrified of weather, and sometimes she made us get under the bed and roll up in a feather mattress. I don't stroll around looking for lightning to strike me, but people have been struck inside houses often enough to convince me that walls aren't going to stop lightning if it strikes in the right place. I don't bathe during any electrical storm, or anything associated with water. But my porch is as well protected as the inside of the house, since I have windows in every room. But I won't tell you about it if it makes you nervous, dear Louisa!

After our ISDN modem got "fried" by a nearby lightning strike last summer (and I had no telephone and no internet for almost three weeks), I now shut down and unplug the modem (it isn't the internal modem, but a separate, external one) whenever there's a lightning storm.

Everything is (and was) on a surge protector, but I was told that modems are especially sensitive to power surges, so even if the rest of your components escape unscathed, the modem may not be so lucky. (I don't know how true that is, but they made a believer out of me; the new ISDN modem was over $200.)

I don't unplug anything, sometimes surf right through the storm and play electronic bingo. I need a new computer as mine is a REEEEEAL dinosaur, but I can't bear to go spend $1000 when this one still works. Maybe soon ~ it's getting to the point that it WON'T work. (Yippee!! ;-)

I have the Dell on a surge protected power strip and leave it plugged in during T-storms. I do log off and shut down though. The surge protector also protects the phone line to the modem. I lost a modem in an older computer through a T-storm power surge that came in on the phone line, so if you're un-plugging you need to un-plug the phone line too methinks.

I was raised in Indiana, so I'm familiar with thunder storms, but it's been many years since I've been in a big old storm like that. We seldom hear thunder or see lightning here in Seward. When we do, it feels like judgement day has arrived!

LOL Judgement day Weez! I bet it does!!

I unplug mine because last fall at work I shut the puter down and we had a heavy duty surge protector, but a strike of lightening hit and fried the PC , the modem ,& the electronic scales that were connected to the puter for weigh tickets. I was about three feet from it when it got zapped and felt the electicity in the air go past me. I shake in my boots whenever we have lightening and we have been have more than our share in the last couple of days. UGH!!! Lou

ours is on a power surger that is suppose to withstand quite a few volts so i usually just turnit off.

i shut my computer down every night, inlcuding switching the button OFF on my power switch. just to help keep electricity down, plus shutting my puter down gives it a rest. when there is lightening, Im ON the computer checking the weather online, plus surfing! i also shut mine off because the computer causes too much heat in the room, hot enough as it is!

I don't think there is a surge protector made that can withstand a direct hit or even close shave from lightning! ;-) If you notice on the box when you buy one, it'll give a limit that it will protect ~ about 1/500th of the volts in a shot of lightning. The only sure-fire way is to unplug completely.

Believe or not.. I left my cpu plugged all the time and turn it off at night. I have APC Back UPS Pro 350 and plugged to it..during bad weather or lighting.. phone line is plugged to that surge box also.. But most of time I turn cpu off while bad weather in case and never know it could happen.

Up and running 24/7. It just takes too long to boot up. I'm plugged in to an APC Professional Powercell, I'm confident enough to surf right through the storm.

A word about powerstrips and surge protectors...Wingnut is right, they don't protect enough to withstand a lightning hit! We fried a CPU with one. It wasn't even a lightning hit, it was just the power going on/off several times in a row!

If you want real protection for your investment get a UPS, best $100 I ever spent!

I shut mine down when it starts to storm but don't unplyug it because I have a surge protector on it.
I shut it down every night too.
they first said leaving it on was better for it than shutting it off and on but then it was revealed that leaving it on just makes your monito go bad quicker,lol.
We had a doozy of a storm today, ahhhh~~~shutter~~~

Matterafact, I just plugged mine back in. we had some bad storms come thru here yesterday so I just unplugged it and rode the storm out!