Let’s get one thing out of the way right now. A power strip and a surge suppressor, sometimes called a surge protector, are two different things. A surge suppressor will protect your PC from power surges, spikes, and brown outs caused by lightning storms or low voltage supply due to high power demand in the summer for example. A power strip is simply a device that increases the amount of outlets available to you but offers no surge protection.

In order to protect and save your PC you’ll need either a surge suppressor or an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). Just like any other product on the market the prices will vary and the amount you wish to spend is entirely up to you. With a surge suppressor you can plug your PC devices including your PC, printer, scanner, and monitor into them so that your hardware will be protected.

The surge suppressor can protect your PC from power spikes and sudden fluctuations of power but it will not prevent you from loss of data due to a power failure.

A UPS will provide the protection you need to avoid a power loss and a loss of your valuable data. A UPS is a surge suppressor plus a device that will provide you with back up power due to a power outage.

A Uninterruptible Power Supply will give you enough time to save your data and shutdown your system properly. The device supplies power to your system in the event of a power outage. As I mentioned earlier prices vary and the more money you spend on a UPS the longer amount of time you will have to save and shutdown during an outage. Many UPS systems will come with software that allows you to automatically back up data and shut down hardware in the event that there’s a power outage when you’re not close to your PC.

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Your motherboard is the main board of your computer in which everything plugs into. If you have ever looked at your motherboard you will see that it is all electronic. Unfortunately the motherboard can quit on you at any time without warning.

When a motherboard fails suddenly your LED lights will blink or turn amber. Your monitor may give a quick impression that your computer is about to boot up but it does not. Many times the power supply fan will work but the computer will not post. Other times your power supply will not function either. If fans run or LEDs turn on it probably is not the power supply. This is where many people think that the computers power supply went out. The motherboard can fail that it will surge and knock out the power supply. Lightning can also damage your motherboard by traveling through the house wiring.

If your computer is dead, or from personal experience when you tried to turn it on one morning and at it started screaming (getting loud) at you, it may very well be that your motherboard is history. But, there are ways to make sure it is the motherboard and not something else.

Though tedious one sure way to tell is by replacing every component on the motherboard except the CPU. If the PC remains dead, the motherboard is history. There are other ways as well to be sure.

Often a dead computer is the result of a single bad connection and not a bad motherboard. This can be checked by reseating the RAM, cable connections, expansion and controller cards, hard drive, and all storage devices. If the PC reboots it is likely that a component had come loose or was not seated properly.

If your computer refuses to start or boot after reseating the components the problem may be with a faulty card. This can be checked by removing one card at a time not required for boot and restarting the PC. These cards include the sound card, modem, network card and any extra added controller cards. If you remove a card and your PC reboots you’ve found the problem. If you have tested all cards and the PC is still not responding your motherboard is history.

Overheating from a faulty power supply is probably the biggest cause of motherboard failure. Look at the motherboard itself for physical damage like fried capacitors or burn marks. You may want to test the voltage of your power supply to make sure that it is not the culprit. Meaning it didn’t over heat and fry your motherboard.

Here is a flowchart to help you diagnose your situation.

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