A way to restart computer automatically after blackout?

[ameliachida 0]

Theres a lot of blackouts in my city specially at nightime. So any video that was being recorded stops. Is there anything, a program for example that can restart the computer automatically after a blackout? The software does starts everytime windows starts so thats not a problem but I need the computer to be on at all times. Does anyone knows what can I do? Thanks

[griffonsystems 0]

is this a pc based system or an embedded unit? if pc, you can go into the bios and in the power management section you can set it to power on after power loss -

 

ac power loss reset - set to enable

[RobB 0]

As griffonsystems said, if this is a PC-based DVR you should have an option in the computers' BIOS to automatically power up after power loss.

 

A better, long-term solution would be to invest in a UPS so the PC will still have power even if the mains supply fails.

[Soundy 1]

I'll agree with griffonsystems, and especially with RobB - for the cost of a cheap UPS, you save yourself a LOT of potential damage. Even an $80, 300VA home-office type UPS will keep you running for a few minutes and provide a substantial level of protection. It's not a lot to spend, either, if you consider your average PC-based DVR is worth around $4000-$5000.

 

We had one site, a condo tower.... we told them repeatedly they should be on a UPS, but they didn't want to spend the money (after all, they'd already spent thousands on the system, they were tapped out!). So when new building management took over, the first thing they did was decree a monthly test of the building's backup generator... the test basically being, kill the main switch on the incoming feed and see if the generator kicks in.

 

And the first time they did it, the surge fried the system drive in the DVR and damaged some of the video RAM, so the display was messed up. We replaced the drive, but they didn't want to pay for a new video card (is it still recording? yes? okay, that's all that matters). 30 days later they tested it again... and completed the killing of the video card, so we were back AGAIN to replace that.

 

Amazingly, it only took those two instances to convince them to shell out a whopping $100 for a UPS, and we've never had a problem with them since. Each service call cost them twice that in labour alone, nevermind the parts (warranty? pffft!) and the downtime.

[kingdommaker 0]

UPS also keeps the blue screen of death away if you lose power during PC shutdown, a worthy investment.

[cctv_down_under 0]

Some things to consider -

 

1/ If your DVR is PC based and windows based, you should consider a UPS that has software or a command script to end the process of your DVR recording and shut down safely, there is no difference between pulling the plug directly out of the DVR otherwise, IE when the battery is dead on the UPS then it just goes straight off - the main reason you need this is that most PC based recorders have a Pre Event recording buffer and then when movement stops they close the event and store it to HDD, if it can not close the event, windows will dump what is in memory to the HDD - normally this is fine - but in some cases that file that is dumped is so corrupted that windows can not make out its size and therefore it does not know what blocks are considered as used on the HDD - when the dvr records it uses an index file to tell it where the recorded video is and to what order it pulls the files into the review software and where is free to sotre them....as far as the index is concerned - that corrupted file does not exist and as far as windows is concerned it certainly does....so it goes like this....Write to this sector - NO - OK Write to this sector - NO - so on and so on until your PC based DVR crashes - you will note a lot of DVR's now have a "repair database" tool for this reason.

 

2/ It is a VERY common misconception that a UPS device will protect you from all power issues, but the truth is that there are different stages of UPS quality and what they will cover....the most common cheapie UPS devices wont protect much, some have what is known as "buck and boost" adjusting the output to bring it into range. However they wont protect against big hits or long brown outs etc etc....the company we use sell a 3 , 5 or 9 series the 3 series covering 3 power issues, the 5 covering 5 and the 9 covering all nine......big difference in price.....so firstly you need to find out what kind of power issue it is....IE spike, sag, brown out etc etc or just plain power cut. Keep in mind a good UPS can extend the life of your DVR - think of it this way - Imagine your car and you every now and again red line it just for fun...sure it will be ok, but the more you do it, the more likely it will break.....the same if you never took it over 20klm an hour and feeding it the wrong fuel or not clean fuel occasionally will cause the engine to detriorate.....the same goes for the electronics inside your DVR especially the power supply.

[Sawbones 0]

There's no excuse not to have a quality UPS for your delicate electronics. You don't have to have a full-on 7ft rack and a huge datacenter UPS, but you should at least have a consumer-grade APC or something.

 

Power problems are one of the major killers of PCs and electronic systems, probably second only to heat.

[rory 0]

There's no excuse not to have a quality UPS for your delicate electronics. You don't have to have a full-on 7ft rack and a huge datacenter UPS, but you should at least have a consumer-grade APC or something.

 

Power problems are one of the major killers of PCs and electronic systems, probably second only to heat.

 

to be fair there's no need to have a UPS for hardware protection.

Its the Voltage Regulator that does that work.

 

For example, I have never owned a UPS, but Ive had Voltage Regulators since I got my first desktop computer in 1996. If I dont use it, I will loose hardware left and right, as down here we have black outs and brown outs and just about any kind of bad power issue you can think of. When the power goes out and they turn it back on they have a heavy foot! Ive seen the older UPS without voltage Regulation fried in the past.

 

Actually had alot of issues with UPS down here where it wouldnt power back up after power outages, put it down to, well, too many recurring outages in short time periods .. tripping out the UPS firmware. If it only occurs every so often with a home computer no big deal, DVR where the client is off the island, big issue ... basically just end up using APC Voltage Regulators in most cases now - NTFS File system is okay generally and i rather loose 3-6 seconds of video then not have it power back up at all, plus many people have generators here, and if they dont well the power is off for a few hours anyway.

[cctv_down_under 0]

I agree rory, undervoltage is usually the biggest killer...try PNG that place is a joke for power......a lot of the UPS devices have this "buck and boost" voltage regulator in them and are almost as cheap as buying the device on its own.

[Sawbones 0]

That's sort of what I meant by power problems. I wouldn't have a UPS that doesn't do some voltage regulation. The backup power is a bonus.

 

When I used to live in S. Florida, thunderstorms were a daily occurrence, particularly during the summer. I lost more hard drives and PSUs before I started putting everything on UPS.

 

I never regretted it... I just change out the batteries when they wear out.

[kingdommaker 0]

Can't you plug a UPS into a surge protector? Then the 10 dollar surge protector would get fried.

[rory 0]

Can't you plug a UPS into a surge protector? Then the 10 dollar surge protector would get fried.

 

Surge protectors are useless in my country, except as extra sockets.

Everything gets fried, not just the surge protector.

[Sawbones 0]

Can't you plug a UPS into a surge protector? Then the 10 dollar surge protector would get fried.

 

Surge protectors are useless in my country, except as extra sockets.

Everything gets fried, not just the surge protector.

 

Your power quality is that bad?

 

Geez...

[rory 0]

I agree rory, undervoltage is usually the biggest killer...try PNG that place is a joke for power......a lot of the UPS devices have this "buck and boost" voltage regulator in them and are almost as cheap as buying the device on its own.

 

In America, some UPS dont have AVR still. APC models i think it is 600VA and above have it, but say the basic 500VA model wont. We get the 550VA Latin America version here which has AVR. Some of them will have basic surge protection built in, but not the AVR we are looking for and which comes in that 550+ model.

[rory 0]

Your power quality is that bad?

 

Geez...

 

2nd world boss (not quite 3rd and not quite 1st). Power was off tonight .. just about every day it goes off. Dont let there be a thunder storm .. before the lightning cracked last night, the power went off, guess they are physic its when they turn it on that they get us bad. sometimes it will come on .. then be on with 10% power .. lights all dim .. TV wont even power up .. stay on a few minutes like that then go off again .. come back on again BOOM more than full power .. blowin everything ... back off ... back on back off .. hour later .. back on ..

[Sawbones 0]

Your power quality is that bad?

 

Geez...

 

2nd world boss (not quite 3rd and not quite 1st). Power was off tonight .. just about every day it goes off. Dont let there be a thunder storm .. before the lightning cracked last night, the power went off, guess they are physic

 

Strong argument to have your own power plant I suppose... at least on a residential scale (generator + transfer switch).

 

I invested in a NG-fired permanently-sited generator at my home that fires up automatically when the mains go offline. It takes about 20 seconds to come up to a stable voltage and transfer the building load, so my UPSs (both desktop and rack-mount) hold everything up until the transfer switch kicks over.

 

It's nice... it's worked great for the few times a T-storm has knocked out power (the last outage was when some kid took out a power pole with his vehicle).

[rory 0]

Strong argument to have your own power plant I suppose... at least on a residential scale (generator + transfer switch).

 

I invested in a NG-fired permanently-sited generator at my home that fires up automatically when the mains go offline. It takes about 20 seconds to come up to a stable voltage and transfer the building load, so my UPSs (both desktop and rack-mount) hold everything up until the transfer switch kicks over.

 

It's nice... it's worked great for the few times a T-storm has knocked out power (the last outage was when some kid took out a power pole with his vehicle).

 

yeah everyone i know that have their own home has a generator.

When you rent though we're out of luck .. just get to inhale the diesel fumes from other generators

The alarm company i deal with have 2 generators, one switches auto, the other is a backup on failure of the first one.

[Sawbones 0]

Strong argument to have your own power plant I suppose... at least on a residential scale (generator + transfer switch).

 

I invested in a NG-fired permanently-sited generator at my home that fires up automatically when the mains go offline. It takes about 20 seconds to come up to a stable voltage and transfer the building load, so my UPSs (both desktop and rack-mount) hold everything up until the transfer switch kicks over.

 

It's nice... it's worked great for the few times a T-storm has knocked out power (the last outage was when some kid took out a power pole with his vehicle).

 

yeah everyone i know that have their own home has a generator.

When you rent though we're out of luck .. just get to inhale the diesel fumes from other generators

The alarm company i deal with have 2 generators, one switches auto, the other is a backup on failure of the first one.

 

I wish diesel would have been an option for me (I'm much more familiar with diesels than NG-fired engines), but there was no way my homeowner's association was going to let me site a diesel storage tank in my back yard

 

Edit: I like your redundancy setup. Two are one, and one is none.

[cctv_down_under 0]

A surge protector will nopt protect you from all power issues and will often as Rory pointed out get fried right along with everthing behind it, dependant on how bad the power problem is.

 

There is a big difference between a ON LINE UPS and LINE INTERACTIVE UPS

 

http://www.poweronaustralia.com.au/onlinefiles/Product%20Downloads/FACT%20SHEETS/POA_001___WHAT_POWER_PROBLEMS_CAN_ARISE.pdf

[kingdommaker 0]

Diesel goes bad over time whereas natural gas does not...

[rory 0]

I wish diesel would have been an option for me (I'm much more familiar with diesels than NG-fired engines), but there was no way my homeowner's association was going to let me site a diesel storage tank in my back yard

 

wanna see why this isnt the first world, well just another example.

my neighbors old smokey (cloud type smoke) generator's exhaust pipe is just a few feet from my side window, in fact the whole generator house is just a few feet from my window. When they run the generator I have to leave the property as the smoke is too much, come back later and get headaches from the stench of diesel in the apartment. Letters and calls (including photos) to the responsible Government ministry here (for several months), but to no prevail, it remains as is. just one thing of many that sucks.

[cctv_down_under 0]

Man...such familiar things just like PNG.....you just never knew whenpower was going to be on...even a lot of busineses used SAT Ethernet becasue you could never trust the telephone lines...gotta love third world countries.......told you once told you twice Rory....work here its nice an peaceful, no need for guards mate......just beers and women wearing short clothing......I love Australia

[rory 0]

i could write an essay about the telco problems so i wont get into it now

someone called me 3 times tonight though before they finally got through to the right person .. me ... cross lines or something ..

 

so .. I wouldnt have to carry my machete and steel stick over there? .. no iron bars on the windows? (and door), multiple dead locks on the main door, dead lock on the screen bars (thats 2 doors BTW), it takes me a few minutes just to get outside due to all the unlocking involved as well as preparing the weapons

 

Hey I know guys that carry guns every time they walk outside, they are all business owners though. Should see the guys at the night club .. guns galore ... when theres a fight the guns just come out then .. cops are hired for the clubs and they carry guns also. Strange thing is guns are only legal here for shooting pigeons (hunting) in the out islands, otherwise its 6 months in prison for each bullet.

 

really though im tired of seeing people beaten and stabbed on video .. its quite depressing after a while .. even more so when the criminals (mostly 17-20 year olds) are out on bail just 2 weeks after near killing someone right in front of the camera .. they stab the security they shoot the police .. they just dont care any more. Kind of effects the way you act when out in public now around this city, especially at night, most say paranoid, but i say cautious - if you always expect the worst, you will be ready for it when it comes along. Something like that anyway ... i need to start drinking again LOL.

Edited July 7, 2009 by Guest

[kingdommaker 0]

A town near me had a massive surge that actually fried computers and even a central AC. So yeah under normal first world conditions surge protectors work.

[Sawbones 0]

Had no idea the Bahamas were that rough, Rory... now I understand your interest in security. It's been more than ten years since I traveled there (been several times).

 

We're not that bad here in the US... but let our economy get a little worse and crime is sure to increase, as it always does during economic downturns.