This weekend I was replacing my desktop with a new one (as the old one was acting up) and ran into a strange problem.  I was making progress re-loading software, downloading updates, etc. – but it wouldn’t turn on again.  I was completely puzzled, but then again I was dealing with a lot of cords around this computer – some of which I wasn’t sure what they were for.  So I plugged my computer directly into the wall – instead of into the power strip my computer cabinet came with.  And then the computer was working….

I pulled the power strip (surge protector) and plugged into another outlet that was actually grounded (old house so the one where my computer is doesn’t have a ground) and the light came on.  So I was puzzled – what’s going on with this thing?  The way this thing was designed was that there are outlets on the back and switches on the front – for a nice look in the cabinet.  There is also an unswitched outlet on the back – and that was one was working.  For some reason the switched outlets stopped working…..

So what I learned from this was that the simple things like a power strip not working can cause problems.

TIP: Do you have a lot of those blocky power adapter for all your accessories – so that you have trouble plugging them all into your power strip?  A great way to handle that is to use one of the Y adapters (picture on right) I have in order to allow you to not need many power strips.  I still have this horrible mess of cables in my cabinet – but I only need one power strip as these cables fit into the strip – and then the blocky power adapters plug into these…

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