I hate my computer (at least until I got it going again )

[Barnzzz]

Computers aaaaaaaaaarghh !!

Last night there was a thunderstorm with the biggest and nearest crash of thunder and lightening flash I have ever experienced, I thought my house had been struck. My son, who had been leaning out of the window at the time, nearly fell out ! Anyway, from that moment my internet connection was gone.

Thinking that the nearby BT exchange had been struck by lightning, I sent them an email (from work) asking for help. I got back a very long email with all kinds of helpful but incomprehensible advice. Having tried and failed to follow their instructions, I spent 2 hours (yes 2 hours, I am not exagerating) on the 'phone with some very pleasant gentlemen from India. The end result was that they came to the conclusion I had a problem with my local area connection and I should visit my local PC world instead !

I've learned a lot about computers this evening and didnt give up. I decided to change the Ethernet connection from the router to the PC and try a USB instead. This worked ! I can hear you saying that I should have done this first. I certainly will in future.

Anyway, the whole point of this email is that I wondered if anyone knew what the difference is between an Ethernet and a USB cable ? Is there any point in me going and buying a new Ethernet connection ?

Sue |computer||computer||computer|

[MarkJ]

I doubt buying a new ethernet cable will make any difference Sue.
I am guessing that you use a router? What is likely to have happened is that the electrical discharge has fried the chip which deals with the ethernet side of things in your router. I had exactly the same issue about a year ago here. If I connected to the router via USB it worked fine, but the ethernet connection was dead.
You could try a new ethernet cable - there is a tiny chance that the cable may have been damaged, but to be honest, the chip inside the router is the most likely victim.

Depending upon how bothered you are by connecting via USB to the router, you can either continue in that way or the other option is to buy a new router.
I bought a replacement router - but that is because I found it a pain to connect via USB (I have a lot of machines accessing via a switch and the router is connected to the switch via ethernet).

Well done for the self diagnosis and fix :)

Mark

[Guy Etchells]

The usb connection will be slower but I doubt if you will notice the difference.

If you want to go and buy something I would suggest a decent surge adapter.
If you had one in place it would have protected your computer router etc. etc. ;)
Cheers
Guy

[Barnzzz]

Hi Mark and Guy, thanks for replying. Until this evening when I googled 'lightening' and 'computers', I'd never heard of a surge adapter, I shall definately look at getting one ! Are they the same as circuit breakers? (I can just feel that is going to turn out to be a really daft question, but I have to ask)

The strange thing is, about 10 minutes before it happened we had a 'lively' family 'discussion' about how it was an old wives tale that you should switch off your TV and computer etc during a storm. Hubby said you should do and the rest of us disagreed. Hubby is all smug now, however he didn't help his argument by adding that you should turn mirrors to the wall and put butter on burns and so on.........

Sue

[vic1]

Best of luck if you go and try to get an ethernet cable. we searched all the local computer shops being told no such thing exsisted and we needed to buy anew computer until we contacted an old friend of ours whose turned into a computer buff. who told us we didn't need a new computer we simply needed a connection our computer changing which would allow us to use the cables that had come with the modem 10 pound later all done. and we could have bought a new computer instead ( we did eventually but for different reasons) this after i'd explained again and again in the shops what and why and the differences between the cable we had and the computer socket - so buyer beware sooo glad i kept telling them no i didnot want a new ciomputer

[v.wells]

I use a surge protector bar. We had a storm a couple of times and the internet connection was gone. Simple fix is to turn the router off wait 30 secs, turn on, wait 30 secs. Repeat 2 more times to a total of 3 turn on/off events and it will work every time. It resets the router.

[Barnzzz]

Ooh Vic1, its a minefield out there for those of us who don't know loads about computers. I've decided that by hook or by crook I am going to become a minor boffin because it will make my life easier. Not sure yet how this will be possible but I am certainly going to try hard to learn a lot more than I do now.
Sue

[MarkJ]

It works unless the router chips are fried Vanessa ;) Resetting the router is always a good idea for starters, but if anything is burned out, it won't help.
I spent hours trying to sort mine out - I even took it to pieces to see if I could spot the fried chip and replace it. But in the end, it was cheaper to simply replace the router.

vic1 - I make all my own ethernet cables. Once you find out how easy it is, you will never pay for them in the shops! Admittedly, you do need a supply of the cable (it is called Cat5e as a rule, although there is a more modern version called Cat6 for gigabit connections these days) plus the little plugs for the ends (RJ45). There used to be a guy who sold the made up cables on a well known auction site for very reasonable prices and he would make them up to the length you needed.

Mark

[MarkJ]

Hi Mark and Guy, thanks for replying. Until this evening when I googled 'lightening' and 'computers', I'd never heard of a surge adapter, I shall definately look at getting one ! Are they the same as circuit breakers? (I can just feel that is going to turn out to be a really daft question, but I have to ask)

The strange thing is, about 10 minutes before it happened we had a 'lively' family 'discussion' about how it was an old wives tale that you should switch off your TV and computer etc during a storm. Hubby said you should do and the rest of us disagreed. Hubby is all smug now, however he didn't help his argument by adding that you should turn mirrors to the wall and put butter on burns and so on.........

Sue

Surge protectors are a good investment for all major electrical kit - computers, tellys, phones etc. Some come with an RJ11 socket (which means you can plug a dial up modem or telephone into them to protect that against lightening.
Not quite the same thing as a circuit breaker though. The surge protectors generally are like an extension socket thing - with several plug holes for you to plug your equipment into - then the protector is plugged into the wall.

Disconnecting TVs, computers and phones (remember to disconnect the phone wire from the BT socket!) is actually a good idea in my view. Having seen at first hand the damage which lightening can do to a telephone, I would not leave mine plugged in! My phone line must have taken a strike somewhere not too far away and it actually welded the BT linebox completely shut as well as blowing the phone. The BT guy had to break the linebox up to get it off the wall!

Even with a surge protector, in my view, if there is a lot of electrical discharge (lightening) in your area, I would still turn off the computers and UNPLUG them from the wall - including the router and any other gubbins such as scanners, printers etc. All can be damaged by the surge from lightening - even if it doesn't strike your home directly.

Mark

[Barnzzz]

I think I shall definately get a surge protector. I was genuinely shocked (no pun intended) by the lightning yesterday, the noise and the flash seemed as if it was inside my house and we all felt a vibration of some kind whether it be from a lightning strike or from the noise of the thunder.

Sue

[Ladkyis]

I always unplug things when there are storms. I hate thunder and electrical storms always make me jittery and as I seem to generate static I get electric shocks off things - a bunch of keys, the metal fish slice, the bread knife. My children and myhusband laughed at me for years because I would unplug the arial from the TV and put the end of the wire into a wellington boot - this was simply because I saw in my mind the wire whipping around the room if the arial was struck and it seemed logical toshove it in something, and the boot was closest.

[Barnzzz]

Ladkyis, do you also get electric shocks off cars, escalators, front doors and husbands ? Please tell me you do, I don't want to be the only one out there...

Sue

[MarkJ]

Not just you Sue :)
My wife regularly gets a jolt from the car door in dry weather and various other things. I believe it is due to static.

Mark

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

Ladkyis, do you also get electric shocks off cars, escalators, front doors and husbands ? Please tell me you do, I don't want to be the only one out there...

Sue

Years ago, when 'sculptured' carpets were in fashion in the UK, (made from nylon, polyester or similar?) ....... when my married daughter visited us, we both had 'shocks' when we kissed 'hello and goodbye', if we were standing on the lounge carpet.

Consequently, all future greetings were confined to the kitchen, which had a vinyl floor! :D

It never happened with anybody else though, so it must be the genes. ;)

[AnnB]

Not just you Sue :)
My wife regularly gets a jolt from the car door in dry weather and various other things. I believe it is due to static.

Mark
I'm glad it isn't just me Mark - I've taken to holding the end of my sleeve (or any other bit of material) over my hand when I shut the car door :cool:

Best wishes
Ann

[gibo]

Hi - static electricity builds up in your body - when the condtions are right (windy weather, nylon carpet and many other things). A motor car is more likely to have static elect build up and you should earth yourself to ensure you dont get a shock - touch something metal before the door etc? Alternatively you could buy a static strap and put it under car - evertime you drive it touches the ground and releases the build up.

Computers are very senistive to this similar static electricity and when you open your computer you should earth yourself as well - rubber mats/boots - touching something else before your computer innards will also help. Have fun!

[christopher_n_lewis]

The strange thing is, about 10 minutes before it happened we had a 'lively' family 'discussion' about how it was an old wives tale that you should switch off your TV and computer etc during a storm. Hubby said you should do and the rest of us disagreed. Hubby is all smug now, however he didn't help his argument by adding that you should turn mirrors to the wall and put butter on burns and so on.........

Sue

So did your television survive?

Christopher

[christopher_n_lewis]

I'm glad it isn't just me Mark - I've taken to holding the end of my sleeve (or any other bit of material) over my hand when I shut the car door

It has been suggested (with a bit of pop science experimentation) that static electricity events are more common with ladies than men, especially with cars. The explanation is that the different layers of underclothing rubbing against each other and the car seats causes a build up of static - particularly with nylon and silk.

I suppose that women who wear jeans and cotton panties don't suffer from this problem.

Christopher

[arthurk]

Surge protectors are a good investment for all major electrical kit - computers, tellys, phones etc.
Do you know anything about surge protectors for TV aerial (RF) leads? We normally unplug the aerial lead from the socket when there's a thunderstorm, but in case there was a storm when we were out, I was wondering if these might be any good.

Internet searches have brought up a couple of possibilities in the UK - plug-in adaptors with 13 amp socket and RF surge protection. Another site has some in-line units (from the US) that you connect in to the aerial lead, though they don't seem to have the usual RF connections.

Can anyone comment on any of these, please?

Arthur