When you hear the thunder, can lightning be far behind?  We see more computers come in for repair during the warm months, due to lightning related problems than almost any other reason.  "But I have a surge protector", you might say.

  Well, there are surge protectors and there are surge protectors.  Some surge protectors do not have the jack for you to plug your phone line into, some do.  Some will offer quite a bit of protection for your computer, some won't.  A good surge protector that will offer phone line protection as well as line voltage protection, could cost over $100.  The less expensive ones will offer some protection, but the best thing to do is un-plug your phone line from the jack during lightning storms, or when away from the house. 

Most phone jacks are placed behind the computer desk, down near the floor (to hide them), and are difficult to get to on a regular basis.  I placed mine high on the wall (30") and to the left of my computer desk, so that I can reach it easily.  Yes, I do have good surge protection as well as battery back up, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure....or a $70 - $95 + repair bill.

If you are using DSL, then you should have had a good surge protector installed as part of the process.  2-way satellite PC is even further protected as a ground wire runs from the dish to a driven ground.

My best advice, disconnect during electrical storms.

VOLTAGE SURGES AND VOLTAGE DROPS (brownouts)

Your computer is designed to receive a certain voltage within some pretty slim parameters.  Voltage surges and voltage drops on a routine basis will apply varying voltages to your computer components.  What this will do is cause intermittent failure, or other un-expected operation of your machine.  If you've checked everything else to determine why you are having intermittent failures, check your incoming house voltage for surges, poor connections, etc.  If all else fails, investment in a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), better known as a battery back up, can be your best move.  This smoothes out the voltage which is applied to your machine and can solve a host of problems.