Powewr spikes are not the only thing that can cause a computer to stop functioning properly during a storm. If the power gets cut while the hard drive is in motion, reading or writing data to the disk, the head on the drive is not always able to park correctly. This leads to a corrupted hard drive, and often, an unbootable computer.

If you have valuable data on your machine, and it is on 24/7, you should seriously consider getting a UPS to allow you to safely shut the computer down after the power goes out.

The UPS acts as a battery that automatically turns on when the power is lost. This can prevent sudden power outages to the computer, and thus gives an added layer of protection.

The best protection is to shut your computer down during storms.