How do I get my comp to automatically power back up after a short power outage? All of the other comps I've had before would automatically come back on when the power went out and came back on. This one that i have now shuts down when the power goes out and does not come back on by itself. The monitor and all other equipment come on but not the hard drive. Is there a setting somewhere that i have to change to make this happen? Why i'm asking is because we have quite a few power blinks around here, where the power flicks off and comes right back on. The other comp here comes back on immediately, but not this one. And yes I do have a very good surge protector. Any help would be appreciated. XP Home sp1., Compaq Presario 55030NX, 256mb ram, AMD Athlon, dw6000 satellite

Go to System Properties by pressing the Winkey + Pause/Break. On System Properties' Advanced tab selecting the Settings button next to Startup and Recovery. Under System Failure tick box next to Automatically restart.

In some brands of motherboards there is a setting in the bios. On my Biostar board the bios has a setting to bootup the system after power is restored. You may want to check that. Also if you're subject to power outages where you are, then you might want to consider a smart UPS. These will have a rs-232 connection and software that will give you about 5 mins or so run time. The UPS senses the power outage and tells the software to do a soft shut down. This saves your drive(s) from becomming door props. The Ups I use is an APC and it costs $38.00. And it's smart. It even has built in phone and power surge protection.

Ditto on the APC UPS. Excellent addition to a PC, especially in areas prone to brownouts, etc. I have the Back-UPS CS 500. I actually use Windows XP native software for it instead of the accompanying APC software. It gracefully shuts down my computer if an electrical issue is detected and I am not around..

mikeo, mine also shuts down and I checked the settings, everything is checked under system failure?

mikeo, i looked at the settings under system failure, they are all checked. Is there anything else i can check? The bios thing is foreign to me, i have never been there, that i know of. :( I do have a belkin ups, but i just havent hooked it up since we moved. That is on my to do list. Thanks to all of you for all your help. XP Home sp1., Compaq Presario 55030NX, 256mb ram, AMD Athlon, dw6000 satellite