Vista and UPS

I had posted that a 3 year old Cyberpower 825AVR would not work with
Vista and had asked if Vista would allow me to set up a "Generic" UPS
(polarity,etc). Since there didn't seem to be a way to do that, I
purchased an APC BX900R and downloaded the PowerChute 2.1.1 software.
Works perfectly- seems to be a good piece of work by APC. I'm not going
to stand around hoping for a brownout/surge as has been happening
lately, but that will be the true test of the hardware...the software
interface works well.

Thanks,

Fitz
--
Your body is a temple boy,
You ought to treat it well
But you trash the place and rent it out
Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees

You can test a power outage by simply unplugging the APC.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Fitz" <> wrote in message
news:...
>I had posted that a 3 year old Cyberpower 825AVR would not work with Vista
>and had asked if Vista would allow me to set up a "Generic" UPS
>(polarity,etc). Since there didn't seem to be a way to do that, I purchased
>an APC BX900R and downloaded the PowerChute 2.1.1 software. Works
>perfectly- seems to be a good piece of work by APC. I'm not going to stand
>around hoping for a brownout/surge as has been happening lately, but that
>will be the true test of the hardware...the software interface works well.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Fitz
> --
> Your body is a temple boy,
> You ought to treat it well
> But you trash the place and rent it out
> Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees

Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin] wrote:
> You can test a power outage by simply unplugging the APC.
Yeah, but it's not an outage I'm really concerned about. It's the
"brownout" followed 2-3 seconds later by a significant surge- hence
buying the AVR version of the UPS. The voltage regulation is what is
going to be as important as the battery backup. For some reason my power
company hasn't mastered reliable, consistent electricity.

Fitz

--
Your body is a temple boy,
You ought to treat it well
But you trash the place and rent it out
Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees

In article <>, says...
> I had posted that a 3 year old Cyberpower 825AVR would not work with
> Vista and had asked if Vista would allow me to set up a "Generic" UPS
> (polarity,etc). Since there didn't seem to be a way to do that, I
> purchased an APC BX900R and downloaded the PowerChute 2.1.1 software.
> Works perfectly- seems to be a good piece of work by APC. I'm not going
> to stand around hoping for a brownout/surge as has been happening
> lately, but that will be the true test of the hardware...the software
> interface works well.

It may not even be necessary to use PowerChute. I have a basic APC Back-
UPS 725ES. I just plugged the UPS cable in, and Vista (and even my old
Win2K) just treat it like a laptop battery. The only real reason for
using a cable is to allow for a clean shutdown when the battery gets too
weak.

--
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law!!
http://home.att.net/~andyross

> It may not even be necessary to use PowerChute. I have a basic APC Back-
> UPS 725ES. I just plugged the UPS cable in, and Vista (and even my old
> Win2K) just treat it like a laptop battery. The only real reason for
> using a cable is to allow for a clean shutdown when the battery gets too
> weak.

That's what I thought with my older Cyberpower- unfortunately there was
a delay between the loss of power and the battery kicking in, so it was
hit or miss as to whether it was going to be fast enough to keep things
running. The Powerchute software doesn't seem too cumbersome, so I think
I'll leave it on for now.
When I first turned on the APC (prior to software install), Vista
detected it, and there was a blue battery icon in the system tray for a
moment- it disappeared, though the UPS was being shown in Device Manager.

Thanks,
Fitz


--
Your body is a temple boy,
You ought to treat it well
But you trash the place and rent it out
Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees

In article <>, says...
> When I first turned on the APC (prior to software install), Vista
> detected it, and there was a blue battery icon in the system tray for a
> moment- it disappeared, though the UPS was being shown in Device Manager.

To turn on the battery/power icon in the taskbar:
Right-click the taskbar and select properties.
Change to the Notification Area tab.
Check the Power box to turn the icon on (you can also turn on/off the
clock, volume, and network icons from here.)

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.att.net/~andyross

Andrew Rossmann wrote:

> To turn on the battery/power icon in the taskbar:
> Right-click the taskbar and select properties.
> Change to the Notification Area tab.
> Check the Power box to turn the icon on (you can also turn on/off the
> clock, volume, and network icons from here.)

Thanks! Much appreciated.

Fitz


--
Your body is a temple boy,
You ought to treat it well
But you trash the place and rent it out
Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees

Andrew Rossmann wrote:
> In article <>, says...
>> When I first turned on the APC (prior to software install), Vista
>> detected it, and there was a blue battery icon in the system tray for a
>> moment- it disappeared, though the UPS was being shown in Device Manager.
>
> To turn on the battery/power icon in the taskbar:
> Right-click the taskbar and select properties.
> Change to the Notification Area tab.
> Check the Power box to turn the icon on (you can also turn on/off the
> clock, volume, and network icons from here.)
>
The Power box in the Notification Area is grayed out, unable to select.
Must be because of Powerchute (wasn't going to leave it turned on, just
wanted to check out the options)

Fitz

--
Your body is a temple boy,
You ought to treat it well
But you trash the place and rent it out
Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:18:15 -0900, Fitz <> wrote:

> That's what I thought with my older Cyberpower- unfortunately there was
> a delay between the loss of power and the battery kicking in, so it was
> hit or miss as to whether it was going to be fast enough to keep things
> running. The Powerchute software doesn't seem too cumbersome, so I think
> I'll leave it on for now.
> When I first turned on the APC (prior to software install), Vista
> detected it, and there was a blue battery icon in the system tray for a
> moment- it disappeared, though the UPS was being shown in Device Manager.
>
> Thanks,
> Fitz

Did I read that right? You're saying that the Powerchute software
made the time delay to battery power shorter?

Tom

>
> Did I read that right? You're saying that the Powerchute software
> made the time delay to battery power shorter?
>
> Tom

No. It was a older (discontinued) Cyberpower UPS that wasn't Vista
compatible (wouldn't even show up in device manager). You would think
that regardless, the battery would kick in the instant commercial power
failed. Anyway, I replaced the Cyberpower with a APC. I think the
problem with the older one was that Vista doesn't have the option to set
up a "Generic" UPS as XP does (set polarity and shutdown options)
through Windows. I was just saying that because the Powerchute software
seems like a decent piece of work and isn't a huge program, I would
continue to use it.

Fitz


--
Your body is a temple boy,
You ought to treat it well
But you trash the place and rent it out
Like it's some cheap motel - The Badlees