On 23 Nov 2005 23:45:11 -0000, Adrian D. Shaw wrote:

The power supply can actually send an interrupt to the CPU to tell
it that the power has been cut, and if the CPU can act quick enough
(in the microseconds it has), it should be able to put things in a
safe state. That's the theory anyway; I don't know how Or how often)
this is implemented.

I doubt there is enough time to close files and update the discs
index...

Better to have a UPS. A decent one will come with a serial lead to
connect to the PC which runs a bit of software that gracefully shuts
the PC down when the power fails. Small UPSs don't get you much time,
think a few minutes, but ample to close everything down and switch off
if you are there. The software should be configurable to shutdown on
power fail or when the UPS battery is about to run flat.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail