Is Powerchute installation necessary?

[BillP]

This question was originally posted by Stephen on APC forums on 12/7/2011

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Hello, All,

Just bought a Backups 550 to protect my PC from power surges, and to be able to shutdown during power outages, which we do get occasionally here in the northeast.

Powerchute says it will shut down my computer for me, but the whole idea of having a back-up battery is to give me the necessary minute or two I need to shut down the computer myself.

So I really don't see the need to install another piece of software on my computer and use up another USB jack. Unless there are other reasons to install Powerchute, like monitoring the battery life, etc.

I'm a novice and installing new programs always scares me, so if I don't have to I'd rather not.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks much,
---wendigone

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Jonathan on APC forums on 12/8/2011

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Hi Stephen,

Installing the PowerChute Personal Edition helps you achieve the following:

- Graceful shutdown or hibernate which can also be done using the Native Microsoft UPS software.
- Ability to change the UPS Sensitivity and Transfer Voltages
- Ability to monitor the events that happened i.e. Blackout, Under or Overvoltages
- Update the battery replacement date
- On our "G" units, you can determine the amount of CO~2~ and Power Consumption

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Stephen on APC forums on 12/9/2011

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Thank you, JonPro, for your very thorough answer.

Unfortunately, points 2 thru 5 are pretty much over my head.

I'm most concerned about point 1: proper shutdown. When a power blackout hits, if my Backups 500 gives me the short amount of time I need to shut all my programs and properly turn off my computer, then I am a happy camper (and then I should turn off my Backups 500 unit as well, yes?)

I don't know what "graceful" shutdown means. I take it to mean properly shutting down all programs and my PC as described above. I mean, I'm a pretty graceful guy when I need to be (not that there's anything wrong with that).

So, once again I ask, is it absolutely necessary to install the Powerchute software? I mean, my PC will still be protected against power spikes and blackouts without it, right?

Amd thank you very much for your patience with a beginner.

---wendigone

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Jonathan on APC forums on 12/9/2011

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You are welcome.

A safe shutdown is also the same as graceful shutdown. The computer should be configured properly either via PCPE or the Native UPS software that came with it. If a power problem occurs and you're not in front of the PC but it was left on, the software itself would command/tell the device that there's no more runtime left or the UPS has been running on battery for quite sometime now and the PC needs to either turn off or hibernate.

Items 2 through 5 are advanace features that can only be set or configured using our own software. There are instances wherein some of our customers would have some difficulty using the UPS on a generator supply, we would end up adjusting the sensitivity either through the UPS buttons or the software itself.