A guide question..

You should get a UPS if you lose power that often.

 

The guide comes down the sat data stream. If you reboot twice within 20 minutes, the guide is completely reloaded. This may take 24 hours.

 

That's true, but even one reset gives you the "Acquiring guide data" message at the end of the restart process.

 

That's the exact scenario for which a UPS is recommended.

 

You only have to lose it "one more time" and be faced with far worse problems. Would you run a computer without a UPS? (one hopes not). These things are very much a computer, and the hard drives are vulnerable, not to mention the other electronics. For the paltry investment of $40 or so, you not only get protection from the one second (or less) winkies, you get surge protection on top of it.

When the power goes off for "just a second or so", you would cry if you saw what the voltage was actually doing as it was trying to come back up. The power supplies in these units are no where near as robust as most computers, so hitting them with glitches isn't going to add to their lifetime.

I have 4 UPSs on my HT setup alone, and one on every computer in the house. If nothing else, put one on your DVR(s), and at least we won't cringe when reading your requests for help. <tongue firmly placed in cheek, so please don't take offense).

 

Unless he has a laptop (internal battery) we may not see any requests for help when his computer also bites the dust.

 

Excellent point!