5 minuets to shut down the iMac - whats the best way

[siam]

I am soon to buy my first Apple Mac computer an iMac 24 inch, where I live we have power cuts on a regular basis, I have got a UPS unit to use with the new iMac , which will give me about Four to Five minuets to shut down the iMac
before the power completely stops. Is there a fast correct way to shut down the iMac with in the UPS time frame that can be used long term on a regular basis that will not affect the computer in any way ..? and should I leave the computer on sleep and have a power cut while I am not there , what would happen to the computer .? and would this going from sleep to power cut on a regular basis be a problem at all..?

Thanks....

 

[wordmunger]

Your UPS should come with software to shut down the computer smoothly. The most frequent problem I find with shutting down is unsaved documents -- make sure you save your documents frequently to avoid this problem. Of course, since you have an unstable power supply, you already knew that!

I wonder if a MacBook Pro might be a better computer for your situation, though. Since you have a battery in the computer, a power outage is no problem.

 

[JNB]

Any reasonable UPS will give you FAR more than 4 to 5 minutes; 30-45 minutes is more like it. Plan on spending in the neighborhood of $100, give or take $25. APC is a highly recommended & reliable brand. Get a true UPS, not a "power strip with batteries" sort, they're not worth your time.

Remember, too, that the UPS should ONLY be for the iMac and other CRITICAL equipment. That means no printers or other devices that aren't required for the operation of the computer to control it for a shutdown.

 

[AdeFowler]

If your UPS has a USB connector is should show up in OSXs Energy Saver Preference Pane automatically (see attachment). As wordmunger says, make sure you've saved any open documents before leaving the computer. Personally I only ever put my macs to sleep.

 

[siam]

wordmunger Thanks for your comments, and it prompted me to look at the UPS software CD and it says on the front ...

UPSMON PowerMatic UPS IMD-525AP - 525VA

UPS Power Management Software support for- Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/
xp/server2003 /, Novell Network and Linux.

so it seem's that I cannot use it on my new Apple iMac after all, I have the UPS running on this PC at the moment and it does automatically close down the computer if a power cut occurs when I am not in the room.

now that's given me some thing to think about ..

Thanks

 

[Osarkon]

Any reasonable UPS will give you FAR more than 4 to 5 minutes; 30-45 minutes is more like it. Plan on spending in the neighborhood of $100, give or take $25. APC is a highly recommended & reliable brand. Get a true UPS, not a "power strip with batteries" sort, they're not worth your time.

The OP has said he already has the UPS...

In regard to the sleep issue whilst a powercut takes place, I think that macs just go into a state of deep sleep which is similar to the Hibernate function in Windows.

 

[siam]

Thanks for the reply's , The power cuts here have been recently on a daily basis and lasting from 5 minuets to several hours , along with the power cuts I also get voltage fluctuation's which the un interruptible power supply takes care of, ... Osarkon I am interested in your comment . ( whilst a powercut takes place, I think that macs just go into a state of deep sleep which is similar to the Hibernate function in Windows. ) could you please tell me more about this..?

Thanks

 

[Osarkon]

Thanks for the reply's , The power cuts here have been recently on a daily basis and lasting from 5 minuets to several hours , along with the power cuts I also get voltage fluctuation's which the un interruptible power supply takes care of, ... Osarkon I am interested in your comment . ( whilst a powercut takes place, I think that macs just go into a state of deep sleep which is similar to the Hibernate function in Windows. ) could you please tell me more about this..?

Thanks

Well generally when you sleep the mac, it would just sleep, and you can wake it up pretty much immediately. However, if you put it to sleep and the battery runs out (this is on a laptop obviously, but the same concept should theoretically stand true for a desktop), then it goes into a state of deep sleep where everything is saved to the hard drive and it just takes about a minute to wake up afterwards.

You can tell when it's done this because when you try to turn it back on, the screen will be faded out a bit and there'll be a progress bar telling you how long until the computer's useable.

Hope that helps a bit.