As I'm replacing all of the systems here, I'm also getting a TrippLite SmartPro 550 USB Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). These will keep a PC and monitor running for about 10-15 minutes. Long enough to stay on during most power blips and to shut down if needed during an extended power outage. Also has built in circuit protection and noise filter to increase the life of your equipment. Cost is about $75 per. So not much more than a good power strip.
Has 6 receptacles and an 8' cord.
Anyhow, I've run into a problem with the Power Alert software that runs on the PC.
This software monitors the UPS's power situation and lets the user know if the UPS goes into an error condition. Error conditions can range from UPS on battery, UPS on battery and at low charge, bad battery, power back on, etc. You control how long the UPS waits to initiate shutdown through this software.
The problem that occurred was that the software on a few PCs was seeing the Dell USB keyboard with USB hub as a power device. This was causing the software to constantly use 50% of the total CPU power. Would also totally screw up Windows' ability to display properly.
The fix is to shut down the Power Alert Monitoring Service. Remove a file named commhid.dll from c:\program files\TrippLite\PowerAlert\Engine\ directory (this is default install location). Delete all files in the c:\program files\tripplite\poweralert\data\ directory.
*** Warning: Be careful when working with the registry. Make a backup before you do anything. ***
You may also have to delete the keys in the registry for the devices found under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tripp Lite\PowerAlert Agent\ key.
Restart the Power Alert service and it should now just see the UPS.