Make an ATX motherboard stay powered on in the event of a power outage

[jyates]

Hi fellas,

Got a buddy who is wanting to keep his ATX computer system set so
that if the power goes off the computer will power up when the
power comes back on. Like the older AT systems would do.

He is using it as an answering machine mostly and doesn't want the
system to remain off if the power was to go off and he would miss
calls.

Is there any way to do this?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[Peter]

Many boards are adjustable in their behavior after a sudden AC power loss. Look for a BIOS control called "Power State after AC loss", options usually are Off, On, or Restore Previous.

This is not a high end feature either. Even my $29 Elitegroup L7S7A2 has it.

 

[jyates]

Thanks,
I'll look into it and see if his mb has that setting option!

 

[Zepper]

A very dangerous thing to do as very often following a power outage there are several on-off cycles, spikes, surges etc. that could do serious harm to his machine. Much better to suggest he get and use a UPS! They aren't that expensive any more.
.bh.

 

[MDE]

Yeah, I'd get a UPS. For about $100 you can get a decent APC unit that'll run for years.

 

[jyates]

That is true.....I'll advise him to get
an UPS!