> I realize that "high" is a relative and an opinion term as opposed to
facts.
> So let me be more factorial.
>
> I have had at least a 5 ~ 10 puters in the shop over the last 2 years
> because the client connected and/or disconnected a PS/2 mouse with power
on
> and it fried the mobo. The client had done this action less than 10 times
> total before it fried the mobo. I have never had a fried mobo in the shop
> for connecting and/or disconnecting a serial and/or LPT port. I have had
> about the same number of fried mobos in the shop from clients that did not
> have a surge protector on the phone line going into the modem. I have
never
> had a fried mobo the shop that the client did not surge protect the AC
line.
>
> From these facts, I would suggest that connecting/disconnecting a PS/2
mouse
> with power on and not surge protecting your modem phone line is a high
risk.
> Not protecting the AC line for surges (not applicable to 7/24 systems
> without a UPS) or connecting/disconnecting a serial or LPT port as a low
> risk.
>
> I would not call you lucky but you have been going against the odds. Or
> another way of saying it would be there are two kinds of people who
> connect/disconnect PS/2 mice with power on...those that have fried a mobo
> and those that will. <G>

     Well I would agree that you have seen many occurances, but your sample
is biased. You ONLY get broken systems, it is possible that for the 100
boards you have seen break because of this, 100 billion did not break
because of this. Of course my numbers are hugely out of whack: I am just
trying to get a point across. The only way to define whether the risk is
relatively high or low is to take a real sample, go to 1000 computers with
PS/2 ports, making sure the occurance of one type of board is not too high,
and unplug and plug in the mouse a few times while powered up, that would
give a true representation. I am not saying you are wrong, I just want to
point out that your information doesn't cover as much as some people may
assume. I myself have worked for years on many different types of computers,
just as you, but not broken computers. I myself have and seen others do this
MANY time with no ill effects. We are both right and we are both wrong. TTYL

                         PCBUILD's List Owner's:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>