the most common way surges kill your computer is 1 of 3 ways. 1) power surge - this usually affects the power supply (that's why laptops aren't affected) use a decent surge protector and you should be fine. 2 & 3 is the network cable and if you have a fax line or modem. This type of surge can kill your motherboard and hard drive and destroy the computer. To avoid this problem either unplug the Ethernet and fax cable from pc, or use a better surge protector that has an extra Ethernet protection.