Is it safe to hook my computer up to a generator if the power goes out?

Question

Is it safe to hook my computer up to a generator if the power goes out?

Answer 1

Yes, the generator is supplying the computer with electricity just as your outlet would.  

Answer 2

Not without some sort of surge suppression and voltage regulation, like a really good UPS (uninterruptable power supply) unit. Electronics and computers are very sensitive to over- and under-voltages.  

Answer 3

Generators people use to run their equipment for short term emergency use are usually subject to overloaded demand, surges, etc. because most of these are installed by people with little knowledge of the impact of what they are doing.  Beause of this, the voltages are subject to spikes, drops, etc and this is very hard on sensitive electronics.

For this reason, if you use a typical home connected generator, be sure to have a UPS with a surge suppressor between the pc power cord and the home generated power supply.

As is always the case, be sure to properly configure the electrical lines to avoid back feeds into other circuits and back into the utility fed electrical supply network.