# Windows diagnostics missed lightning damage that had destroyed a dial-up modem

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/windows-said-modem-worked-fine-that-unmistakable-scorched-electronics-smell-suggested-otherwise/
- Published: 2026-10-23T05:26:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:32:50+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/10/23/windows-said-modem-worked-fine-that-unmistakable-scorched-electronics-smell-suggested-otherwise/5304375
- Topics: Business, Markets

## Key points

- Windows reported the modem was working.
- Lightning had destroyed its voltage regulator.
- A physical inspection revealed what software checks missed.

## Summary

A tech support worker called Lachlan traced a senior executive’s sudden email failure to a dial-up modem damaged by lightning. The case shows that software checks can report a device as healthy even when physical damage has made it unusable.

Lachlan checked the network settings, cables, phone line and modem responses in Windows Device Manager, all of which appeared normal. When he opened the computer, he found a soot mark where the modem’s voltage regulator had been destroyed; the executive said email stopped during a lightning storm, and the component had been designed to protect the modem from the phone line’s voltage.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.