Brownout

A brownout is when the mains electrical power voltage drops below normal; similar to a blackout, but instead of the lights going out, they go dim.

When it comes to computers and the effects of a brownout, all bets are off. Depending on the severity and duration of the brownout, and the quality of the computer’s power supply, it may be fine. It may spontaneously reboot itself. It may do anything in between, including memory corruption, application crashes, displaying a BSOD, or causing the printer to start printing MELON MELON MELON *** OUT OF CHEESE *** over and over.