Ungrounded power outlet - how to best handle

I have a very old house that has some two prong outlets. I removed the cover and found the copper ground wire connected to the box. I checked that it was a real ground wire and then hooked it to a 3 prong outlet. You might be lucky too.

 

How to Ground a Two-Prong Electrical Outlet
The Easiest Way to Ground an Outlet - wikiHow

 

Keep in mind that none of the devices listed require a grounded outlet, and if you use a UPS on the 2 prong outlet it will still be protected but will report a ground fault.
You can be safe, but it's not required.

 

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This. Almost all of my house is two prong. It's not a great situation because you are not protected if an appliance shorts out, i.e., you can get shocked or worse. But, the TiVos works just fine.

 

We struggle at the cottage because it's all 3 prong outlets and almost none of them have grounds connected (previous owner, don't ask) and my sister was very concerned to the point of wanting to look for an electrician to rewire the house.

However I pulled her off the ledge when I had her look at what we had in the cottage that actually required a grounded outlet and there were less than 10 items, with the big ones being fridge, microwave, and toaster oven.

 

APC did have some low power 2-prong UPSes. I have at least one of each of these that I got for real cheap awhile ago.

APC BGE70 Back-UPS Connect 70, 120V, Network Backup (White)
APC Back-UPS Connect 90, 120V, Network backup, USB charging ports - APC USA

 

If it were me I'd avoid and conditioner/surge protector and just go for a cheap UPS with a 2-prong adapter, it's not perfect, but it's safer because you're isolated from the mains, whereas on a power strip you would not be, and they leverage the grounding for protection.

Technically since the mini uses a brick I wouldn't worry about it since the brick will take the hit, if the TV also uses a brick I wouldn't even bother with protection since the bricks will sacrifice themselves.

 

The Mini uses a AC>DC wall wart, and most TVs do now too (even the ones that have internal power supplies are still just AC>DC switching supplies, inside the TV's case). Realistically, given the plastic cases and isolation from the input, a cheater plug would be acceptable (to me, maybe not to an inspector...)

If you want protection (a Mini replacement PSU is cheap, but if the TV has an internal supply it's a pain in the a--) get a cheap UPS (I'm partial to the APC BE600M1) and just put some tape over the "ground fault" indicator. It'll be fine.

 

I have several of both. They work well to back up my 1980s alarm clock and my TiVo mini. I gave several to my parent's and daughter for their TiVos, to cover any quick outages.

 

By any chance is the wiring run thru armoured cable? If so you might be able to ground the metal shield along th run and use that for the ground.

 

My Sister's house has old 2-prong outlets. They are worn-out and don't hold the plugs tight. I have been replacing them with 3-prong outlets, and testing with a outlet tester, so far all have been grounded. The original house wiring is two separate wires The metal work box inside the wall is grounded thru the armored covering to the service panel. The new outlets are grounded by the two screws that hold it into the work box. You can pick up an outlet tester for for $5-$10 and use it with a 2-prong to 3-prong adapter to see if its worth doing.