I'm at a loss for words

Eric L · Feb 1, 2007

Our PC went into the repair shop last week... kept crashing... reason unknown. repair guy was gonna back up all my data, and format the HD and re- whatever to make it all good.

Here's the kicker, he deleted (as in permanently) all my files including pictures...

I have a lot saved on CD's but nothing recent, including many of my youngest sons early years. :pat:

I feel like I got kicked in the stomach

... he says he didn't know they were there, and he asked what I wanted saved... I did not have that conversation with him.

A question for you guys... how normal is it to store data on the HD i.e. C:/EDOX/pictures/camping/may_2002 ?

Eric

thcri · Feb 1, 2007

Eric L said:
A question for you guys... how normal is it to store data on the HD i.e. C:/EDOX/pictures/camping/may_2002 ?

Eric

I see nothing wrong the way you stored.

I would tell the guy he best get one of them companies that can retrive old files. If he only deleted, formated then they still should be able to get the information. This process used to be a very expensive process but has gone down over the years. I would have him check it out check with his insurance company to see if they are going to pay for it.

murph

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Feb 1, 2007

Dude, that sucks. It is very typical for repair guys to do this (even the Apple Store - Bob).

Never, turn a computer over to a repair guy without backing up everything important on it - twice. Then verify that the CD/DVD's you made actually work on another computer too.

Tough lesson to learn. You could spend some bucks with a data recovery service and see if they can recover anything but it won't be cheap.

The repair guy is a hack for doing that to you. I bet he was cheap (relatively).

My condolences.

elsmitro · Feb 1, 2007

I always recommend people get a DVD burner or a USB hard drive and back up all their pictures, docs, and other important stuff once a month. You can take it a step further by keeping that backup in another building. Just wish I would practice what I preach! I think the tech should have done a search on the hard drive and pulled all that stuff off. Unfortunately a lot of these “techs” really aren’t very good. Sorry for your loss!

Doc · Feb 1, 2007

Eric L said:
Our PC went into the repair shop last week... kept crashing... reason unknown. repair guy was gonna back up all my data, and format the HD and re- whatever to make it all good.

Here's the kicker, he deleted (as in permanently) all my files including pictures...

I have a lot saved on CD's but nothing recent, including many of my youngest sons early years.

I feel like I got kicked in the stomach ... he says he didn't know they were there, and he asked what I wanted saved... I did not have that conversation with him.

A question for you guys... how normal is it to store data on the HD i.e. C:/EDOX/pictures/camping/may_2002 ?

Eric

Very normal. That is what it is for. :pat:

If he said he was backing up your harddrive, he should have everything backed up. Unless you have a HUGE harddrive, he would normally back up it all.
Sure sounds like he screwed up royally and is trying to cover up his screw up by saying you had some converstaion about what you want saved. Duh. If it is on the harddrive, YOU WANT IT SAVED. That is why it's on the harddrive.
Talk to the manager, he might be able to get to the original backup. Otherwise at least have him give you a refund for whatever you paid.
That is not right.

bczoom · Feb 1, 2007

Wow Eric, what a loss.

I'm not a guru but thought there were programs that could recover erased files (so long as the area wasn't overwritten).

Personally, I wouldn't store any personal files outside of the "Documents and Settings" area.

It's a little late now, but I'd consider getting an external drive and setup a Briefcase to that drive so you then have a full backup. For me it works very well. If I had to get out of the house in a hurry or whatever, I can just grab the external drive (it's small) and go. The PC could stay.

Doc · Feb 1, 2007

I'm just the opposite BC. I never keep anything in the Documents and Settings area.

Different strokes .....
I set up my own folders for each year.

Eric also said the guy was formatting his harddrive. If they did you will not be able to recover any deleted files from before the format. But, anyone doing such an operation should always backup the entire contents of the harddrive beforehand.

Eric L · Feb 1, 2007

I just called a recovery place.. he seems optimistic on recovering the files.. probly like $300... I'm not happy at all, but its a small price to pay for the pictures.

Eric

Eric L · Feb 1, 2007

Original repair guy said "nobody stores files on the C drive like that"... maybe I just learned from an old school geek, but thats how I've always done it. I think the "my Documents" and "my pictures" thing is annoying...

thanks for listening,
Still Pissed in California

Doc · Feb 1, 2007

I used to work on PC's. Anyone saying no one stores files on c: drive is an idiot. One thing you learn working on other folks PC's is that no two people do it the same. All servers normally seperate the OS from the data, but for a home workstation anything is fair game. I recently bought a laptop with a 160gig harddrive. It came with XP already loaded and one HUGE partition. If I had left it that way everything would have been stored on c:. I think this is normal nowdays for them to come from the factory with just one harddrive partion taking up the entire drive.
A hard lesson for sure, and hopefully the data can be recovered. But be sure you burn your personal data to a CD or get an external hard drive for quick painless backups.

thcri · Feb 1, 2007

Eric L said:
I think the "my Documents" and "my pictures" thing is annoying...

thanks for listening,
Still Pissed in California

Eric, I am with you all the way on the documents and setting crapped. Never liked it and probably never will even though I am trying to.

As far the $300. I would tell the guy he is responsible for it.

murph

DaveNay · Feb 1, 2007

Eric L said:
I just called a recovery place.. he seems optimistic on recovering the files.. probly like $300... I'm not happy at all, but its a small price to pay for the pictures.

Eric

MAKE SURE THE IDIOT PUTS DOWN THE HARD DRIVE AND BACKS AWAY SLOWLY!!!

Make it very clear to him and his management that they are not to touch your property, and you will be in to claim it and take it to your data recovery guy.

Do not attempt to fix it yourself. Do not boot the computer!!!!!! Windows writes files all the time, and can easily overwrite your data, now that those sections are considered "unused".

Eric L · Feb 1, 2007

DaveNay said:
take it to your data recovery guy.

Done... unplugging now, ....channel clear.

Eric

thcri · Feb 1, 2007

Unless the guy used a disk wipe program even if you 7 files written over the top of the files you want to retrieve they still will be there. After 7 then your files start to get not so good. I am hoping everything will be fine with Eric's files. And 3 bills is not so bad for recovering them files.

murph

Eric L · Feb 7, 2007

update:

I got the machine back last night and have not fully investigated the recovered files, but it seems that at about 75% were recovered :cool2:

I may never know the full extent of the loss.

$325 for the recovery, and I bought an external 40G HD to do backups on for another $75.

A question... the new HD is a regular one in a fancy case to make it external.. can I ghost my internal drive onto the new one complete with OS and use the new one in a future machine or as a replacement?

Eric

BigAl · Feb 7, 2007

Eric L said:
update:

I got the machine back last night and have not fully investigated the recovered files, but it seems that at about 75% were recovered I may never know the full extent of the loss.

$325 for the recovery, and I bought an external 40G HD to do backups on for another $75.

A question... the new HD is a regular one in a fancy case to make it external.. can I ghost my internal drive onto the new one complete with OS and use the new one in a future machine or as a replacement?

Eric

Come on Eric !!!
Lets go whip that guys Arse that did this !!! (<English for Ass) .We will take $325 bucks off his hide ! You can watch . The way my back feels this morning ,I may take a little off his hide too compensate you for your trouble too .

I can be there in 1 1/2 hours .... and will bring a case of "Whip Ass" (< American for Ass Kicking)

Glad your Back !
BigAl

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Feb 7, 2007

You could do that but you would not want to boot from the USB/Firewire drive (if your motherboard even supports that). It would be too slow to do on a regular basis. You could however, unplug the hard drive from it's external case and plug it into your main case. You may want to read up on IDE/ATA settings and stuff first to make sure you are comfortable doing that.

I'd just try to remember to backup all your important data files and not bother backing up the software. If you have all the installation disks for the software then you can just re-install it later. Usually, a scrub and fresh re-install is like getting a new computer since it cleans out all the crud that bogs your system down.

Does this make sense?

Eric L · Feb 7, 2007

PBinWA said:
Does this make sense?

Well... mostly. I was kinda thinkin' "what if I bought a PC on ebay without an OS, and installed the HD in the new one, or copy the data to the new PC"

You may be able to figure out what I'm up to here :hide:

I'm at a loss for words

Eric L

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