The Beav according to Beav

Still crazy after all these years.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Dude! You're gettin' a data wipe!

A week ago, when plugging the power cord into my laptop, the port that it plugs into continued into the computer. The cord plugged into the port, but the computer did not register the power.

Since I bought it in late May/early June of last year, I was still under warranty, so I called Dell to find out where I could take it to be repaired. Apparently, my warranty is a mail-it-to-us-and-we'll-fix-it type. But it's free. The support guy got my addy, and soon there was a box at my door to put the computer in. I package my digital life in the box, with the little foam bits to pull out to make space for the power cord and what-not, and call for the shipping company to come get it.

Several days later, I get an automated call from Dell saying that the work was done and they were shipping it back. Good deal! A few more days, and my computer is back; huzzah! Upon opening the box, it turns out to be the very same one I sent (makes sense). Along with my computer and power cord (not put in the little space I pulled foam bits out to make), there are also 2 pieces of paper. One says that they've repaired my system board and base cover assembly ("Thank you for using DELL"). The other says that after extensive diagnostic testing, they recommend that I replace my hard drive to return my system to "an optimal condition." They apparently don't have those in stock, so they'll send one to me.

I'm a little confused. When I lost power, the hard drive was working fine. Perhaps it's not running as fast or as efficiently as it might? Guess I'll see. So, I plugged up (port looks good), and powered up. The process stops and the computer tells me that it doesn't have any bootable drives or media. An investigation showed that the computer could not find its own hard drive (hence the replacement to return it to an optimal condition, I guess).

Now, I'm not an IT professional, but I have built a computer or two. How do you kill a hard drive while repairing the &*!% power port?!?

--Beav (Can I get my data back, please?)

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2 Comments:

  • At 11:58 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    ROLF!!!! dude this is why we always,always, always back up the hard drive!!! especially when sending our pride and joy to some strange person to fix. 2nd tip never touch the bios chip Doh!!!

     
  • At 2:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I would be on the phone with their customer support - they should be responsible for recovering whatever you had on that drive and restoring it to you. Why in the world would they send it to you without getting the new drive and installing it themselves? They screwed it up, but now when you put the new drive in they can claim that any further problems are due to your installation of the new HD. What crap.

    Been listening to "Songs in the Attic" lately and can't get enough of "Billy the Kid."

    "...In a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island/Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand/And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time/East and west of the Rio Grande..."

    Kiss the baby for me!!! Hello Tristan!!!!

     

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