What do you mean my HDD is blank!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PepperElf]

Pretty much that's what happened.

Customer turned computer in for work, was sent to service center and when we got it back the new HDD was blank. Sometimes they put the OS on sometimes they don't.

This is of course why we ask people if their data is backed up, and have them sign off that we're not liable for missing data etc.

I called them up and left a voicemail stating that there was no OS and asking them if they could bring in recovery discs and to call us back.


Instead of calling us back they came in to pick it up and were FURIOUS that it didn't have an operating system.


Wife (yelling): WE DON'T HAVE RECOVERY DISCS! THERE WEREN'T ANY WITH THE COMPUTER!!!

Basically she felt this was all our fault and that we should take responsibility.


Me: (fuck this opie can be yelled at). So I told opie and he talked to them and calmed them down... and explained that they had to order the recovery discs.

and of course no it's not our fault that she didn't have recovery discs. you're suppose to make those when you first get the computer.


she and the hubby decided to order it themselves and do it at home. opie offered to have them bring it back if they had trouble but i doubt they'll come back.

they're pissed off and knowing it's not our fault isn't going to make them any happier about it.


opie did try to ping me for not leaving the voicemail - cos he couldn't find it in the notes - until i pointed out where i'd logged it. he didn't like that i logged it where i did but... he couldn't ping me for it either cos it was obvious that yeah i *did* log it somewhere at least.

[tropicsgoddess]

With Vista and Windows 7 computers, they don't come with the recovery disks, you'd have to make one yourself. The Operating System has a feature where you can burn your own recovery disk. Anything prior to Windows XP would come with the recovery disk but it's the customer's fault if they were too dumb to toss that out or lose it. At my old job, I'd get people that would bug the fuck out because they didn't back up their stuff when I dropped the bomb on them that they had to re-install Windows.

[Ironclad Alibi]

A lot of computers come with a recovery partition, usually drive D. Mine did, but I also made the one-time back up of the OS. Of course, if the hard disk is replaced, they're out of luck.

[Moon]

Sounds like a good excuse to give Linux a try... FREE, and does almost everything Windows can do. Of course, they do need to get to a working computer to download it and burn it to a DVD in order to load it onto a blank HDD. That's basically why I switched a few years ago-- HDD crash, and I didn't have my disc or serial number anymore (plus I was still running 98 and this was in 2005). Of course this person might not have the tech savvy to learn the differences between what they were using and the new system.

In any event.... While they're pretty much hosed it's not your fault and it's wrong of them to take it out on you.

[Midnight_Angel]

Well, even if the computer won't boot up your pwecious Windows anymore, you can still boot an OS from CD, USB (or an external SATA drive), back up your data, and then wipe all the internal stuff before re-installing.

OF course, if someone did not make recovery disks, it's unlikely he has made any emergency boot devices...

[Flying Grype]

Aaaah... I feel stupid. I didn't realize the thing about burning a recovery disc. If I did I would still have Windows on my netbook... oh well.

[Duncan MacLeod]

Sounds like a good excuse to give Linux a try... FREE, and does almost everything Windows can do. Of course, they do need to get to a working computer to download it and burn it to a DVD in order to load it onto a blank HDD. That's basically why I switched a few years ago-- HDD crash, and I didn't have my disc or serial number anymore (plus I was still running 98 and this was in 2005). Of course this person might not have the tech savvy to learn the differences between what they were using and the new system.

In any event.... While they're pretty much hosed it's not your fault and it's wrong of them to take it out on you.

I have Linux (Ubuntu 11.10) running on one of my secondary Comps so I can do fun nostalgic command-line stuff (IRC in full screen glorious V-Term). But as a gamer, I shudder each day as I have my main, and more powerful i7 running Windows.

[Andara Bledin]

As an aside: Just because a disk is coming up unbootable/unreadable, it doesn't mean the data is lost, just the index that tells the computer where on the drive the data is stored. There are some cheap and even some free utilities out there that will allow you to scrounge for data stored on a crapped out hard drive.

^-.-^

[dendawg]

There are some cheap and even some free utilities out there that will allow you to scrounge for data stored on a crapped out hard drive.

Such as?

[Andara Bledin]

Let me get home and look up what I used on my last drive.

^-.-^

[Seshat]

Linux. fsck - file system consistency check - can read and fix a windows drive if it's readable/fixable.

Of course, this requires the hardware part of the drive to be working. If the platter's become scratched, or is stuck to the spindle, or the drive head's misaligned, or ... a lot of etc like that ... then that's why data recovery companies charge a ton of money.

But if the hardware is fine, get a Linux geek to make you a bootable Linux CD or USB stick. Boot off that, run fsck, and cross your fingers. You just might get everything back.

[Barracuda]

As long as you have your serial key (look online to find out how to find it for your operating system,) you should be able to get the software free. The serial key is what you actually (legally) purchase when you purchase an OS, the software still belongs to the company. You have just purchased a license to use one copy. However, if you still have that license (the key,) they will give you another copy.

[sms001]

Such as?

I usually use Convar's PC Inspector. You should have a decent grasp of partitions, etc., but I've found it extremely usueful.

http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?language=1

[BlaqueKatt]

There are some cheap and even some free utilities out there that will allow you to scrounge for data stored on a crapped out hard drive.

would not have worked on mine, when I took it apart to get at the shinys to make jewelry, I found many scorched and blown capacitors, and a few melty bits(power supply went kamakaze, took out itself and everything but the DVD drive)

[Andara Bledin]

would not have worked on mine, when I took it apart to get at the shinys to make jewelry, I found many scorched and blown capacitors, and a few melty bits(power supply went kamakaze, took out itself and everything but the DVD drive)

Yeah. When the drive is physically damaged like that, then unless you're willing to shell out $15k base to have it cracked open in a clean-room environment so the platters can be individually mounted and stripped of any usable data, you're pretty well screwed.

^-.-^