coxnvox Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Ok, my VAIO laptop went down, appeared to be the internal part of the power supply. Unit would simply not turn on with either the battery or plugged in. They send me a form to send in with the computer for working on it, and it says a bunch of stuff but at one point tells me it's my responsibility to back-up everything and that they will reset the unit to factory settings.(This was gonna be tough without being able to turn the power on.) I understand this, but I didn't agree that they should wipe stuff off the hard drive unless the hard drive itself is damaged and needs to be initialized in order to fix it. So I circled this part and said that I did not agree to this stipulation and signed it. The it asked me if I understood the statements and asked for a signature so I signed it but put that I was not in agreement with the one statement. So, I got it back today and one partition had not been touched, telling me that there was nothing wrong with the drive, but the system partition had been wiped, meaning I'll have to reinstall all programs I had installed, and that I lost much valuable information. I know I should have backed up more recently (it had been 4 months probably), but did Sony have the right to wipe a partition of a hard drive when there was nothing wrong with it and erase much of my work for the past 4 months? I can't believe this is their standard practice. Would love to hear any comments... Thanks, kc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 How much is the lost information worth to you? Do you have a lawyer? https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxnvox Posted December 11, 2002 Author Share Posted December 11, 2002 [quote]Originally posted by dBunny: [b]How much is the lost information worth to you? Do you have a lawyer?[/b][/quote]Nothing was really irreplaceable, just schedules, emails, bunch of stuff from meetings that I'll have to try to redo from memory...more of a major pita than a possible lawsuit, I would think, but maybe it's worth looking into to. kc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 This is EXACTLY why I recommend using local system integrators. Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nawor Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Unfortunately the data on your computer is your responsibilty... period! You should have backed it up [b]before[/b] your machine failed! ;) If they didn't need to wipe half your drive then maybe that sucks. I work as tech support in the electronics industry involving security and telecommunications products. Much of our equipment has to be programmed by the customer to suit their own requirements. When it comes in for service or repair it is run through a test sequence which erases and reprograms the memory. This of course wipe out the customers information, but is the only way to fully test the functionality of the unit. We explain this to the customer in advance... but they always complain when they have to reprogram it! Still here's a suggestion for future refence... I have an adaptor that allows me to fit my 2.5" laptop drive into a 3.5" removable caddy. This way I can load my laptop drive into my desktop PC and 'Ghost' the entire contents of the laptop drive onto my desktop PC. Then I burn the O.S. and data partions onto a couple of CD.s. If you have a newish laptop with an inbuilt burner, then even better! Now... when was the last time I backed up my data? :eek: BTW does anybody guarantee against data loss? I always thought the disclaimer said they don't? "WARNING!" - this artificial fruit juice may contain traces of REAL FRUIT!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 [quote]Originally posted by Rowan: [b]Unfortunately the data on your computer is your responsibilty... period! You should have backed it up [b]before[/b] your machine failed! ;) If they didn't need to wipe half your drive then maybe that sucks. [/b][/quote]There was probably no other way to restore the machine.In this case the system battery probably had to be replaced which means resetting CSMOS in Bios.In pre-builts these days,the crafty maunufacturers started hiding crucial bios sections on a hidden partirion of your HD,which means when you wipe out your system you have no choice other than to bring it to them.In your case in order to ensure that the bios on the hidden partition wasn't corrupted(that's what happens when bios is on a HD,not a chip),it had to be wiped to ensure no errors on the drive as a whole itself.What they should have told you is that if you want your machine fixed you have no choice but to lose the drive.I don't know where you stand legally because of the strange wording of the contract,but I'm sure they didn't leave themselves open so easily.Lesson:Back up as much as possible and roll your own. "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxnvox Posted December 11, 2002 Author Share Posted December 11, 2002 [quote]Originally posted by Rowan: [b]Unfortunately the data on your computer is your responsibilty... period! You should have backed it up [b]before[/b] your machine failed! ;) [/b][/quote]Yeah, that's why I'm not complaining too much, but it is an 8-month old unit, and it's rather disappointing that I've already had a problem like this with it. It doesn't get moved around too much, and I'm mostly doing word processing, Powerpoint, and Internet on it, so I'm surprised something failed so soon. Thanks for all the input...it is all appreciated. Later, kc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Sony does what Sony wants, the rest of the free world can go to hell, as far as they're concerned. (I work on Sony gear everyday, trust me...) I've upped my standards; now, up yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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