Today, we’d like to cover something that happens all over the country, but we’ve seen it happen here in the Portland metro areas as well.
Warranty repairs, are completely normal. When something breaks, you take it into the company you bought it from and they fix it, right? Typically, that’s how things go, but what can actually happen in the case of computers, is that your data disappears when it shows back up in your hands.
Imagine sending your computer into a company to fix a screen that messed up. Not a big deal, by PC repair standards, but something that most companies require that the computer be sent to a service center. While in that service center, many things can happen. The company may decide that something else is wrong and replace it as well, like a recalled hard drive… Or that the computer needed the motherboard replaced which causes windows to no longer work – so they hook that hard drive up to a machine and replace Windows within minutes – along with all your valuable pictures, music, documents, etc. All gone.
This is why it’s so important to use some type of backup. While Protocol16 uses a service we like called Carbonite, any type of backup will do, whether you burn files to a CD or DVD, throw files on a memory stick or an external hard drive or you use some type of automated backup solution (in the Apple world, I personally use Time Machine). If you use your own backup solution, make sure that the data is physically located somewhere else in case something major happens – your backup can’t help if it’s destroyed in the same fire that kills your computer…
Anytime you give your property to anyone else, whether a friend, a repair company, a relative, etc. MAKE A BACKUP of your data. It’s too easy for a Caramel Latte to be spilled on your PC by your friend or family member, it’s too easy for someone to accidentally drop and it’s too easy for the guy at the repair depot that some big company uses to not care about YOUR data and “accidentally” overwrite it with a fresh install of Windows.
Whoever you choose, be careful and perform a backup. As always, if you have questions, give us a call at 503-524-9047.
Justin
