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agentmouthwash · Dec 9, 2003, 03:30 PM

Somebody on the Apple board mentioned something about having no data loss when getting their Powerbook back from Repair from Apple. Has this been a problem?

You need to login to my Powerbook in order to view the data. How can they tamper with it?

I am asking because I need to send my Powerbook in soon to fix the white spot.

RMXO · Dec 9, 2003, 03:52 PM

Originally posted by agentmouthwash:
Somebody on the Apple board mentioned something about having no data loss when getting their Powerbook back from Repair from Apple. Has this been a problem?

You need to login to my Powerbook in order to view the data. How can they tamper with it?

I am asking because I need to send my Powerbook in soon to fix the white spot.

its always best to backup your data before you send it in for repair.

-Q- · Dec 9, 2003, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by RMXO:
its always best to backup your data before you send it in for repair.

Seconded.

When I dropped my old iBook off for repair at the local Apple store, they asked me for my password so they could access the data if necessary. But I had no problem with data loss.

And from what I understand, Apple will do their best to yank off any data you have if they have to swap out your HDD or something.

scadboy · Dec 9, 2003, 05:03 PM

On the two occasions I've had to send an apple product in for repair, the person I spoke with stated explicitly that they could not guarantee that the item would be returned with its original data intact, unless I paid an extra $50 for backup service.

Both times I decided against the service, since even then, in the event that my data was lost, all they would do is refund the $50 for the backup fee.

And both times, the machines were returned with all of their data intact. Of course, your mileage may vary, and I highly recommend backing up regularly regardless of where your powerbook is going, down the street to work, or across the country to apple. Backup Backup Backup, especially if you do your work on your Mac.

ciao,

michael

anaphora68 · Dec 9, 2003, 05:53 PM

I can answer this question from a tech support standpoint. When we, at my school's help desk, accept a machine, the student has to sign a waiver stating that the support center and technicians are not responsible for any data loss incurred as a reslt of the repair. This is not to say we will just format a machine, or trash data, but it happens sometimes. I am sure Apple, in its warranty documentation, states something similar.

That said, sometimes it is necessary to have the password in case a system wipe needs to be done or a new hard drive swapped in. It's not to tamper with your files, it's to usually move them or actually run system diagnostics. You can only do so much with a login screen.

SEkker · Dec 9, 2003, 09:51 PM

Back it up! Use CCC to an external drive, when Apple sends your machine with a fresh OS install, you just reverse the process.

I've had it in twice, once for a modem hardware failure which they insisted was software (until I took it to an Apple Store). They then did a fresh OS install (third time!), deleting me as a user, before replacing the 50 cent modem.

The next time, Apple hardware test showed a problem, they left the HD alone.

BACK UP YOUR DATA. You should be doing so anyway.

Person Man · Dec 11, 2003, 11:37 PM

Originally posted by SEkker:

BACK UP YOUR DATA. You should be doing so anyway.

Yes, and also change your password to a "throwaway" one, and remove any sensitive information after you've backed up your hard drive so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

jasong · Dec 11, 2003, 11:57 PM

When I sent my Pismo in to get the sound card replaced I cloned my drive to my old desktop machine, put the original drive back in (I had replaced it with a 20 GB drive), and just put a vanilla installation of OS 9 on it. When I got it back, I just cloned the drive back and was good to go.

Data loss on machines isn't a "problem", Apple explicitly states that your machine might come back empty. Not backing up your data before sending your computer to them is just plain dumb.

-- Jason

anaphora68 · Dec 12, 2003, 09:55 AM

Yeah, backing up is the most important thing you can do, and it's not all that time consuming. Where I work we get a lot of people who get really upset when their hard drive crashes and they lose EVERYTHING because they didn't back anything up.

Moose · Dec 12, 2003, 11:42 AM

Any time I've had to send my PowerBook into Apple, I've backed up my data, formatted the hard drive, and installed a new install of Mac OS X, with the admin account's password set to apple.