Computer malfunction
I managed to drop my laptop on my mother's tile floor about a month ago, while I was visiting. I took it to the Laptop Service Center three weeks ago, only to be told that the hard drive was damaged and would need to be replaced. The good news was that the computer was still under warranty, and therefore there would be no charge for the new hard drive. The bad news was that I still had data I needed on the old hard drive. I had checked the box indicating that I did not want the drive replaced automatically. Unfortunately, the center had already replaced the drive and sent the old one off with UPS. They managed to contact the driver and get the drive back.
Two weeks ago, I dropped the drive off for data recovery with datboys. I was told that it would take 5-7 working days, meaning that I would receive the hard drive between March 9 and 13th. After hearing nothing, I called on the morning of the 12th and was told that my call would be returned in an hour. I called again around 4 pm, and someone finally spoke to me at 6 pm. At this point, they told me that the drive would definitely be ready by Tuesday at the latest. I thought, well, it seems like it will be Tuesday at the earliest, too, as it's already Monday night. I called Tuesday morning (after working the overnight), and was told that I could pick it up after 3 pm. I went home, slept, then drove to New Hampshire to look at the rehearsal dinner site. I decided to swing by datboys on the way home, getting there about 4:30. The drive was not ready, but I was assured that it would be done by 6 pm. This time, I called first...and of course the drive was not ready. By Wednesday, the company started telling me that there were "many bad sectors" and that they were having trouble with data recovery. (Now, to me "bad sectors" sounds like something out of Star Trek; I have no idea what this means in terms of my drive.) By today, they finally told me that the drive would have to go to a lab. Whereupon I picked it up and dropped it off with another service.
The Laptop Service Center had also told me that they were unable to install an operating system on the new drive, and that I would need to purchase a CD drive that did not attach via a USB cable. They assured me that this was "easy to find in any store such as Best Buy". After going to several stores and getting funny looks, I concluded that: a) no, this is in fact not easy to find and b) in fact, it needs to be ordered online. I ordered the drive yesterday, and hopefully it will come next week. Not that I expect to have my computer back anytime in the near future. Sigh.
Two weeks ago, I dropped the drive off for data recovery with datboys. I was told that it would take 5-7 working days, meaning that I would receive the hard drive between March 9 and 13th. After hearing nothing, I called on the morning of the 12th and was told that my call would be returned in an hour. I called again around 4 pm, and someone finally spoke to me at 6 pm. At this point, they told me that the drive would definitely be ready by Tuesday at the latest. I thought, well, it seems like it will be Tuesday at the earliest, too, as it's already Monday night. I called Tuesday morning (after working the overnight), and was told that I could pick it up after 3 pm. I went home, slept, then drove to New Hampshire to look at the rehearsal dinner site. I decided to swing by datboys on the way home, getting there about 4:30. The drive was not ready, but I was assured that it would be done by 6 pm. This time, I called first...and of course the drive was not ready. By Wednesday, the company started telling me that there were "many bad sectors" and that they were having trouble with data recovery. (Now, to me "bad sectors" sounds like something out of Star Trek; I have no idea what this means in terms of my drive.) By today, they finally told me that the drive would have to go to a lab. Whereupon I picked it up and dropped it off with another service.
The Laptop Service Center had also told me that they were unable to install an operating system on the new drive, and that I would need to purchase a CD drive that did not attach via a USB cable. They assured me that this was "easy to find in any store such as Best Buy". After going to several stores and getting funny looks, I concluded that: a) no, this is in fact not easy to find and b) in fact, it needs to be ordered online. I ordered the drive yesterday, and hopefully it will come next week. Not that I expect to have my computer back anytime in the near future. Sigh.