Currys laptop - hard drive died - where do I stand?

vyle

stigdu wrote: »

Well, she's not very tech-savvy,

This is a valuable lesson -- if you get a computer, learn how to use it, just as you wouldn't buy a car unless you had already, or were intending to learn to drive.

prowla

Sorry about the data loss.

Any data that is only stored in one place is "at risk".
We all know it and we all do it!

In terms of replacing a faulty part, it is often the case that the manufacturer requires the faulty item to be returned.
I think it is unlikely that the store/repairer would give back the old/broken one.

Looking ahead, get a large capacity USB drive and copy the data onto it, so that there are at least two copies of the data.

bod1467

Valli wrote: »

If she has only had the laptop for a year where did the 6 years of photos (well, 5, it would have been) come from?

In other words where were they before they were uploaded to the lappy and have you still got what they were uploaded from?

This is a very fair point, and reasonable question. So - what happened to the previous storage mechanism?

Aginoth

kajstring24 wrote: »

Why didn't your partner back up her files before sending it for repair? That would be the first thing any person with common sense would do.

Write a letter to head office and explain the situation, that's probably all you can do.

Common sense is a rare thing.;)

I have automatic online backup, with https://www.HDGNet.com Unlimited Backup Storage for £24 a year. Seems like a bargain to me when a HDD recovery can cost hundreds of pounds.

Flyboy152

Aginoth wrote: »

Common sense is a rare thing.;)

I have automatic online backup, with www.HDGNet.com Unlimited Backup Storage for £24 a year. Seems like a bargain to me when a HDD recovery can cost hundreds of pounds.

Sorry, but there isn't a chance in hell that I would ever trust my data to an online storage facility. The risks and consequences are far worse than being discussed here.

stigdu

Update:

The data had been transferred from an old laptop which is now in Poland. It had been wiped from the old machine and put onto this new one, which was bought about a year ago.

Really good news though: An IT support engineer friend from her previous job whom she had given the old laptop to about 18 months ago to repair had taken a ghost image of it, and kept it!

So she now has 46GB worth of photos, family videos and work documents all ready to be put back on the new laptop. All's well that ends well, as they say.

Still, a hard lesson learned, and I shall definitely be recommending she do regular backups from now on!

Thanks everyone for the advice / tips / sympathy.

KevInChester

That's a great outcome then, phew!

pineapple

I learned to back up data years ago when my laptop crashed and I was unable to get into it to extract/copy data before sending it off for repair. In the event, I bought a new one and the shop transferred all my old data free of charge.
Recently my desk top developed a problem. The computer shop replaced my hard drive and managed to reinstate all the old data on the new drive. Plus they gave me my old hard drive back. All for under £70. I call that very reasonable!