Precaution on Computer 'Repair' Shop

[haru]

Hi:
I need to bring my computer to a local Computer Repair Shop.
I saw one young guy in there who appears to be 'nonest, 'nice' and
'friendly.'

My concern over this is whether I need to 'delete' some of my 'personal'
files/folders before bringing in. Because, some of my stuff is quite
'PERSONAL'
not to want someone see it.

What should I need to do those 'mishap' not to happen?

Thanks for your feedbacks on this.

 

[R. McCarty]

That's a really good question. When a PC is physically outside
your control it's really open season. Most technical professionals
have 'No' interest in your personal documents. Our concern resets
with getting the PC to run or resolve the customer's issue(s). But,
at the same time there is a small risk of theft or access by someone
who should not have access.
Deleting files/folders isn't a big hurdle for most IT folks to overcome.
Perhaps the best "Short Term" solution is to take your personal
data and 1st back it up (External Drive, Thumb, CD-R). Secondly,
put these files into a .Zip module and secure it with a password. It's
not 100% secure but would slow down someone from accessing it.
Just be sure whenever you take Security measures on data that you
have backup(s) - Just in case.

 

[Malke]

Hi:
I need to bring my computer to a local Computer Repair Shop.
I saw one young guy in there who appears to be 'nonest, 'nice' and
'friendly.'

My concern over this is whether I need to 'delete' some of my
'personal'
files/folders before bringing in. Because, some of my stuff is quite
'PERSONAL'
not to want someone see it.

What should I need to do those 'mishap' not to happen?

I can't address the honesty or quality of your local computer shop, but
speaking as a computer repair/tech support professional I can tell you
that we rarely take the time to read/view a customer's personal files.
However, part of cleaning up a badly infested computer is removing
infected files. I will usually remove obvious pr0n because much malware
comes from those sources. Particularly, if you are going to surf pr0n
sites, never install the free viewer which normally brings along at
least one trojan (and not That Kind). I haven't had a computer in the
shop with kiddie pr0n, but if I did and I saw those pics, I would call
the police. So if you have that sort of thing on your computer, I
suggest you back it up to removable media and delete the files on your
hard drive.

Bottom line: we don't have the time or inclination to examine your files
but if you have something really dreadful that would cause the police
to come knocking at your door, don't leave the files on the hard drive.

Malke

 

[Alan]

Hi:
I need to bring my computer to a local Computer Repair Shop.
I saw one young guy in there who appears to be 'nonest, 'nice' and
'friendly.'

My concern over this is whether I need to 'delete' some of my 'personal'
files/folders before bringing in. Because, some of my stuff is quite
'PERSONAL'
not to want someone see it.

What should I need to do those 'mishap' not to happen?

Thanks for your feedbacks on this.

For future- get a second hard drive and store personal data on it. Remove it
when you feel prudent to do so- to make it easy there are removable caddies
that hold the disk. There are several makes with various features- you can
lock the cradle so the data can't be accessed by casual snoopers- doesn't
stop a repair shop or people with a screwdriver though. Better to take it
out. Icy Dock make an inexpensive and reasonable range.

For present- copy the documents to a CD, delete them from your computer,
empty the bin, empty your temp folders, then defragment your drive- it
doesn't make it impossible to recover the files but would stop most people
including average computer repair people.

 

[Steve N.]

Hi:
I need to bring my computer to a local Computer Repair Shop.
I saw one young guy in there who appears to be 'nonest, 'nice' and
'friendly.'

My concern over this is whether I need to 'delete' some of my 'personal'
files/folders before bringing in. Because, some of my stuff is quite
'PERSONAL'
not to want someone see it.

What should I need to do those 'mishap' not to happen?

Thanks for your feedbacks on this.

Very good question.

Backup you're senstive files to CD, DVD or another drive, verify them,
and then delete them off your hard drive before you take it to the shop.

Steve N.

 

[Alan]

Very good question.

Backup you're senstive files to CD, DVD or another drive, verify them, and
then delete them off your hard drive before you take it to the shop.

Steve N.

Deleting them puts them in the recycle bin. Even PC World techs can get
those back, never mind good technicians.

 

[MaryL]

Hi:
I need to bring my computer to a local Computer Repair Shop.
I saw one young guy in there who appears to be 'nonest, 'nice' and
'friendly.'

My concern over this is whether I need to 'delete' some of my 'personal'
files/folders before bringing in. Because, some of my stuff is quite
'PERSONAL'
not to want someone see it.

What should I need to do those 'mishap' not to happen?

Thanks for your feedbacks on this.

I am paranoid about losing my data, so I store copies in several locations.
In my case, I do it to protect my files in case of a computer crash, a fire,
theft -- any number of things that could happen. I alternate copies of all
data (including photos) on two external mini hard drives -- now available at
much less expense than just a couple of years ago -- and I also have a
second ("slave") hard drive on my computer, which stores still a third set
of copies. One of the mini drives is kept at my office (in case anything
would happen to the house), and I occasionally rotate it with the one at
home. At the end of the year, I burn everything to DVDs and keep that in my
permanent files. Finally, I have an external hard drive set to routinely
maintain backups (not copies). I had not considered anything like your
question, but my "solution" to protecting my files from various disasters
could also work for you (although most people probably don't want as much
"overkill" as I described).

Now, why do I keep primarily copies (which take more time) instead of
backups (which can be done automatically, but I do that only on the external
hard drive)? The reason is that *all* CDs and DVDs will reset the
attributes of every file to "read only" when they are copied back to the
hard drive. Admittedly, this can be reset, but it is annoying. That's also
the reason I always Zip disks or one of the mini drives to transport files
from my home computer to the office computer.

MaryL

 

[MaryL]

I am paranoid about losing my data, so I store copies in several
locations.

Follow-up to my message: My thought was that if you kept copies (preferably
more than one, as a true believer in Murphy's Law) you could then
password-protect those on your computer that concern you and then delete
them. The password-protect is to make it more difficult if someone were to
undelete. I do think it is highly unlikely that any technician would be
interested enough to try to extract all that information. On the other
hand, I had a friend who hired a computer guru who turned out to be
dishonest. In his case, work was done in his own home, and information was
extracted that enabled the "expert" to make unauthorized credit card
charges.

MaryL

 

[Alias]

Follow-up to my message: My thought was that if you kept copies (preferably
more than one, as a true believer in Murphy's Law) you could then
password-protect those on your computer that concern you and then delete
them. The password-protect is to make it more difficult if someone were to
undelete. I do think it is highly unlikely that any technician would be
interested enough to try to extract all that information. On the other
hand, I had a friend who hired a computer guru who turned out to be
dishonest. In his case, work was done in his own home, and information was
extracted that enabled the "expert" to make unauthorized credit card
charges.

MaryL

Anyone that keeps credit card information, social security number, etc.
on a computer is crazy.

Alias

Use the Reply to Sender feature of your news reader program to email me.
Utiliza Responder al Remitente para mandarme un mail.

 

[MaryL]

Anyone that keeps credit card information, social security number, etc. on
a computer is crazy.

Alias

Yes, he learned that -- much to his chagrin.

MaryL

 

[Steve N.]

Deleting them puts them in the recycle bin.

No! I had no clue! What is the Recycle Bin?

Even PC World techs can get
those back, never mind good technicians.

By "delete" I meant _complete_ deletion. If the OP is that paranoid
he/she can use a file-shredding program. There are plenty of freeware
utils out there to do that. For that matter, anything short of pulling
platters out of hard drives and belt-sanding off the magnetic surfaces
or otherwise complete destroying them is not truly secure. There's a way
around just about everything, software-wise.

A "good" technician wouldn't give a rip about what's been deleted. It's
none of their business in the first place, and it could viewed as an
invasion of privacy if a tech snoops around on a customer's HDD unless
it is integral to fixing the customer's problem and I imagine there
could be identity theft suits filed agains those who do so.

Maybe computer techs should be bonded now?

Steve N.

 

[Steve N.]

Anyone that keeps credit card information, social security number, etc.
on a computer is crazy.

Alias

Agreed.

Anyone who gives out _any_ personal/financial information on the `net is
also crazy. It's the frikkin internet and everyone and his uncle has
access to it and everything you do on it. Paranoid? Damned straight and
rightly so. Got ripped-off once long ago and I sure learned my lesson.

Steve N.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

No! I had no clue! What is the Recycle Bin?


By "delete" I meant _complete_ deletion. If the OP is that paranoid
he/she can use a file-shredding program. There are plenty of freeware
utils out there to do that. For that matter, anything short of pulling
platters out of hard drives and belt-sanding off the magnetic surfaces
or otherwise complete destroying them is not truly secure. There's a
way around just about everything, software-wise.

A "good" technician wouldn't give a rip about what's been deleted.
It's none of their business in the first place, and it could viewed
as an invasion of privacy if a tech snoops around on a customer's HDD
unless it is integral to fixing the customer's problem and I imagine
there could be identity theft suits filed agains those who do so.

Exactly right. Moreover, if he's a good technician, he is likely to be very
busy and doesn't have the time to snoop around customers' drives looking for
something that *might* be of value. Personally I wouldn't do more than move
any sensitive files to a CD (and that only if they were very sensitive). I
wouldn't worry about the possibility of the tech undeleting my deleted files
or anything like that.

To anyone who's really worried about things like this, let me point out that
the possibility always exists of a burglar stealing your entire computer and
everything on it. The vulnerability of someone looking at your personal data
is there all the time, not just when the computer is in the shop for
repairs.

 

[Alan]

No! I had no clue! What is the Recycle Bin?


By "delete" I meant _complete_ deletion. If the OP is that paranoid he/she
can use a file-shredding program. There are plenty of freeware utils out
there to do that. For that matter, anything short of pulling platters out
of hard drives and belt-sanding off the magnetic surfaces or otherwise
complete destroying them is not truly secure. There's a way around just
about everything, software-wise.

A "good" technician wouldn't give a rip about what's been deleted. It's
none of their business in the first place, and it could viewed as an
invasion of privacy if a tech snoops around on a customer's HDD unless it
is integral to fixing the customer's problem and I imagine there could be
identity theft suits filed agains those who do so.

Maybe computer techs should be bonded now?

Steve N.

I do agree, but for peace of mind remove any personal data and keep copies.

And remember that at times computers are returned wiped of data- 'We had to
reformat it sir'.......

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I do agree, but for peace of mind remove any personal data and keep
copies.
And remember that at times computers are returned wiped of data- 'We
had to reformat it sir'.......

If a computer shop reformatted my drive and destroyed my data without first
asking my permission, I would look into the possibility of suing them. I
don't know what my chances of winning would be, but I would at least confer
with a lawyer to find out.

 

[Anna]

If a computer shop reformatted my drive and destroyed my data without
first asking my permission, I would look into the possibility of suing
them. I don't know what my chances of winning would be, but I would at
least confer with a lawyer to find out.

(The issue here is the OP's query about any precautions to take re sensitive
data on his/her HD before bringing in his/her system to a local computer
repair shop for service).

Allan's cautionary note is indeed pertinent. We ran into many instances
where a user brought into our computer repair shop their computer after a
previous repair facility "repaired" the computer by reformatting the drive
and reinstalling an OS. Needless to say the customer was beside
himself/herself over this situation after losing all their valuable data.

So unless you have absolute & complete confidence in the repair shop in that
there's no possibility of their causing important data loss or compromising
sensitive material that you may have on the computer, it is a most desirable
thing to backup important files and/or multi-copy sensitive material and
then delete same from hard drive. What we *really* recommend is that before
a user takes in his or her machine for repair, if practical, "clone" the
contents of the HD to another HD using a disk imaging program and retain the
cloned drive.
Anna

 

[Plato]

I need to bring my computer to a local Computer Repair Shop.
I saw one young guy in there who appears to be 'nonest, 'nice' and
'friendly.'

My concern over this is whether I need to 'delete' some of my 'personal'
files/folders before bringing in. Because, some of my stuff is quite
'PERSONAL'
not to want someone see it.

Generally, most techs dont care about viewing personal data.

 

[Alan]

If a computer shop reformatted my drive and destroyed my data without
first asking my permission, I would look into the possibility of suing
them. I don't know what my chances of winning would be, but I would at
least confer with a lawyer to find out.

Suing doesn't guarantee to get the data back. The possibility exists for
recovery but it
is expensive, not guaranteed, and can take a long time.

No amount of shouting or indignant reaction helps when data is lost. Keep a
copy- it is the only sensible thing to do.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

(The issue here is the OP's query about any precautions to take re
sensitive data on his/her HD before bringing in his/her system to a
local computer repair shop for service).

No, that was the original issue. The thread varied from the original
question, as most threads do if they live long enough. My reply was *not* to
the original question, but to the poster before me.

Allan's cautionary note is indeed pertinent.

No argument from me.

We ran into many
instances where a user brought into our computer repair shop their
computer after a previous repair facility "repaired" the computer by
reformatting the drive and reinstalling an OS. Needless to say the
customer was beside himself/herself over this situation after losing
all their valuable data.

If more customers would sue when this happened instead of just being "beside
themselves," we'd probably see this happening a lot less often.

So unless you have absolute & complete confidence in the repair shop
in that there's no possibility of their causing important data loss
or compromising sensitive material that you may have on the computer,
it is a most desirable thing to backup important files and/or
multi-copy sensitive material and then delete same from hard drive.

Absolutely. No argument from me. It's *never* true that there's "no
possibility of their causing important data loss."

But if they did reformat my computer, I'd still sue them.

What we *really* recommend is that before a user takes in his or her
machine for repair, if practical, "clone" the contents of the HD to
another HD using a disk imaging program and retain the cloned drive.

Good recommendation! But irrelevant to my point, which is that if anybody
reformatted my drive without my express permission, I'd sue them.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Suing doesn't guarantee to get the data back.

It's not a matter of a guarantee. Suing *never* gets your data back. But
getting financial compensation can make the data loss more bearable.

The possibility exists
for recovery but it
is expensive, not guaranteed, and can take a long time.

Yes to all of the above.

No amount of shouting or indignant reaction helps when data is lost.
Keep a copy- it is the only sensible thing to do.

As I just said to Anna, we're all in agreement on that. But I'd still sue
anybody who reformatted my drive without my permission.