Words cannot express...
My laptop must be cursed. Earlier this summer, it crashed - my system would start to boot up, and then freeze at the Windows XP blue screen. I took the computer back to where I bought it, BestBuy (I'm naming them because their "Geek Squad" is on my shit list), for some kind of "diagnostic" testing. Luckily, the testing was covered under my warranty since the laptop is less than two years old. Unfortunately, fixing the problem was not covered, but the Geek said he could take care of the problem so long as I still had my original disks from Compaq. No problem. Mind you, the Geek did not mention word one about backing up my documents - he did not offer the service, did not ask me if I had done so, and definitely did not warn me that what he was about to do would obliterate every single thing on my beloved laptop. I had no clue what his "fix" actually entailed.
After three weeks at BestBuy, I finally got my laptop back. And when I started it up, I realized it had been completely wiped clean. I mean, there was nothing on it. In addition to losing all of my programs, including Microsoft Office, my anti-virus software, all my MSN programs, all of my downloads, etc., I lost every single document and picture ever stored on both my previous laptop and this one. This includes three years of law school notes, outlines, papers, resumes, references - ALL of my documents had been cleaned off. I had saved some of my docs to the law school's system - mostly outlines rather than notes, and nothing personal - and I was able to retrieve some from there, but what I had backed up to the school hardly covered all of the personal and professional documents I had stored in my laptop, and there were many documents there that I did not want to lose. And please, no "You should've backed up to a disk" comments here. I've heard it already.
Obviously, I was furious. I called Best Buy and then went back to the store. I was told, "Our Geek should have told you - are you sure he didn't warn you? We could have backed up everything for $80.00, and he should have offered you that service." Um, no, jackass, your Geek clearly did not offer me the backup service because I'm standing here about to rip off your head! Yeah, we had words. But in the end, there was nothing they could do, or so they said. And I could not get them to refund any of my money, either. They suck.
The only consolation was that I had, in fact, graduated and was not in dire need for all my law school documents. Additionally, I was studying for the bar exam and not spending much time using my computer. Had I been in the middle of a semester or approaching final exams, I definitely would have had a complete meltdown. This is the only silver lining to the BestBuy cloud of computer doom.
So, with some help from my firm's techie (who has far superior computer skills than the Geek), I was able to get new software downloaded and my laptop was close to being back in service. I recently got internet service running into my new place, and this past weekend, I moved my laptop from the living room floor to a bona fide work space and began getting back in the swing of having constant access from home. I was a happy, happy girl.
And then, as my laptop tried to re-boot after updating my virus software late last night, the damn thing froze up at the blue Microsoft XP screen.
After three weeks at BestBuy, I finally got my laptop back. And when I started it up, I realized it had been completely wiped clean. I mean, there was nothing on it. In addition to losing all of my programs, including Microsoft Office, my anti-virus software, all my MSN programs, all of my downloads, etc., I lost every single document and picture ever stored on both my previous laptop and this one. This includes three years of law school notes, outlines, papers, resumes, references - ALL of my documents had been cleaned off. I had saved some of my docs to the law school's system - mostly outlines rather than notes, and nothing personal - and I was able to retrieve some from there, but what I had backed up to the school hardly covered all of the personal and professional documents I had stored in my laptop, and there were many documents there that I did not want to lose. And please, no "You should've backed up to a disk" comments here. I've heard it already.
Obviously, I was furious. I called Best Buy and then went back to the store. I was told, "Our Geek should have told you - are you sure he didn't warn you? We could have backed up everything for $80.00, and he should have offered you that service." Um, no, jackass, your Geek clearly did not offer me the backup service because I'm standing here about to rip off your head! Yeah, we had words. But in the end, there was nothing they could do, or so they said. And I could not get them to refund any of my money, either. They suck.
The only consolation was that I had, in fact, graduated and was not in dire need for all my law school documents. Additionally, I was studying for the bar exam and not spending much time using my computer. Had I been in the middle of a semester or approaching final exams, I definitely would have had a complete meltdown. This is the only silver lining to the BestBuy cloud of computer doom.
So, with some help from my firm's techie (who has far superior computer skills than the Geek), I was able to get new software downloaded and my laptop was close to being back in service. I recently got internet service running into my new place, and this past weekend, I moved my laptop from the living room floor to a bona fide work space and began getting back in the swing of having constant access from home. I was a happy, happy girl.
And then, as my laptop tried to re-boot after updating my virus software late last night, the damn thing froze up at the blue Microsoft XP screen.
posted by Amanda at 7:27 AM
<< Home