Sony Deleted All My Files

Sirsok

Hi,

My Laptop was recently sent away to be repaired, it was an issue with the charging port. The store I was brought it back never notified that they sent it off and never mentioned my memory being deletedfor it then returned a month later. I was annoyed but delighted to get it back, only to discover absolutely everything to be gone from my laptop, any programs, picture videos etc, completely wiped cleaned. Is there any reason for this and is there anything that can be dont to rectify the situation, im absolutely gutted over this.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated

ABajaninCork

Why didn't you back up before you sent the laptop for repair? Any time the machine's to be repaired, they ALWAYS advise you to back up before as data might be lost!

I'm not sure there's anything you can do now, TBH.

Sirsok

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Why didn't you back up before you sent the laptop for repair? Any time the machine's to be repaired, they ALWAYS advise you to back up before as data might be lost!

I'm not sure there's anything you can do now, TBH.

Thanks for the reply!

My father brought in the laptop which the store said they could fix, when i went to collect it a week later they said they sent it to sony...its not really all the pics etc its the programs such as office and the virus protection that I am more worried about

ABajaninCork

You can probably ask Sony to put the Office back on. Your anti-virus - Is it on subscription? Should be easy enough to log into your account and put it back on.

Antigone05

if its a more current version of Office you can log onto www.office.com and log in with your details,select account, and download it again

(you can only do this onto the same machine, it wont let you install it on another one unless you bought a multiple user version)

as another poster mentioned, im pretty sure all antivirus accounts are similar, you usually log in from the software after its installed. goto the company website and go from there.

LowKeyReturn

If its a subbed anti virus dump it - they're almost all crap. Install Microsoft security essentials and keep regular back ups.

You're PC will always be wiped if you drop it in for repair. The alternative is me (in my previous incarnation as a PC sales person) looking through it to see what kind of dodgy porn you enjoy, and occasionally hitting the 'jackpot' of a 'users wife/gf'.

upandcumming

I always take out the HD. 5 screws - job done.

Tonto86

upandcumming wrote: »

I always take out the HD. 5 screws - job done.

That voids your warrenty tho, they'll just sent it back to with no work done.

COYVB

Tonto86 wrote: »

That voids your warrenty tho, they'll just sent it back to with no work done.

HD removal doesn't void your warranty, only opening it should. Both RAM and HDD are user serviceable in the vast majority of systems, and are readily accessible through dedicated doors under the device

whippet

your data = your responsibility

the_syco

COYVB wrote: »

HD removal doesn't void your warranty, only opening it should. Both RAM and HDD are user serviceable in the vast majority of systems, and are readily accessible through dedicated doors under the device

Although mostly true, if they think the fault is your HDD, they'll send it back unfixed after they charge you for wasting their time (most companies do this if no fault i found).

=-=

Data is never really covered in the warranty. Although it's likely there's a new HDD in it, get the demo of O&O's data recovery software, and see if it finds anything. Do the deep scan, plug your laptop in, and leave it search over night.

Tonto86

COYVB wrote: »

HD removal doesn't void your warranty, only opening it should. Both RAM and HDD are user serviceable in the vast majority of systems, and are readily accessible through dedicated doors under the device

Never would of thought that, learn something new everyday.

Danger781

Any repair company will wipe all the data on it due to data protection issues. Carphone Warehouse do exactly the same when they send phones off for repair. Repair companies won't even look at the device without first wiping it.

LowKeyReturn

Removing the HDD is a bad idea. If the issue is software related a wipe is the best thing for the laptop and one of the most likely things to go wrong with a PC is the HDD itself.

You should be keeping regular backups. If you're not then you're going to lose data. The only exception is a Mac, it's not that the HDD won't go or you won't lose data, you just won't be doing anything important enough to worry :pac:

upandcumming

Tonto86 wrote: »

That voids your warrenty tho, they'll just sent it back to with no work done.

No it doesn't.

LowKeyReturn

upandcumming wrote: »

No it doesn't.

It might very well void the warranty. I doubt it would negate ones consumer rights to a repair by the seller but the manufacturer has less of an obligation to the end-user. The only way you'd know is to read the T&Cs of the OPs warranty.

the_syco

A lot of computer problems would be fixed by a reinstall of Windows. For some reason people don't want to do so, as they'd lose their info, but they'll lose their data anyhoos if they sent it in to get repaired! As for sending it back without the HDD; if you run through a few troubleshooting steps (to check what component is to blame), keeping the HDD is usually not an issue.

It may not void the warranty, but the user will usually get charged if no fault is found.

LowKeyReturn

Not to mention the HDD is going to be storing important diagnostic data.

the_syco

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

Not to mention the HDD is going to be storing important diagnostic data.

Huh?
Laptop comes into test centre.
HDD is hooked up to a machine to do a silent format & reimage it (silent = no button pressing needed).
HDD is put back into laptop, and switched on.
Laptop hooked up to a diagnostic machine, and basic tests ran. If it passes, it's shipped back to customer. If it fails, part that failed is generally replaced.

Common reasons for laptops not working;
over-heating due to user putting laptop on bed where there's no airflow possible
animal urine on keyboard
coffee spilt on keyboard
essential part missing (RAM, HDD, etc)

=-=

Anyhoos, back to the OP.
Format and wipe HDD to rule out software problem.
Run diagnostics.
Charger fault, replace charger.
Still not working, replace charger socket. Some laptops this is an individual part. others, it's soldered to the motherboard, and an entire new motherboard is put in.
If they find any liquid damage (animal urine, coffee, etc), charge user full cost, as problem was probably cause by liquid.

LowKeyReturn

Anyhoos - some places would do more investigation if required. I've only ever worked for boutique builders, seems you work for a bigger firm like Sony, I see my level of faith in their CS isn't completely unfounded.

cbee20

Had to have windows reinstalled and I used HNS (www.hns.ie) who recovered all my data including photos,word documents and e-mails. Data recovery is 79.99 but it was worth it. There are drop off points at Cartridge World. Have learnt since the importance of backing up my files!!

3rdDegree

Sirsok wrote: »

Hi,

My Laptop was recently sent away to be repaired, it was an issue with the charging port. The store I was brought it back never notified that they sent it off and never mentioned my memory being deletedfor it then returned a month later. I was annoyed but delighted to get it back, only to discover absolutely everything to be gone from my laptop, any programs, picture videos etc, completely wiped cleaned. Is there any reason for this and is there anything that can be dont to rectify the situation, im absolutely gutted over this.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated

Gary Glitter should have been so lucky!

Seriously, as long as it's not personal information (such as photos, documents, etc.), you should be able to get it all back without issues.

ozmo

Sirsok wrote: »

... absolutely everything to be gone from my laptop, any programs, picture videos etc, completely wiped cleaned. Is there any reason for this and is there anything that can be dont to rectify the situation, im absolutely gutted over this.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated

I wouldnt do anything more on the laptop - there is a possibility that all your photos etc are still there - just marked as deleted - depending on how Sony deleted the drive - if they just did a format theres a good chance of getting a lot back. But if you continue to install stuff it will overwritten for good

There are a lot of free tools on the web that will allow you to undelete your files.

Your best bet would be to remove the drive from the laptop and install in a desktop pc - and use an deepscan undelete program to recover the files from the laptop drive to the desktop drive.

One I have found very useful is an old free program called "undelete_plus" - some are better than others - this one is pretty good (they ask for a donation - and if it works you may consider it).

Remember - the more you use the pc the more of the deleted stuff you will loose forever - also dont try to undelete all to the same drive that may not work out very well.

If unsure - seek someone that can do the above for you.

upandcumming

cbee20 wrote: »

Had to have windows reinstalled and I used HNS (www.hns.ie) who recovered all my data including photos,word documents and e-mails. Data recovery is 79.99 but it was worth it. There are drop off points at Cartridge World. Have learnt since the importance of backing up my files!!

Ahem...