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Thread ID: 143553	2017-02-09 12:53:00	Protecting PC data before sending it to repair shop	Chikara (5139)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1431744	2017-02-09 12:53:00	Hi all, I'm going to be taking my PC in to a repair shop soon. It's bootable, and will have the same HDD's etc that I use on it day to day. Please can you give me some tips on what I can do, to protect my data and privacy from potentially nosy or malicious technicians. I have nothing on the PC that's dodgy or illegal, but I still don't want the technician going through all my photos or documents, or even worse trying to steal any data. Now, I have no reason to suspect they will - but you never know, and better safe than sorry. (And before you ask, yes I already have a nightly back-up to a NAS, and I'll make sure the backup is run again immediately before taking it in. Apart from that, what else should I do? What comes to mind at the moment is: - password protect or delete all personal storage folders on the HDD's - clear cache/history/everything from all browsers and make sure auto-log on apps are disabled/logged out - temporarily remove my email accounts from Outlook - temp uninstall or log out of services like DropBox Anything else I should do??	Chikara (5139)
1431745	2017-02-09 13:33:00	You could consider a tech that does home visits? so you can go through it with them?	apsattv (7406)
1431746	2017-02-09 13:51:00	Yes, that would be ideal - but if that's not possible, I'm still keen on any other tips?	Chikara (5139)
1431747	2017-02-09 18:07:00	If you are so worried, do a complete backup of the HDD. Format the HDD and load just a new version of the operating system only. When you get the PC back, restore your backup.	Bryan (147)
1431748	2017-02-09 19:41:00	That used to annoy me. I had some paranoid guy come round once, when I had his wife's laptop. For that reason. He decided I would do the fix then and there while he watched. At 11pm. Took a while as I had to do a reinstall. I backed it up on a portable HDD then did the work, put all her stuff back. As if I have time!! to trawl through peoples files and pics anyway! As if I care! She had photos, mostly a wedding, going by the folder titles, and some academic study material. Ho hum, how boring. PLus this annoying tosser, he insisted I wipe my portable HDD before he left, in case I felt the need to peruse the wedding dress pics later, so OK, I did. As he left, at the door, I pointed out, if I really cared, I could do an undelete on it. And then shut the door. And I charged him double for the annoyance factor. I mean really? You think we're just sitting around scrolling through wads of bloody files?	pctek (84)
1431749	2017-02-09 19:45:00	You haven't said what its going to the repair shop for ? What Bryan suggested would be no good if its going in to have the Operating system or programs or some other software problem repaired, because if you imaged the original back you'd be right back where you started and they will have done all the work for nothing while billing you. If you don't trust the shop, then go somewhere else who you do trust. By all means remove the data if you're paranoid about it. But most reputable places don't give a hoot whats on the computers. The only time I go looking in data is when someone has to have something found, and even then I get their permission first to look for it.Often its the reverse, get comments like any movies or music you want help yourself. Had an exact same question asked last year - The guy asked for a price to do what I had to do, Gave him two, an hourly rate or workshop fixed charge. He was paranoid anyone could see what was on his computer, so insisted I fix it at his house - No problems, told him twice during the conversation it would be charged at an hourly rate, estimated time of 3-4 hours, and 3/4 of the time I would be sitting there watching the computer as I couldn't do anything to it while this was happening. He agreed, quite happy with that. Was there for just over 4 hours - most of time bored silly watching programs do their stuff. The ironic part was he was in his garage for majority of the time, so If I wanted to look I could, he said to call him if I needed anything, and if I wanted to make a drink he had put all the stuff on the sink-bench - help yourself, milks in the fridge. He paid for the 4 hours on site, and didn't see any of his data apart from file names on the desktop.	wainuitech (129)
1431750	2017-02-09 21:27:00	Yup why is it going to the repair shop? If it boots ok, and if the hdd isnt the prob remove it	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1431751	2017-02-10 00:48:00	The reason I'm taking it in, is it's the recurrence of a problems that's been on this machine for a while. I've tried troubleshooting here and have pretty much done all that I can do myself. It's random freezing - but no error messages/BSOD, just basically everything freezes and mouse/keyboard doesn;t respond, only way is a hard reset by pressing and holding the power button to turn off. This has sometimes happened when I am using it, and not doing anything out of the ordinary (eg happened last night when just browsing). It's also happened overnight (same thing I suspect), but I turn the monitor off overnight so when I turn the monitor on the next time there's no display showing. (plus in that case I have tried using teamviewer from my phone to access it, and TV says the device is not online - so without actually seeing the monitor display I have to assume it's the same thing. I've tried many things - - Memory test - testing one RAM stick at a time (no errors) - removing second and third HDD's (I have a SSD as C: drive and two regular HDDs for other programs and data) - wipe and clean install (Win 10) - tried different monitor - tried all the tips about turning off power saving settings etc - tried manually changing page file sizes (some forums suggested to try this) So I'm basically at the point I need an expert. It could be graphics card or MB, but I think I need an expert. As far as being worried about data - I had a case once with a repair shop in Auckland (many years ago). Got my PC back and I had noticed the recently used files/documents were all changed. The tech had been snooping through my personal documents and photos and wasn't even smart enough to change or reset the most recently used doc links back. Nowadays I have far more personal data on my PC - stuff like scanned bank statements, payslips, tax details, etc etc. So yes, I take your point that probably most techs are honest, or too busy to bother looking - but my point is, if I can easily protect against that just in case, why wouldn't I? You could also say, no point getting a antivirus program if you just browse news sites and check email - but it's a good precaution just in case!	Chikara (5139)
1431752	2017-02-10 01:18:00	If you feel inclined, by all means remove all data and store it someplace else at home, BUT leave ALL the hardware exactly as it is. The reason for this should be obvious, BUT lets say you remove a piece of hardware, whose to say that one piece (Example only) - A HDD is the cause of all the problems , one drive when in the computer could be causing it ? they would never find a problem because you have removed it, put it back once return - problem reappears. Heres something else to throw in the mix of causes, it may not be the computer :waughh: And they may not be able to replicate the faults. Could be something to do with the power or something else in your home. Had that happen before - Persons PC plays up, bring it back to workshop, works perfectly, take it back, plays up again.	wainuitech (129)
1431753	2017-02-10 03:47:00	I had a case once with a repair shop in Auckland (many years ago). Got my PC back and I had noticed the recently used files/documents were all changed. The tech had been snooping through my personal documents and photos ....... Nowadays I have far more personal data on my PC - stuff like scanned bank statements, payslips, tax details, etc etc. OK, maybe one was nosey. Obviously he hasn't got enough to do..... But really? And? You can't get money from someones account without the login, even if you know the account number etc. Worst scenario, they know how much you earn. And?	pctek (84)
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