Sent in my HDX to get Glass replaced, received a re-imaged hard drive!?!?!

I sent my laptop in due to dust being behind the Infinity Glass and some scratches incurred by the speaker grilles on the HDX16.

I received my laptop back last night. The glass was replaced (woohoo!) however the hard drive was re-imaged as well (not so woohoo!).

I admit I did not back up my data. Here's why - 1.) I was never told that data backup was necessary. I have my original chat transcript showing that I was never informed of a possible system restore. I have a chat transcript from last night confirming, from HP, that I was never informed. 2.) The glass was being replaced. Nothing internally needed to be touched.

I attribute this to going to a shop to get your car's windsheild replaced only to find out they also rebuilt your engine. It makes zero sense.

I've contacted HP to see what they can do about this and they stand behind their warranty information which states they are not responsible for lost data. I can understand that. However, they are responsible for their staff and their ability to properly inform customers what may happen when a laptop is sent in for service.

Heck, I don't even know WHAT's reasonable at this point. I could go all out and get my laywer involved but it seems like a waste of time.

Any ideas? Also, use this as a warning to back up your data! No matter the reason for service.

 

its pretty common to see mfg.s restore back to factory defaults. i dont understand the reason exactly especially when a service is going to be done that doesnt involve the hard drive. i do agree however that you should be warned prior to shipping it out in some way either in writing or verbal. sorry to hear this. there are software titles available to try to recover lost data due to a format if you have anything very important that you need back.

 

why would they need to reinstall it? did they give you the same laptop back?

 

Yup, same exact laptop. They stated there were some software issues which prompted the system restore. However, they could not tell me what those software issues were.

I had multiple partitions, a clean install of Vista (legitimate), 20 gigs of music, and a separate partition for all my programs and utilities that I use.

It's not so much that I can't get my data back. I always back up my documents through email and my music was all purchased music so I can get that back as well. However, the time involved is going to be crazy. I don't have to time to recoup all this...it's crazy.

 

Exactly - if I had any inkling that they would re-image the hard drive I would have backed up my data. However, the thought never crossed my mind. I was sending it in to get the Infinity Glass replaced. Hell, the thing never even needed to be turned on. haha!

On top of that. They have you fill out a form with your contact information should they need to discuss anything else with you. I would think that if they noticed something that was not part of the original service request that it would prompt a phone call, email, something.

 

this is pretty well-known. it's pretty bad you lost all your data, but warnings about this pop up all the time.

 

Where? I did a google search and nothing popped up to make this seem "well-known".

 

There was a notice of of hard drive data loss on the documents included with the return to HP box when I sent my notebook in for service.
I've sent in multiple notebooks for service over the years, and each time there was a notice.

Was there a notice with instructions and disclaimers when you received you return for service box?

 

+1, the HP rep warned me, plus the slip for describing your problem has that warning

 

I did receive a notice w/ instructions. I made a copy. I'll see what it says.

I'm willing to take responsibility if I was made known and I didn't do anything about it. Even though it makes zero sense to reimage a hard drive when you're replacing a piece of glass.

 

So I read the instructions. Here is what it says, word-for-word.

1. Back up your data.
Notebooks returned to HP repair are subject to a system restore which will re-install the original operating system, software and drivers to the hard drive, erasing the files and content currently on your drive. A system restore is performed by HP repair only when necessary to correct the reported problem.

So...who here would think it would be neccessary to do a system restore over sending in the computer to get a piece of glass repaired???

 

Well, a re-imaging is not required for a glass replacement, but after the glass is replaced, all hp laptops go through a 4 hour test, "quality assurance", before leaving the repair depot.

It's basically HP going above and beyond to make sure that your PC operates smoothly. And I guess in this case, your laptop failed the quality assurance test and they reformatted it to make sure it was working 100% again.

But you should already know, even if you are not going to send your laptop in, you should back up your data regardless, in case of hard drive (or other) failure. For all you know, what if UPS dropped and broke your laptop while it was being shipped? You should have had your data backed up!

And as for reported problem, I guess the problem was reported by the HP technicians.

 

Yeah HP reformats all the time. Did it for me when my hinge was loose.

 

Maybe you didn't provide them the right password? If they don't have the password to an admin account, they will reformat your HDD.

 

notebooks that leave a vendor typically must pass certification whether brand new, refurbished or repaired. such tests are carried out with default factory settings. this includes hardware and software.