NEVER EVER take technical advice at face value.

I recently took an external drive to PC World because I couldn't get it to work. It contained over 100gb of cherished photos etc that could not be replaced so I was anxious to say the least.

One of the staff at 'The Tech Guys' desk took my drive away, opened the casing and returned with the IDE drive telling me that it had suffered a mechanical failure and that it was finished. He told me that I could send it away to a lab to attempt data recovery but that it would cost in the region of 700. He then asked if I wanted the drive back or should he just bin it - I took it home with me as I hadn't ruled out spending the 700.

Yesterday I was in another PC World and noticed an 'external enclosure' that basically allows you to pop in a 3.5' drive and connect it via USB 2.0 for 30. I thought 'what the hell' and bought it in the vain hope that if I stuck my 'broken' drive in it I might in some way be able to get it to work.

It is now working as if there was never anything wrong with it in the first place - and that clown was going to BIN it!!!

Boy oh boy am I going to give it to him between the eyes when I pay them a special visit on Saturday.

[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]

Regards

John

[Pete]

I have never had that much confidence in the abilities of PC World's tech team, and this just confirms my doubt!

Those tech guys are gonna feel like they got hit by a train...

GJ

[HighFlyer]

I was going to say, i think 'PC World' is where you went wrong. I wouldnt trust them in a million years. I have never had a good experience with their sales or tech staff. Complete muppets.

Glad you have your drive working and havent lost your data though [y] Might i suggest a back-up, pronto!

Thanks,
Sarah

As Pete & Sarah have said, your first mistake was to go to PC World. Their sales / technical staff have not got a clue & they just push whatever product Head Office have told them to push this week.

I only set foot in the local PC World if I need to read something on the box of a product [i.e. info not available online, which is unusual]. I then go and buy the product elsewhere / online - it's invariably cheaper.

Glad you got your hard drive back up & running with the external caddy though!

James

[RichardMannion]

Ahh the joys of Pissy Werld.

I had the dubious honour of having to create a techincal certification scheme a few years ago, think of it a MCP Lite. My god, some of the feedback I got was that it was too hard, and some wanted to dispute the questions.

In reality, I have found that they are able to perceive that they know slightly more than your average punter. Oh the fun that can be had in store....

[preiffer]

Anyone want some fun in PC world, pick out the most arrogant, know-it-all looking employee in the store and ask him 'excuse me, could you tell me what the difference is between an inkjet and a bubblejet?'

Then wait, and listen to the biggest amount of absolute a*$e that's come out of a wannabe geek's mouth in decades...


(PS - works even better if you can point out WHY everything they've just said is utter shit afterwards... [:w])

It's great that you managed to get your data back. I recently bought a 500gb Western Digital Mybook external USB2 hard drive. It comes with software that allows you to select which folders or drives to back up. I turn it on every few weeks and it backs up any data that's changed. Or you can leave it on and it does it at a certain time.

Also, look at something like flickr to upload your photos. It's worth paying the yearly fee for it, and then it works as an external backup, and you can hide your photos from public view if needed.

[HighFlyer]

Aah, Pissy Werld

Thanks,
Sarah

PC World was one of the many reasons I switched to Mac - at least when I ask a question in the Apple Store, I get a response which helps.

I once asked someone in PC World where I could find the USB cables and they asked what they were!!!

I think [url=[url=http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pcworldcw1.jpg]this picture[/url] says it all!

[:X]

[Bazz]

John, if the original external drive enclosure had it's own electronics it could have been those that were at fault, however it could be the first indications that the HDD itself is beginning to fail. I would take Sarah's advice and back up those cherished photos onto another trusted drive ASAP. Then run some vigorous tests on the original drive.

[Scrooge]

BTW everyone, I have a great piece of software that can hunt down pictures on drives that are failing or have failed.

When a HDD fails it is not uncommon to be able to get it to run at least one more time is connected as a slave, most of the time howeve you will not be able to find anything..this little program finds the pictures..if anyone needs it send me a PM.