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Can a hard disk shrink? Or did ****USA steal my HD?



 
 
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  #31  
Old October 13th 03, 11:11 PM
Rod Speed
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jeffc wrote in message
...
Rod Speed wrote
jeffc wrote
ameijers wrote


But if OP is sure about what the tags say, I'd theorize the
shop was out of 80s and/or the tech called up the build
sheet from the website, and put back 'original equipment'.
9 out of ten customers would never have known the difference.


Everyone keeps missing the fact that they did not (were
not supposed to) change the hard drive for this work.


It is a reasonable thing to try if the second
power supply behaved the same as the first.


But they would have told them they did it.


You dont know that the monkey he has communicated
with is the same monkey that did that swap when testing
or that the monkey that did the swap documented that etc.

It couldn't be an "honest mistake" if they told
him they only ran diagnostics on the drive.


Corse it could be just lousy communication/
honest mistake about what was actually done.


  #32  
Old October 14th 03, 12:43 AM
do_not_spam_me
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"George L." wrote in message ...

I took my Compaq equipped with 80 gig HD to ****USA but got
back a 40 gig. My data wasn't lost, but the drive is
definitely smaller, according to the BIOS and the label on the HD.


The repair center denies that they replaced the drive and said
that they only ran a diagnostic on it. I have the receipt for
the original HD (was an upgrade) and registered its serial
no., but the repair center says that it's not enough proof.


Repair shops sometime substitute parts for testing and then forget to
put back the originals. But fraud does happen, and I've had 2
experiences with hard drive downgrades like that, both where the shop
"forgot" to restore all the partitions. It seems that high-priced
video cards are the most likely targets for this now because other
components are so cheap.

Protect yourself by copying down the model and serial numbers of every
drive, video card, and memory module, and write them on the original
work order, along with "return old parts to customer."
  #34  
Old October 14th 03, 02:35 AM
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On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 18:13:19 GMT, "Colin Watters"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .

Why would they swap drives? There's no economic incentive to do so;
there's not enough involved to make it worth their while.


He said his 80G was an upgrade. Perhaps they assumed it was a "standard"
model and replaced it with what they thought that model had? ..or perhaps
they just had a 40G handy and didn't check?

While possible, IMO it's highly improbable.
These places like to make money. If they need to change a drive to
check what will work, they usually charge for it.
On top of that, there's no reason to do a copy from one drive to
another to check the drive; just install the new drive, and see what
happens. Doing a copy takes time that's not needed if you're not
charging to change the drive.
If they were assuming the original was a "standard" drive, why did
they replace it without charging for the replacement? Even if it was a
warranty replacement, they would charge for the copying.

--
Bill
Replace "g" with "a"
Experience is what you get when you expected something else.
  #35  
Old October 14th 03, 02:38 AM
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 04:43:45 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
George L wrote


Do computer repair centers ever replace HDs with smaller
ones and not tell customers? I took my Compaq equipped
with 80 gig HD to ****USA but got back a 40 gig. My data
wasn't lost, but the drive is definitely smaler, according to
the BIOS and the label on the HD.


My original problem was that the computer would freeze
or blue screen every other day, and changing the PS didn't
help. Apparently the original PS was bad and the second
one was inadequate because the repair center put in yet
another, and the computer has been rock solid ever since.


The repair center denies that the replaced the drive and
said that they only ran a diagnostic on it. I have the receipt
for the original HD (was an upgrade) and registered its serial
no., but the repair center says that it's not enough proof.


What can I do?


Unless you can actually prove thatt he drive in question
was actually in the box when you took it into the store,
you'll be hard pressed to win any action. A receipt only
shows that you bought the drive, not that it was in the
box when you took it in.


Dunno, he clearly aint got what is listed
on the original receipt anymore.


What original receipt?
The OP says he has a receipt forthe drive; he didn't say the receipt
was for the system.

Why would they swap drives? There's no economic incentive to
do so; there's not enough involved to make it worth their while.


Sure, but that doesnt mean some monkey didnt put the wrong
size drive in the box when replacing the original, by accident,
say when testing that possibility for the freezes when the
second power supply behaved the same way as the first.

But that doesn't explain the copy. Copying takes time, and these
places make their money charging for such work.
I have a hard time believing the tech would replace the drive, do an
image/copy, and not document it.

--
Bill
Replace "g" with "a"
Experience is what you get when you expected something else.
  #37  
Old October 14th 03, 02:40 AM
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On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 15:37:45 -0500, frankg wrote:

I think you have a legal case (especially if the hd was included with
the system and you have the receipt for the system purchase) if the
store refuses to cooperate.


"I have the receipt for
the original HD (was an upgrade)..."
The OP's receipt for the drive does not put the drive in the system.

--
Bill
Replace "g" with "a"
Experience is what you get when you expected something else.
  #38  
Old October 14th 03, 03:06 AM
frankg
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 07:09:23 +1000, "Rod Speed" wrote:


frankg wrote in message
.. .

Generally you're wrong


Nope.

but technically you can be right


Corse he's right.

(these links explain in better detail) ....


Read the links I supplied and they answer it correctly.

I'm not going to waste my time arguing with people who think they know
it all.
  #39  
Old October 14th 03, 03:41 AM
Rod Speed
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frankg wrote in message
...
Rod Speed wrote
frankg wrote


Generally you're wrong


Nope.


but technically you can be right


Corse he's right.


(these links explain in better detail) ....


Read the links I supplied


None of those are any news to me.

and they answer it correctly.


Dont say anything different to what I said
with FAT32 partitions over 32GB with Win2K.

I'm not going to waste my time arguing
with people who think they know it all.


Even you should be able to bull**** your way out
of your predicament better than that pathetic effort.


  #40  
Old October 14th 03, 03:50 AM
Rod Speed
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wrote in message
...
Colin Watters wrote
wrote


Why would they swap drives? There's no economic incentive to do so;
there's not enough involved to make it worth their while.


He said his 80G was an upgrade. Perhaps they assumed it was a
"standard" model and replaced it with what they thought that model
had? ..or perhaps they just had a 40G handy and didn't check?


While possible, IMO it's highly improbable.


Nope, not when the system was randomly freezing and the
obvious candidate, the power supply had already been tried.

These places like to make money. If they need to change
a drive to check what will work, they usually charge for it.


They cant charge for it if it wasnt the problem.

On top of that, there's no reason to do a copy
from one drive to another to check the drive;
just install the new drive, and see what happens.


Not a viable approach if it only freezes or BSODs every
other day and a power supply swap didnt fix that.

Doing a copy takes time that's not needed
if you're not charging to change the drive.


It may well be needed to pin down just what
is causing the freeze or bsod every other day.

If they were assuming the original was a "standard" drive,
why did they replace it without charging for the replacement?


Most likely that was an attempt to see if that was the reason
for the freeze or bsdo every other day, after the power supply
had already been swapped and the problem remained.

Even if it was a warranty replacement,
they would charge for the copying.


They cant, legally.


 




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