[Sk0rch]

I called Acer and reported three problems.

1. The charger adapter or charger port is very sensitive, does not charge unless I move the wire around.
2. The unit constantly overheats, especially when I play a game, it even shuts off the PC.
3. The "C" key came off and I cannot get it back on.


So I have to send the PC in for them to fix. This was all fine and dandy until they told me the last part.

HARD DISK DRIVE REPLACEMENT AND/OR REINSTALLATION OF FACTORY SOFTWARE - COMPUTERS ONLY

If the computer's hard disk drive is diagnosed to have damage or failure, Acer will install a replacement hard
disk drive.

If the original factory software is non-functional (corrupted), Acer will erase the hard disk drive and reinstall
the original factory software (operating system and utilities only). ALL DATA WILL BE NONRECOVERABLE!

There is no way I am letting them replace my hard-drive. I have too much music, movies, and pictures on there. It was a pain, let alone, to transfer all that from my previous desktop to this new laptop. Now that my desktop doesn't work, it will be a huge pain to backup all of my hard drive on to dozens of CD's.

Can someone please advise me on my situation, thanks.

[Advertisements]

Unfortunately if you are sending the computer to Acer, they have cart blanche on what to do with it while its in their possession. Personal data, files, etc are not their problem. This is not unique to Acer, most of the big names who offer services like this will not be responsible for the data.

[Neil Jones]

Unfortunately if you are sending the computer to Acer, they have cart blanche on what to do with it while its in their possession. Personal data, files, etc are not their problem. This is not unique to Acer, most of the big names who offer services like this will not be responsible for the data.

[Sk0rch]

Okay, if that is the case, then I must back-up my files. What is the cheapest and most efficient way to go about this process?

Thanks.

[Neil Jones]

If you have a DVD writer in the laptop, burn stuff to DVDs. This is all you can do.
Alternatively get hold of an appropriate adaptor and borrow a friend's computer as a temporary storage device.

[SuperSam]

I had exactly, exactly the same problem. And they diagnosed it with exactly the same problem. Even though I knew the HD was fine! Nevertheless Acer won't send the laptop back broken. They diagnosed it with a hard drive problem, but they replaced the motherboard and the hard-drive. As well as reinstalling XP! Mine was an older Travelmate 2200 which is now not used .

[123Runner]

Buy yourself an external USB drive, say 500gb or so. They are not that expensive, AND, it can be used as a backup for all your data on a day today/ week to week.

[Sk0rch]

Expensiveness is relative. I only have 40 GB worth of video and 10 GB worth of music. Is it worth it to buy a USB drive? Can't I just back them up on CD's?

[dsenette]

Expensiveness is relative. I only have 40 GB worth of video and 10 GB worth of music. Is it worth it to buy a USB drive? Can't I just back them up on CD's?

you were asking for a method of backing up your data OTHER than backing up everything to CDs....then why are you complaining when someone gives you just such an option?...don't waste our time by asking for a suggestion then complaining when one is given

if you want to back up everything to CD then go for it...burn everything to CDs....or DVDs if you can

otherwise you'll need to either transfer everything to another computer either with a network or some form of transfer cable (such as a USB file transfer cable)...or you'll need to transfer directly to another hard drive....either by BUYING a USB hard drive large enough to hold the info you want...or by buying a USB hard drive encloser and putting a hard drive that you already have in it (from the dead computer assuming that the HD didn't die....if you still have it and it's of the right size)


my suggestion is to go with an external hard drive because if you do...you'll be able to store ALL your future videos, photos, music, data files, etc... on this drive and you won't have to worry about your internal hard drive ever again...if it fails...you've still got your stuff

[123Runner]

You can back up to whatever you want. 50gb of data is a lot of CD's. The hard drive can be set up with some free backup utilities to automatically back up.
This is your choice, just offering another solution.

[Sk0rch]

Expensiveness is relative. I only have 40 GB worth of video and 10 GB worth of music. Is it worth it to buy a USB drive? Can't I just back them up on CD's?

you were asking for a method of backing up your data OTHER than backing up everything to CDs....then why are you complaining when someone gives you just such an option?...don't waste our time by asking for a suggestion then complaining when one is given

No, I was not.

Like I said, I am asking people to advise me on this situation. I wanted people's opinions on the matter. I am not very knowledgeable about computers when compared to most people here. I simply want to know what is the cheapest and most efficient way of going about this.

I do not want to buy a 250 GB hard-drive when I have only 50GB worth of stuff. I will look into buying a 50 GB hard-drive, but do you guys think it would be fine if I just buy like 10 DVD's? It might take more work but I don't mind. I don't think I'll use CD's, but DVD's might be a possibility.

Edited by Sk0rch, 29 May 2007 - 11:13 PM.

[Sk0rch]

I called Acer and they are sending me a replacement adapter. I have used a program to half my video files from 40 GB to 20, so I will use DVD's, thanks for the help.

[Troy]

To simply answer your concerns, YES dvd's will be fine! Just don't forget to double check that everything works once you have burnt it - ie. check all your dvd's and that you are able to access the data.

Don't forget to use quality media, don't just buy cheapo's...
Don't forget to use a slow speed when burning (like 4x or 8x), takes a little longer but produces more reliable burns...
Don't forget to store them all appropriately whilst waiting for your computer back from Acer...
Don't forget to copy everything straight back over as soon as you get your computer back...

If you can, you should probably burn duplicates to avoid any hassles. To quote someone on this forum (I forget who and where, but kudos to them!), they said something like this:

Remember, any data you don't have at least two separate copies of is data you don't really care about!

Good Luck!

Edit: found the quote, it was by happyrck on this forum.

Edited by ruthandtroy, 07 June 2007 - 06:41 AM.

[snooker]

Hi ... If I was you ? I would do both , burn your stuff onto dvd's and copy and paste onto a external drive , I wouldn't just trust one source ( disk's or external drive ) I have seen an external drive died on me and I was lucky to have my back ups on disk , go with both you can't go wrong . In most cases

[Troy]

I wouldn't just trust one source

Yes I agree, that's what I was getting at. It's always good advice! And yes, I also learnt the hard way

[Sk0rch]

Thanks. For now, I have just ordered a replacement adapter for free, I will send my PC in, around august. The adapter just arrived the other day, works great.