Geek Squad – Are They Really Doing You a Favor?

The dawn of the information and computer age has brought a lot of change to us all. Computers are such a huge part of live it is a necessity to know at least a few things about them. I have also had an interest in computers and playing with them for hours has taught me a thing or two. That knowledge really comes in handy when something goes wrong and when you get the blue screen of death for instance. Not everyone can diagnosis a computer problem and you may need to seek help.

A relative of mine in Chicago was having computer problems like we all do. It seemed to be a problem with windows and it could not be fixed over the phone nor was she close enough to me to drive over there. The last resort was to take it in and why not take it to the well-advertised Geek Squad. Surely, they most know more and are able to instantly diagnose the problem. She dropped off the computer and I wanted to know exactly what they were going to do. I spent hours uploading drivers and installing software. I of course did not want to redo all of that work. In my honest opinion, sometimes it is necessary to save all your data to some DVDs, reformat your hard drive and reload all your software every few years. The Geek Squad had different ideas.

They turned a working computer into a worthless one. It was an old laptop and she did not have the recovery CD. This made me concerned since finding drivers can be hard. They obviously did not know what the problem was so they decided to hack and slash the hard drive, and start all over. They reformatted it and handed it back to her. They might as well as thrown in out the window into Michigan Avenue than handed it back. All of her data was lost and they never told her what their plan was, never backed it up and never asked if she did. Similar to firearms you treat every gun as if it is loaded; you need to treat someone else’s hard drive as if it has NEVER been backed up. A lesson the Geek Squad never learned.

It was very infuriating to learn of what they had done. By their actions is was obvious they the squad had no idea what was wrong. Simply reformatting the hard drive would have made nearly any problem go away. If your hard drive is blank, then there is not anything on there that could go wrong. Must problems are software related and not hardware anyways.

Losing data is the worst feeling and if you go there, I recommend the following. First off, you need to back up everything right now. If someone stole your computer and you would be upset about losing data (not to mention the cost of replacing the computer) you really need to back it up. If you have a CD burner, start burning. A DVD burner holds much more, it all depends on how much you have. If you have to go to the Geek Squad then make sure you know exactly what they are going to do. Talk to them daily if need be. You almost have to hold their hand to make sure they do not take some drastic action. If they do wipe your PC or something equally as destructive, go online and file a complaint at the Better Business Bureau. Enough complaints will have an effect.

I would be concerned before going there and take every action possible to safeguard your PC and your precious data. It is not THEIR PC; they do not really care about it as much as you do. Do not just hand it over to a stranger who cares less, back up first and then hold your breath.