OK, as some of you may remember I have had 'difficulty' with my system.

I bout a Gateway about 2 years ago. And in the course of the first year I had more than a few problems and got a lot of time with tech support.

A year ago, the free year of AOL came up (thank god AOL SUCKS) and I switched to DSL. Of course my computer Pentium III something or other, didn't appreciate the upgrade.

I could get online but everytime I tried to launch Internet Explorer I got the "The program has perfomed and illegal function and will be shut down" error message, I hate that message btw.

Well I had managed to solve most of my other computer problems with tech support and was feeling good in general. On Christmas Eve I decided to give them a call to fix this last issue (IE crashing) and settle beack for a enjoyable holiday.

Of course I didn't think about the fact that the only tech support guys who would be working were the flunkies who couldn't rate the holiday off.

Now rather than determine why IE was not working or was conflicting with DSL rather than dial up, I was directed by the tech to insert my Restoration CD and reinstall Windows. Now not reinstall IE, but reinstall Windows. I was skeptical and concerned about my data. I also had no way to back anything up other than floppies (no burner yet) and most files werre too large.

The tech support guy assured me my data was safe, everything would be fine. Well turns out many Gateway Restoration CDs have a error. They don't allow the option of reintalling Windows over Windows and upon insertion reformat the C drive. So as directed by the tech I install the CD and run it.

I think it looks bad (like I'm getting wiped out) and the tech tells me that everything is fine etc. and says the CD will run it's course and that should correct my IE issue.

Well when the CD is done it reboots the computer and everything is GONE.

All of it.

All of my buisness projects, contacts and downloaded software. All records of pending deals and related info..gone. And also many personal files like MP3s and photos including many wedding/honeymoon pics.

I was horrified.

Even worse I was pissed because I KNEW BETTER, I even questioned the tech guy and I went ahead and did it anyway instead of telling him "Fuck Off You Are A Idiot, Let Me Talk To SOmeone With A Clue." Nothing worse than knowing better but going against it because the other guy must know what he's doing, after all he is a tech.

I called tech support back and explained what happened and got switched from one flunkie to another eventually reaching the original flunkie who directed me to wipe out my system. He made a few feeble attempts to find my 'lost data' and then told me I would have to call back next week when people were in the office.

I hung up and had a very stressful Christmas.

The next week I called Gateway and it was then I learned that Gateway did indeed have a problem with defective Restoration CDs that automatically reformat the C drive. You think they would tell techs that on the first day since their solution to 90% of problems is "Insert your restoration CD."

Well I tell them what happened and they said they were gonna send a disk out right away that corrects the issue. I ask about the lost data that was the direct result of a faulty restoration CD and a idiot tech guy.

"Oh we are not responsible for lost data."

I check into the possiblity of data recovery services and find out it is expensive.

Also in the meantime I can't use the computer I have, not only will it probably exhibit the same IE issue I don't want to install anymore programs because that makes data recovery even more difficult.

I call Gateway to discuss my problems and seek a solution.

I get a customer service person who sees the pages of tech problems I've had in only a year and says he's gonna ship me a new tower.

This is good because then I can start working again. He says to send in the old tower and it will be a exchange. I advise him that I need to keep the old tower because I have to try and recover the data or loose LOTS of money.

He gives me the standard "Not responsible for lost data" line but tells me to contact "Business Services." I make probably as many as 25 calles, fax 5 letters and even mail a few all pleading for assistance with the cost of data recovery services. It is my position that since the restoration CD was defective, and I did everything the tech instructed me to that they should pay for all or some of the costs of data recovery.

Nobody calls me back, my letters, faxes and phone calls go unanswered. The old system begins to collect dust.

In the end I never had the several thousand dolars for data recovery and I lost 'almost' that amount as a result of the incident with lost sales, projects, etc.

This week I got a letter from a collection agency informing them that Gateway has made a claim against me in the amount of the cost of the system.

So they wipe me out.

Refuse to help me and ignore my pleas for help.

Take no responsibility for wiping out my business.

And NOW they bill me for the crappy system that they wiped out.

I feel like I'm being charged for the rope they are gonna hang me with.

Well I called Gateway and told them to issue a call tag and I will box the system up and return it GLADLY. After a year data recovery is no longer practical as the lost revenue is gone for good. I will still be losing personal data (wedding / honeymoon pics, etc.) but I can't spend thousands to 'attempt' to recover them.

I called the collection agency and advised them that Gateway is issuing a call tag and I am returning their system.

Hopefully this will be the end of it.

What have I learned?

1. Don't buy Gateway. They sent me a computer plagues with issues and problems.

2. Don't Trust Gateway Tech Support. They are morons who never seek to solve the problem at the cause but are only looking for the easy way out "Insert Your Restoration CD." Don't trust them to be aware of common issue like defective Restoration CDs.

3. Gateway doesn't give a fuck. They accept no repsonsibility for anything. Even if they tell you to do something and their equipment or software is defective, they do not give a fuck. they will NOT help you.

If I had it to do over, I would build my own system which would be upgradable and not finite like Gateway systems that need to be replaced to keep up after average system requirements increase.

Paraphrase please.

I know that NOW.

But with the original system I did not yet have a burner so no way to back anything up.

Once again, no way to back up my files.

My files were too big for a floppy and I didn't have a burner.

Actually that wouldn't have worked. With IE crashing I couldn't have got to the Microsoft site.

And I tried some heavy duty recovery software, no dice.

I hate to say it, but you *chose* to risk vital business data on a computer that you couldn't/wouldn't back up.  You lost.  And, chances are VERY high that you would have lost eventually anyway, due to a hard drive failure (the single most common problem with all PCs) or some other failure if you hadn't formatted the drive.  Yes, the tech was a moron, but bargain PCs come with bargain support.

Anyway, I've found that 99+% of people MUST lose VITAL data before they take back-ups seriously.  I hear sad stories all the time at work where people lost data.  That simply comes with owning and using a PC, and you have to assume that it's going to happen and take steps to protect yourself, just like everything else in life.

For anyone reading this, ask yourself this:

[b][red]"If my hard drive died RIGHT THIS SECOND, would I lose any vital data?"[/b][/red]

This includes your downloaded email (do you know which files hold that data, and know how to back them up?), data from your financial software, passwords to accounts, pictures from your digital camera, and anything else that may be important to you.

If the answer is YES, then chances are very good that your backup plan sucks.

Back up REALLY important things to CDR or DVD-R.  Every couple of months, make a second back-up and store it off-site at someone else's house or some other place.

For somewhat less important stuff, you may want to consider buying a 2nd hard drive and making a copy of all your data.  Then, disconnect it and optionally remove it from the PC case (the latter especially if you live in a place prone to lightning strikes.  Check your driver's license for the letters "FL" to see if this applies to you.)  This is a great way to back up large amounts of data in a fairly quick and convenient way.  For those a little more advanced, you can buy a Firewire/IEE1394 external hard drive enclosure for your back-up drive.  This makes hooking it up occasionally to make backups very easy.

Remember: How you lose your data doesn't matter as much as the fact that it's up to YOU to preserve it.  You can't count on anyone else to care enough about your data to do it for you, and do it right.

-Troy

Yeah, I appreciated the attempt anyway. You were way more helpful than anyone at Gateway.

Next time, I build.

Not true.  All manufacturers have a Corporate line of PCs, and if you buy one of those, not only will you get better quality hardware (though it may not have the absolute brand-newest features), but you'll be able to get Corporate support, which anyone who's ever called both will tell you is MUCH better than consumer-level support.

Of course, you can expect to pay $1,800-$3,000+ for the computer, instead of $699-$1,299 of a similar consumer model.  TANSTAAFL...

-Troy