With apologies to Dell

[Scarlett]

I just don't feel right about doing this but it's the boss' orders.

We purchase all our computers through Dell and I'm always the one to deal with them due my "expert computer powers", (meaning I'm the only one who knows the difference between a hard drive and a processor and I can restore the network connection when the server has a brain fart). I always get the 2 year, on-site technical support for the laptops purchased for our construction superintendents because they can be pretty abusive to the machines. So far it's been a very worthwhile investment.

So one of our supers calls me this morning and reports that his laptop won't turn on at all and can I please do something about it yesterday. I have him bring the computer into my office and I run through some troubleshooting stuff with Dell. They decide it must the motherboard and they'll send someone out tomorrow to replace it.

The only problem is, I know it's not really just a faulty motherboard that's covered under the warranty. What actually happened was that a water main broke out at the jobsite and the poor little laptop was sitting right underneath the resulting flood. The boss took it home and put it under a fan to dry it out and is now hoping that no one will notice it's completely fried. Even better, he's given me the lovely task of sitting there feigning shock and disbelief while the tech discovers our little web of lies. I mean, it'll be obvious that this thing was totally drenched, right?

I'm a bad, bad person and, Dell, I'm really, really sorry. :(

Oh, and for the icing on the cake, the boss thought it was a good idea to not have the laptop connected to the network. Great. There's a bunch of records and files that are lost forever now.

[GregMcn]

Problem there is Dell are not stupid and its easy to tell if a motherboard has been subjected to a "water short".For the sake of a laptop i dont figure its worth the hassle of trying to get it through Dell as a fault.

[lloyd_b]

I don't envy you...

FYI - depending on what died in what order, the info on the hard drive *may* still be accessible. It's possible that if you plug that HD into a similar laptop, you might be able to recover it (since HD's are usually sealed, unless the electronics are fried, it might still work).

On the flipside - if the electronics on the drive *are* fried, they could potentially take out the motherboard on the second laptop. If you're the daring sort (or you have an older laptop that you aren't afraid of sacrificing) you can give this a try, to at least recover the data.

If you're more cautious, there are a lot of data recovery firms that can probably retrieve the data for you. They don't work cheap, but if the data is valuable enough your boss should see reason.

As for the Dell guy - don't even try to feign shock. When he opens it up, and tells you what he thinks happened to the motherboard, just nod and say "with that super, anything is possible".

And make sure you mention to the boss that Dell offers a 3-year warranty (CompleteCare) that covers accidental damage. They do cover "Liquid spills" damage, but I don't know if that applies for computers used in and industrial setting. Might be worth looking into...

Lloyd B.

[Scarlett]

We've had to do data recovery in the past and that's not cheap. I really doubt that whatever was on this super's computer is really worth the expense and in all honesty I couldn't justify the cost. However, I did chew the boss out for not having it connected to the network in the first place and he agreed with me that in the future it will be.

I'm not holding my breath though. I'm still waiting for him to get a back-up tape system with off-site storage to replace the external hard drive that we've got going now. He knows we need it. He's already paid thousands of dollars to recover lost data from an accidental wipe of the back-up drive's partition and everything stored on it. I try to tell myself that I don't care and it's not my job. It really isn't. I'm a project manager. I draw construction documents and coordinate sub-contractors. I'm only the ad-hoc IT geek by default. But I really do like computers and I worry about security and redundancy and points of failure but it's nothing I'm really supposed to spend time on or am allowed to spend money for.

Previously, he's been unwilling to spend money on the CompleteCare based on the assumption that we'll have to upgrade the laptop in a couple of years anyway. (Don't ask, I have no idea why he thinks this way.) Maybe this will make him a little more willing to open the purse strings.

But I think I will definitely take your suggestion of throwing the super under the bus. He isn't going to be there... what does he care.

[mike999999]

The only problem is, I know it's not really just a faulty motherboard that's covered under the warranty. What actually happened was that a water main broke out at the jobsite and the poor little laptop was sitting right underneath the resulting flood. The boss took it home and put it under a fan to dry it out and is now hoping that no one will notice it's completely fried. Even better, he's given me the lovely task of sitting there feigning shock and disbelief while the tech discovers our little web of lies. I mean, it'll be obvious that this thing was totally drenched, right?



As someone who's been a superintendent, these kind of things are usually covered by your Business Insurance / Building insurance. Now depending on the deductable and the amount of damage done you can most likely get the thing replaced new.

Water damage on a motherboard is evident as the water 'stains' itself onto the circuit board. If they call you out on this you may want to try the insurance route.

Good luck,

Mike

[tseliot]

I'm moving this thread to the cafe

[VCSkier]

I accidentally dumped about 16 ounces of water into the center of a Thinkpad laptop's keyboard at one point. It was turned on, charging, and connected to my stereo system, playing music at the time. It cut off immediately, so I quickly unplugged it, and then removed the battery. When I picked it up, water literally poured out of the fan exit, and other ports on the sides.

In hopes of saving it, I removed the keyboard and as much of the casing as possible, and then removed as many removable components as possible (hdd, cdrom drive, RAM...), and then laid everything out to dry for 2 days. The worst part, was that it wasn't even my laptop, it was property of my University!

Miraculously, after the two days of drying, I put it all back together, and everything worked fine. IBM's really are the best laptops out there.

[dca]

Depending on the service plan purchased you could probably pee on it and it'd be covered. We use Dell where I work also w/ the warranty. Kind of like cell phones. You can purchase the insurance at the carrier (usually third party through Asurion) and depending on the plan it'll cover everything even the pet eating it...

[popch]

Depending on the service plan purchased you could probably pee on it and it'd be covered...

I would advise to unplug it from the mains before trying that.

[Matthew Wiebelhaus]

Otherwise you might fell i incomfortable shock............

[Scarlett]

Depending on the service plan purchased you could probably pee on it and it'd be covered.


That made me LOL. And no, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be covered.

The whole thing turned out rather well. The tech came out and replaced the mobo and... lo and behold... IT WORKED!! Then he pulled me aside and said he really shouldn't have done that as there was obvious water damage and one of the memory sticks was corroded. Then he offered to come out again and replace the bad memory. He also got the thing remotely connected to the server and said he wasn't supposed to do that. So I told him I'd keep his secret if he'd keep mine. Sweet!

[stinger30au]

Miraculously, after the two days of drying, I put it all back together, and everything worked fine. IBM's really are the best laptops out there.

I come from a small country outback town in Australia, about 900 kilometers from the coast.

I will never forget a "Telstra" guy brought his laptop in for a clean and service he said.

when i opened the laptop case it was covered in bulldust. i asked him what happened. he said he had been on a site upgrading satellite gear and when finsihed put everything away and forgot the laptop.it was still sitting in the tray of his ute. when driving away he hit a big ditch and noticed something fly out the side of his ute. he went back and found his laptop.they had a big rubber condom type thing round it. he put it back in the bag and brought it to me.
i stripped it, cleaned it out with the air compressor , put it back together and it worked first time. it was an IBM. i was amazed

[Depressed Man]

That made me LOL. And no, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be covered.

The whole thing turned out rather well. The tech came out and replaced the mobo and... lo and behold... IT WORKED!! Then he pulled me aside and said he really shouldn't have done that as there was obvious water damage and one of the memory sticks was corroded. Then he offered to come out again and replace the bad memory. He also got the thing remotely connected to the server and said he wasn't supposed to do that. So I told him I'd keep his secret if he'd keep mine. Sweet!

Either he likes you ;) :lolflag:

Or maybe he decided that since your company is a good customer, that they would let this slide and show you why it was a good idea to pick Dell. *shrugs*

[Seisen]

Panasonic came out with new laptops that are supposed to be unbreakable maybe that my be an option that you can look at in the future.

[sanderella]

That made me LOL. And no, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be covered.

The whole thing turned out rather well. The tech came out and replaced the mobo and... lo and behold... IT WORKED!! Then he pulled me aside and said he really shouldn't have done that as there was obvious water damage and one of the memory sticks was corroded. Then he offered to come out again and replace the bad memory. He also got the thing remotely connected to the server and said he wasn't supposed to do that. So I told him I'd keep his secret if he'd keep mine. Sweet!

That's good networking! :)

I dropped a pda down the loo once, it dried in the airing cupboard for a couple of days, then worked perfectly.

[PartisanEntity]

That's good networking! :)

I dropped a pda down the loo once, it dried in the airing cupboard for a couple of days, then worked perfectly.

I would never use a device again if it came into contact with such an environment :)

[Nekiruhs]

I accidentally dumped about 16 ounces of water into the center of a Thinkpad laptop's keyboard at one point. It was turned on, charging, and connected to my stereo system, playing music at the time. It cut off immediately, so I quickly unplugged it, and then removed the battery. When I picked it up, water literally poured out of the fan exit, and other ports on the sides.

In hopes of saving it, I removed the keyboard and as much of the casing as possible, and then removed as many removable components as possible (hdd, cdrom drive, RAM...), and then laid everything out to dry for 2 days. The worst part, was that it wasn't even my laptop, it was property of my University!

Miraculously, after the two days of drying, I put it all back together, and everything worked fine. IBM's really are the best laptops out there.Truly they are. My Dad's work supplies him with a Thinkpad. While sitting in his living room drinking a Guinness, he accidentally poured the entire pint into the Laptop (What a waste, such shame). He let it dry for 4 days on top of the heating vent. The same laptop is still kicking. Sadly, I haven't been able to say the same about the new Lenovos as far as water damage survival.:lolflag:

[jgrabham]

Panasonic came out with new laptops that are supposed to be unbreakable maybe that my be an option that you can look at in the future.

A toughbook?

[boogieboarder97]

yeah toughbooks are sweet my dad works for panaonics toughbook division and i have a cf-73 running ubuntu ultimate(regular ubuntu doesnt play nice with alsa sound drivers) the only thing that doesnt work is the built in touch screen :( they are quite tough though my dad said that some people unofficially tested them by dropping a cf-31( i think) 2 stories out a window onto grass and it survived. everything worked ibms sound pretty tough considering their price compared to tough books which cost anywhere from $1000 to $4000 usd

[macogw]

I don't envy you...

FYI - depending on what died in what order, the info on the hard drive *may* still be accessible. It's possible that if you plug that HD into a similar laptop, you might be able to recover it (since HD's are usually sealed, unless the electronics are fried, it might still work).

On the flipside - if the electronics on the drive *are* fried, they could potentially take out the motherboard on the second laptop. If you're the daring sort (or you have an older laptop that you aren't afraid of sacrificing) you can give this a try, to at least recover the data.

If you're more cautious, there are a lot of data recovery firms that can probably retrieve the data for you. They don't work cheap, but if the data is valuable enough your boss should see reason.

As for the Dell guy - don't even try to feign shock. When he opens it up, and tells you what he thinks happened to the motherboard, just nod and say "with that super, anything is possible".

And make sure you mention to the boss that Dell offers a 3-year warranty (CompleteCare) that covers accidental damage. They do cover "Liquid spills" damage, but I don't know if that applies for computers used in and industrial setting. Might be worth looking into...

Lloyd B.
If the board on the hard drive is fried too, you can take the board from another hard drive of the same model and replace it to get the data off, then switch back and ditch the busted one. I've seen it done.

[southernman]

If the board on the hard drive is fried too, you can take the board from another hard drive of the same model and replace it to get the data off, then switch back and ditch the busted one. I've seen it done.

I tried to find the link, but couldn't. Saw a website where a guy detailed him going through data recovery from a dead (bad card it turned out) hdd... and that's what he ended up doing. Found a drive with the same firmware at a local shop, switched the cards and retrieved the date, switched cards back around and returned the drive to the local shop... it helped that the local shop owner was a friend of his.

[jasay]

I tried to find the link, but couldn't. Saw a website where a guy detailed him going through data recovery from a dead (bad card it turned out) hdd... and that's what he ended up doing. Found a drive with the same firmware at a local shop, switched the cards and retrieved the date, switched cards back around and returned the drive to the local shop... it helped that the local shop owner was a friend of his.

Not the one you're talking about, but a good intro to data recovery. Just follow the links on the rights for all 7 sections. If I remember correctly he suggests getting a new harddrive made +/- 2 weeks from the one that failed to maximize firmware compatibility. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kx-D1nJcv0k

[southernman]

Not the one you're talking about, but a good intro to data recovery. Just follow the links on the rights for all 7 sections. If I remember correctly he suggests getting a new harddrive made +/- 2 weeks from the one that failed to maximize firmware compatibility. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kx-D1nJcv0k

excellent find. Thanks for the link!

[bimmerd00d]

Dell replaced a motherboard on one of our dimension machines that was in the front area of our office that was flooded. I figured i'd just tell them it stopped turning on, I didn't expect them to say no way. They did, the company that came out was Unisys, which is contracted by Dell in my area.