Pre-Service Backups

[molotov256]

I would never be reckless with someone else's data just because my service agreement says that I'm not liable, but it will continue to say so anyway.

Well said! I based my standard work order off of the one in Bryce's Business Kit, so it has a little clause in the "Terms and Conditions" section which says I'm not held liable for data loss, but I want to make sure i don't have to fall back on that. That's the last line of defense (before small claims court )

I think I'm starting to formulate a plan in my head based on everybody's input. Thanks for all the ideas! Let me know how this sounds...

• When they book the appointment, request they backup before I show up. I like that idea, good call. Keep the ball in their court.
• Upon arrival, diagnose the system, go over the action plan with the customer, and get their approval to proceed on the work order.
• If the diagnosis leads to a faulty HDD, or if the action plan involves reinstalling the OS, I've got a separate addendum to the work order which explains that data is likely to be lost and a backup attempt is strongly recommended. The client can either opt to have me do a backup or not.
• Regardless of what the client decides about backups and whether I deemed it necessary to break out that addendum or not, in the case of computers that come back to the bench, I'll do like wtigger and make an image to keep for a predetermined amount of time. I was thinking 30 days, but I guess it depends on how many images I have to keep at one time. Then if there's any files the client forgot to tell me to back up, I can access them from the image and could also charge for doing so. Even though I wouldn't be charging for making the image, I can possibly make some money off it a little later down the road.

Sound good, or too much paperwork?

If I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to get something faster than a USB HDD, too.

 

[wtigger]

If I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to get something faster than a USB HDD, too.

Take an old tower with at least three 5-1/4" drive bays. Get yourself some of the drive frames with insertable caddies, then you never have to open YOUR machine to do backups to your internal HDD's. Get one IDE and one SATA frame, and leaving a DVD-ROM drive in there also.

I am currently rebuilding a full tower for this purpose. I already have the IDE / SATA / SCSI frames in the tower, and I am upgrading the motherboard now... USB is TOO slow for imaging these days... I will also install a 1TB SATA drive internally for the image storage.

 

[molotov256]

Take an old tower with at least three 5-1/4" drive bays. Get yourself some of the drive frames with insertable caddies, then you never have to open YOUR machine to do backups to your internal HDD's. Get one IDE and one SATA frame, and leaving a DVD-ROM drive in there also.

I dig that idea, so I went and did just that. I have an old P4 gateway tower from 2001 I was using to record band practice in the basement, so it has been retasked.

I'm with you on the SATA drive caddy, but I opted not to put in an IDE one. I already have an external IDE/SATA to USB adapter for on-site work, and sicne IDE only transfers at 133 mpbs anyhow, USB 2.0 at 480 mpbs shouldn't constrain that data path. Doing this on the cheap

It always feels good to breathe new life into old computers - thanks for the input!

 

[Appleby]

Question: I don't have a good/fast way to backup data on every machine besides my USB/IDE/SATA adater which is SLOW. What about this....

I ask the customer "have you backed up your data? If not, we should really back it all up before I do anything to the computer blah blah blah. I can back it all up for you temporarily or put it on your ext. HD for flash drive for $XX". If they say no, I say "ok sign here that you are waiving that option and I will do my best to make sure there is no data loss, but obviously there is no guarantee." Then, in my mind, they not only had the option of data backup, they signed a form saying that they opted out of having their data backed up. Lets face it, it's going to take me time to back their data up that is above and beyond the normal time to remove a virus, fix a start up problem etc. I should be able to charge for that time and a flat $25 (or whatever) fee for that should be reasonable.

Heck if you really want to think further into this, I might get an ext. HD or flash drive sale out of the deal. Granted that wouldn't be the goal but it might be a nice bonus. I don't mind backing up data but if I've got to do it on every machine it is going to take TIME.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

I'd never trust a customer to

a) backup their own data reliably

b) tell me what needs backing up - I always work out what needs backing up myself

 

[PR Tech]

So a decent setup might be something like a computer with 2 SATA drive caddies (1 for 2.5" drives and 1 for 3.5" drives), a Western Digital 2TB Green drive for storing disk images and Acronis software to do the disk imaging work? Molotov's reasoning for not wanting to add IDE drive caddies due to the transfer rates makes sense. Has anyone tried to use a raid array on a couple of drives that store the disk images?

 

[molotov256]

On a note that hasn't come up yet - are there any legal considerations regarding imaging a client's disk? That effectively gives us full access to EVERYTHING on their compy... if I plan to image their disk, should I have them sign something?

Lets face it, it's going to take me time to back their data up that is above and beyond the normal time to remove a virus, fix a start up problem etc. I should be able to charge for that time and a flat $25 (or whatever) fee for that should be reasonable.

100% agreed. A backup solution doesn't and shouldn't come with virus removal, windows tuneups, car washes, lawn mowing or driveway shoveling.

I worked out a form based off of Bryce's computer repair business kit which should serve as a pretty good customer sign off sheet for these situations. Just like you said, I present the customer with the risks associated with not backing up and options to back up, and I give them the option to either say yes or no. Since their response is on paper, it ought to serve as some indemnification in the event of a "you screwed up the email I haven't used in a year" kind of situation ITTech mentioned several posts back.

I'd never trust a customer to

a) backup their own data reliably

b) tell me what needs backing up - I always work out what needs backing up myself

I'm not experienced enough in this field to pass final judgment, but I really wouldn't want to take responsibility for deciding what client data to back up. I would certainly make suggestions based on their usage habits and what I see on their computer, but ultimately, the customer has to be the best judge of what's important to him or her.

As a user, I'm a prime example of this. I keep a folder on a separate HDD partition for music projects I'm working on. It's not under My Documents, it's not IE Favorites or an Outlook Express file, etc, so it's totally non-standard from a backup point of view. Granted, I wouldn't forget to tell a technician to back that stuff up, but I'm also savvy enough to know I'd need to point that directory out.

As I think about these things and work on customizing work orders and other paperwork more and more, it's helping me to think from the customer's point of view more. The terms and conditions shouldn't be strictly written to protect the technician, but should also be written in a language to help the customer understand what they can expect from us. I want to make sure I'm not squeezing the client for every last penny without delivering a service of value to them!

So a decent setup might be something like a computer with 2 SATA drive caddies (1 for 2.5" drives and 1 for 3.5" drives), a Western Digital 2TB Green drive for storing disk images and Acronis software to do the disk imaging work? Molotov's reasoning for not wanting to add IDE drive caddies due to the transfer rates makes sense. Has anyone tried to use a raid array on a couple of drives that store the disk images?

Sounds good to me. I've never used Acronis myself, but it seems to be an industry standard, and there's probably a reason for that.

 

[wtigger]

Well, guys, it's all well and good to have customers sign a "waiver", but we all know most regular computer "users" do NOT back up their data, pure and simple. Until they LOSE it then they cry

My feeling on this is opportunities are here to be the "good guy" and make up for their failure. It's all about "customer service". If you go above and beyond, you win their business and loyalty, and maybe some referrals also... This is how I approach it.. I tell them that BEFORE I work on their virus-ridden beast that I image the system in full so that they won't lose anything if the virus removal process trashes their HDD, and I have had that happen a few times.

And about the IDE frames, I already had them from long ago So that is why I have them in the tower... But it is a good way of keeping all backups inside one unit (the "backup server").

 

[atlanticjim]

1. Thanks to the OP for this thread because it has given me good things to think of to improve my business.

2. Regarding the IDE frames, I have not used them, are they hot-swappable? and what about 2.5inch lappy drives, are there frames for them?

 

[wtigger]

1. Thanks to the OP for this thread because it has given me good things to think of to improve my business.

2. Regarding the IDE frames, I have not used them, are they hot-swappable? and what about 2.5inch lappy drives, are there frames for them?

Item # 2: No, they are not hot-swappable like SCSI. Check Cyberguys or Geeks dot com for the frames. I'm not sure if they make a 2.5", but it is possible