Recovering OS from corrupted partition table

[lan101]

I have HDClone 9 too. It's still good but I could tell it was getting worse so that's why I decided to try active@ Disk Image. I pirated HD Clone 10 and it was even worse. I haven't tried X.3 which is their latest version. I still use HDClone 9 when working with Mac OS images on Windows but the failure rate of HDClone 9 is much higher than older versions (version 5 was my favorite). I might revisit X.3 if I can ever find a pirated version of it. I won't buy software that I know will probably suck without trying it first.


Yeah, "technically competent" clients usually suck. They only want you to do a half assed job because they want to do part of it themselves. Then if/when they run into trouble they expect you to tell them how to fix it for free. I refuse to work with these types of people. I tell them that if I work on a computer it's all or nothing. I won't, for example, build a computer and sell it without an OS so they can load some pirated version of Windows on it then blame me when the thing has stability problems and blue screens from improper drivers.

I just got a call today from some idiot who tried to replace the screen on his MacBook and it didn't work, so he wants me to diagnose it and put it back together for him and try to get his knockoff screen from Amazon working. No thanks. I won't work on a computer that someone else has messed with. Once you touch a computer, everything that happens from then on is your fault.

It doesn't happen often but sometimes an idiot will come in with a box full of laptop parts and ask us to put it back together because he took it apart to replace something and he couldn't figure out how to get it all back together properly. That's a big NOPE from me!

Yeah anyone that calls me that can't figure out why the gaming pc they just put together doesn't work...I just turn it away. Chances are they fried something or a bad part. They'll want to pay $20 dollars for a "quick" diagnostic lol. I'm good on that. Also every single one of them is trying to get $3000 dollar performance out of $700 worth of parts etc. Usually always guys or gals in their early 20's as well lol. I'm usually nice and tell them a couple of pointers for a few minutes but that's about it.

 

[Porthos]

Yeah anyone that calls me that can't figure out why the gaming pc they just put together doesn't work...I just turn it away. Chances are they fried something or a bad part. They'll want to pay $20 dollars for a "quick" diagnostic lol. I'm good on that. Also every single one of them is trying to get $3000 dollar performance out of $700 worth of parts etc. Usually always guys or gals in their early 20's as well lol. I'm usually nice and tell them a couple of pointers for a few minutes but that's about it.

Same for me for years. Not worth my time because of the above reasons.

 

[sapphirescales]

anyone that calls me that can't figure out why the gaming pc they just put together doesn't work...I just turn it away.

Actually I've found that some of these clients can be gold mines. Not all of them, of course, but this:

They'll want to pay $20 dollars for a "quick" diagnostic lol.

Is how you weed out the pain in the butt clients. I've changed my pricing structure to accommodate these types of people. My regular diagnostic is $75 but I charge $250 to diagnose a newly built custom build that won't POST or has other issues, which includes an hour of bench time. If they balk at this (50% will, 50% won't in my experience), you know they're not worth your time. What I've found though is that 50% of people are so desperate to get their computer working that they're ready to just dump the whole mess onto to someone else and are willing to pay to not have to deal with it anymore. After working on it for hours or even days, they're understandably upset and frustrated that their shiny new toy doesn't work and will pay almost anything to get it working.

These usually turn into good future clients too. I usually charge them between 50%-70% of whatever the parts originally costed them to fix the issue, then I tell them that if they had just come to me in the first place it would have only cost a fraction of what they've had to put into this computer so far to have me handle the whole build process, with a warranty! These types of clients NEVER try to do things themselves afterwards and usually become some of my best clients.

Also every single one of them is trying to get $3000 dollar performance out of $700 worth of parts

These clients do suck, no doubt about it. A $700 custom build budget just isn't high enough nowadays. I used to be able to build basic gaming computers for about $1000 with only $550 or so worth of parts but nowadays it's hard to build something decent for less than $800 worth of parts so I can't charge $1,000. I've bumped my minimum up to $1,200 but I really like to shoot for $1,500 with maybe $900 worth of parts. If a client comes to me with a low budget, I recommend an older refurb with a graphics card.

Usually always guys or gals in their early 20's as well lol.

I try not to be ageist but in my experience if the person is under 35/40 they're not worth dealing with. They have no money and expect the world for nothing. They also expect you to work for $10/hour while they think they deserve $25/hour working at McDonalds or $80/hour typing up spreadsheets in an office. It's insulting and even when you try to explain to them that this is skilled work, they don't care. I'm not trying to rag on McDonalds workers or any other type of worker but try and get some perspective, alright? You're not going to get a skilled technician to work on your computer for $10/hour. That wasn't even realistic in the 1990's.

 

[lan101]

Actually I've found that some of these clients can be gold mines. Not all of them, of course, but this:


Is how you weed out the pain in the butt clients. I've changed my pricing structure to accommodate these types of people. My regular diagnostic is $75 but I charge $250 to diagnose a newly built custom build that won't POST or has other issues, which includes an hour of bench time. If they balk at this (50% will, 50% won't in my experience), you know they're not worth your time. What I've found though is that 50% of people are so desperate to get their computer working that they're ready to just dump the whole mess onto to someone else and are willing to pay to not have to deal with it anymore. After working on it for hours or even days, they're understandably upset and frustrated that their shiny new toy doesn't work and will pay almost anything to get it working.

These usually turn into good future clients too. I usually charge them between 50%-70% of whatever the parts originally costed them to fix the issue, then I tell them that if they had just come to me in the first place it would have only cost a fraction of what they've had to put into this computer so far to have me handle the whole build process, with a warranty! These types of clients NEVER try to do things themselves afterwards and usually become some of my best clients.


These clients do suck, no doubt about it. A $700 custom build budget just isn't high enough nowadays. I used to be able to build basic gaming computers for about $1000 with only $550 or so worth of parts but nowadays it's hard to build something decent for less than $800 worth of parts so I can't charge $1,000. I've bumped my minimum up to $1,200 but I really like to shoot for $1,500 with maybe $900 worth of parts. If a client comes to me with a low budget, I recommend an older refurb with a graphics card.


I try not to be ageist but in my experience if the person is under 35/40 they're not worth dealing with. They have no money and expect the world for nothing. They also expect you to work for $10/hour while they think they deserve $25/hour working at McDonalds or $80/hour typing up spreadsheets in an office. It's insulting and even when you try to explain to them that this is skilled work, they don't care. I'm not trying to rag on McDonalds workers or any other type of worker but try and get some perspective, alright? You're not going to get a skilled technician to work on your computer for $10/hour. That wasn't even realistic in the 1990's.

All excellent points. Thank you.

I've noticed even the pre built gaming machines are at least around $1200 for decent ones.

Depending on what games they play, sometimes the older refurb stuff with a newer card can work well enough I've found.

Most of my clients are somewhere between 50-70 range I'd say. A few younger and a few older. It'll be interesting to see where this business goes in the next 10-20 years from now.

Maybe as these 20-30 age generation makes more money (hopefully lol) they'll be good clients maybe in the future. The way inflation is though maybe that'll never happen.

 

[sapphirescales]

I've noticed even the pre built gaming machines are at least around $1200 for decent ones.

Yeah, good luck with that. There are very few companies that sell gaming computers that are actually decent. The only ones I know of are Velocity Micro, Pudget Systems, and Digital Storm. 99% of pre-built gaming computer companies (like iBuyPower) will put in the cheapest mATX motherboard in a full size tower along with a $25 power supply. They also buy rejects from Intel/AMD/Nvidia, etc. that don't perform as well as retail components, use the cheapest, shoddiest fans available, etc. and pocket the difference as profit. Most consumers are too stupid to realize that if a pre built gaming computer sounds like a good deal, it's time to run. They don't get the price down by sacrificing profit, they get the price down by cheaping out on all the components.

Depending on what games they play, sometimes the older refurb stuff with a newer card can work well enough I've found.

Unfortunately this is becoming more difficult nowadays due to the garbage proprietary motherboards and power supplies that OEM's like Dell and HP use. Even something like a GTX 1050 that doesn't require PCI-e power from the power supply will kill their wimpy little 180w power supplies in a few months. In the past you could take a Dell/HP box, replace their crappy power supply, throw in a decent graphics card, and you'd have yourself a nice gaming computer on a budget. Obviously you wouldn't put in a top tier graphics card, but anything low to mid range and you'd be fine (a 1070 would be the most I'd recommend in an OEM case back then).

Most of my clients are somewhere between 50-70 range I'd say.

Same. Makes me worried for the future. Though I imagine most businesses' clients are older seeing as young people don't have any money.

Maybe as these 20-30 age generation makes more money (hopefully lol) they'll be good clients maybe in the future.

Doubtful. What makes older folks good clients is more than the fact that they have money. They grew up in a time when they were paid decent wages and could easily afford to raise a family. Millennials and younger have been scarred by living in poverty just like the generation who went through the Great Depression. They will ALWAYS price shop and struggle making decisions because they're used to getting f(cked. They EXPECT it, and you know the saying that you'll always find what you're looking for? If they expect they're getting f(cked, they'll convince themselves they are even when they aren't. This leads to bad reviews and a damaged reputation, which is the #1 reason I don't want to deal with the younger generation.

The difference between Boomers and Millennials is that Boomers expect everything to work out whereas Millennials expect to get f(cked at every turn. That messes with your psyche. Millennials seem frozen with indecision and always regret the decisions they do make and try to change their minds right in the middle of things. I can't tell you the number of times a Millennial has agreed to a repair only for them to call a few minutes/hours later and change their minds. They either want to add more upgrades, do something different, or call off the repair entirely. When it comes to selling Millennials things, they want to return them at least 80% of the time whereas with Boomers it's less than 1%.

Millennials are just a pain in the butt to work with. They're not worth my time 90% of the time. It's hard not to blame them for being so f(cked up but they're not entirely at fault. I just try to avoid them.

 

[frase]

@sapphirescales Your methodology is basically the same as mine in regards to gamers and custom systems. By the time it gets to me the clients are freaking out and frustrated after youtubing and googling for days. I explain to them the costs and diagnostics involved, if any parts are damaged [TC on CPU is a favourite, also lots of bent pin issues] I advise them and send photos.

 

[sapphirescales]

By the time it gets to me the clients are freaking out and frustrated after youtubing and googling for days.

This. There reaches a point where they've put so much time and effort into the thing that it's not worth it to screw around with it anymore. They finally realize that building a computer is more than throwing a bunch of random parts into a case.

TC on CPU is a favourite, also lots of bent pin issues

Those are actually pretty rare for me. But there are a million and one things that can go wrong when an improperly trained person tries to build a computer. I love the weird ass blue screens caused from things like the fact that they've tightened the CPU cooler too tight and it's screwing up the socket, or they didn't seat and line up the motherboard in the case correctly and have warped it and/or it's shorting the contacts on the back of the board, or they used RAM that hasn't been validated by the motherboard manufacturer, or they used a cheap crap power supply that can't deliver the power necessary to power their parts. And of course there's idiots who buy motherboards who have an older BIOS not compatible with the fancy new generation CPU they bought. I keep old CPUs on hand just to do BIOS updates.

 

[lan101]

Yeah, good luck with that. There are very few companies that sell gaming computers that are actually decent. The only ones I know of are Velocity Micro, Pudget Systems, and Digital Storm. 99% of pre-built gaming computer companies (like iBuyPower) will put in the cheapest mATX motherboard in a full size tower along with a $25 power supply. They also buy rejects from Intel/AMD/Nvidia, etc. that don't perform as well as retail components, use the cheapest, shoddiest fans available, etc. and pocket the difference as profit. Most consumers are too stupid to realize that if a pre built gaming computer sounds like a good deal, it's time to run. They don't get the price down by sacrificing profit, they get the price down by cheaping out on all the components.


Unfortunately this is becoming more difficult nowadays due to the garbage proprietary motherboards and power supplies that OEM's like Dell and HP use. Even something like a GTX 1050 that doesn't require PCI-e power from the power supply will kill their wimpy little 180w power supplies in a few months. In the past you could take a Dell/HP box, replace their crappy power supply, throw in a decent graphics card, and you'd have yourself a nice gaming computer on a budget. Obviously you wouldn't put in a top tier graphics card, but anything low to mid range and you'd be fine (a 1070 would be the most I'd recommend in an OEM case back then).


Same. Makes me worried for the future. Though I imagine most businesses' clients are older seeing as young people don't have any money.


Doubtful. What makes older folks good clients is more than the fact that they have money. They grew up in a time when they were paid decent wages and could easily afford to raise a family. Millennials and younger have been scarred by living in poverty just like the generation who went through the Great Depression. They will ALWAYS price shop and struggle making decisions because they're used to getting f(cked. They EXPECT it, and you know the saying that you'll always find what you're looking for? If they expect they're getting f(cked, they'll convince themselves they are even when they aren't. This leads to bad reviews and a damaged reputation, which is the #1 reason I don't want to deal with the younger generation.

The difference between Boomers and Millennials is that Boomers expect everything to work out whereas Millennials expect to get f(cked at every turn. That messes with your psyche. Millennials seem frozen with indecision and always regret the decisions they do make and try to change their minds right in the middle of things. I can't tell you the number of times a Millennial has agreed to a repair only for them to call a few minutes/hours later and change their minds. They either want to add more upgrades, do something different, or call off the repair entirely. When it comes to selling Millennials things, they want to return them at least 80% of the time whereas with Boomers it's less than 1%.

Millennials are just a pain in the butt to work with. They're not worth my time 90% of the time. It's hard not to blame them for being so f(cked up but they're not entirely at fault. I just try to avoid them.

Yeah very true. Most boomers are pleasant to deal with in my experiences. Millennials are just a pain to deal with. I actually had one ask me one time if he could bring over his RAM that he bought and test it in one of my machines (for free) to make sure it worked before using it in his own machine. I kindly declined lol. I try to avoid them too...and yeah they'd be the first ones to hop on google and write up a bad review for something silly lol.

Also yeah I've noticed the newer dell and hp units really suck as far as upgrading anything now. I like the older optiplex units. Still have many 3020's and 3040's out there doing great still.

I know of a few clients that bought skytech gaming desktops and they've seemed ok for the money. But yeah I always figure they are cutting corners on the components to make profit from. I tell them just plan on replacing in 3-5 years and that might work out ok for them.

 

[sapphirescales]

I actually had one ask me one time if he could bring over his RAM that he bought and test it in one of my machines (for free) to make sure it worked before using it in his own machine.

Oh man, WTF is wrong with these Millennials? I had a similar request from a Millennial a few years back. I advertised a gaming desktop on Craigslist and he called and asked if he could come over and game on it for free. He had no intention of buying it, he just wanted to hang out in my shop and play with it for free. I laughed and told him that he could come over and play on it if he wanted to, but my rental fee was $100/hour. He didn't find that too funny, called me a d*ck, and hung up on me. The audacity and entitlement is off the chart with these Millennials.

skytech gaming desktops

Never heard of them but they seem to be better than a lot of other custom built computer companies. Though it's concerning that they don't list what power supply they use ("650 watt bronze" could mean anything). They also don't list brands or model #'s for the GPUs which mean they're probably binned garbage. They do use full size ATX motherboards with their cases that are compatible with full size ATX motherboards so that's good though. The cases they use...aren't great. They're acceptable, but I wouldn't want to build a $1,500 computer in anything less than a Corsair 4000D, which is about a $100 case. They're offering $60 cases (marked up to $75) on very expensive configurations. That's a big no from me. Most of the SSDs they're offering are at least WD tier quality, which is good. No cheap garbage from ADATA or Silicon Power. I personally would never use or recommend this company based on what I'm seeing here, but a blind consumer could definitely do worse.

But compared to a company like Velocity Micro, there's just no comparison:

Customize Your Raptor™ Z55a- Velocity Micro

Velocity Micro specializes in workstations optimized for Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Designed for Tensor Flow, Theano, Caffe, and Torch.

velocitymicro.com

They specify what parts they use so you know exactly what you're getting. They don't even offer you the choice of anything garbage tier. The worst power supply you can get is an EVGA Supernova 750W power supply. It's only 80+ bronze but it's from a reputable manufacturer and isn't going to blow up in your face in a year or burn your house down. Is it overpriced? Definitely. But you pay for the convenience of having a professional technician assemble your computer. The prices do get insane the higher end you go though, so I wouldn't recommend buying from them if you have a $3,000+ budget because you can do much better just paying a local shop to build it for you. I really like their custom cases. Very high quality. You can't tell from the pictures or videos but their cases are top tier.

 

[lan101]

Oh man, WTF is wrong with these Millennials? I had a similar request from a Millennial a few years back. I advertised a gaming desktop on Craigslist and he called and asked if he could come over and game on it for free. He had no intention of buying it, he just wanted to hang out in my shop and play with it for free. I laughed and told him that he could come over and play on it if he wanted to, but my rental fee was $100/hour. He didn't find that too funny, called me a d*ck, and hung up on me. The audacity and entitlement is off the chart with these Millennials.


Never heard of them but they seem to be better than a lot of other custom built computer companies. Though it's concerning that they don't list what power supply they use ("650 watt bronze" could mean anything). They also don't list brands or model #'s for the GPUs which mean they're probably binned garbage. They do use full size ATX motherboards with their cases that are compatible with full size ATX motherboards so that's good though. The cases they use...aren't great. They're acceptable, but I wouldn't want to build a $1,500 computer in anything less than a Corsair 4000D, which is about a $100 case. They're offering $60 cases (marked up to $75) on very expensive configurations. That's a big no from me. Most of the SSDs they're offering are at least WD tier quality, which is good. No cheap garbage from ADATA or Silicon Power. I personally would never use or recommend this company based on what I'm seeing here, but a blind consumer could definitely do worse.

But compared to a company like Velocity Micro, there's just no comparison:

Customize Your Raptor™ Z55a- Velocity Micro

Velocity Micro specializes in workstations optimized for Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Designed for Tensor Flow, Theano, Caffe, and Torch.

velocitymicro.com

They specify what parts they use so you know exactly what you're getting. They don't even offer you the choice of anything garbage tier. The worst power supply you can get is an EVGA Supernova 750W power supply. It's only 80+ bronze but it's from a reputable manufacturer and isn't going to blow up in your face in a year or burn your house down. Is it overpriced? Definitely. But you pay for the convenience of having a professional technician assemble your computer. The prices do get insane the higher end you go though, so I wouldn't recommend buying from them if you have a $3,000+ budget because you can do much better just paying a local shop to build it for you. I really like their custom cases. Very high quality. You can't tell from the pictures or videos but their cases are top tier.

Yeah I definitely like what Velocity offers although expensive but great parts etc. But yeah skytech seems fine for cheap budget stuff, but yeah don't think I'd buy one myself either lol. I may have to offer the $100/hour rental service next time I get a crazy request from a millennial lol.