I think it's more a case of people wanting all their vital data backed up by a pro so they don't have to skip a beat.

I do it myself... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Not everyone has the gear to make backup's at home.

I've got 200 GB of data on my computer, I've got alternate storage for about 20 GB..

I'd be mighty upset, Attalus. From what you've said, he stole from you and gave it back because he got caught. Let's face it... what computer tech worth his salt doesn't know how to go to a web site to download the latest drivers? Lame excuse. If it's true, he ought to be fired. And fired upon.

What else did he remove because he didn't think you'd need it? Did he downgrade your processor for you? Put in a cheap cooling fan and keep your nice one? Replace your name-brand memory with generic stuff built from play-dough and sand? Do you even still have the same amount of memory?

Do you even know if it was your own card, or some other one? "Oh, bummer. That virus must have knocked out your video card. Want to buy another one? I've got a used one that just came in... I'll let you have it for fifty bucks."

If you're a pack rat like me, you may still have the original packaging, which would have the serial number on it. I'd go looking...

Was this done by the tech (hired gun), the manager of the shop, the owner, or someone else? Depending on where the decision to lift your card came from, that would tell me a lot about the place I just did business with... probably for the last time.

I'd check your paperwork to make sure there weren't any notes scrawled on it about taking the video card out, but I'd be talking to the BBB and/or the police. If he didn't tell you about taking the card out, it was theft... and you just caught him at it.

Wonder how many other folks he's done this to?

Am I cranky? Perhaps. But I don't cotton to thieves well... unless I'm playing one :D

There was no excuse for him to take it out. he could ahve just disabled the card if it was getting in the way. Was this done at your house or at the shop ?

If it was done in your house then there is no excuse for him to take the card from your premises.

Oh, if you've got the details of your rig firmly in your mind here's a few things the check..

Hard drive, make sure it's the same one and size you used to have.

CPU, make sure it's the same one and right clock speed..

Ram, make sure it's all there and it's the right speed, this can be the tricky one..

Just keep going like this till you've confirmed that you've got all your bits, if any other parts are missing.. Well he wasn't planning on telling you was he.. So that's theift, if he's taking a component out and replaced it with a lesser one he's trying to cover his tracks, which is a sepperate offense..

If he say's he was planning to put it back, well dunno US law in too much detail but it's either thieft or takeing without owners consent..


Drag his name through the mud.

Not a scam - just pure attempted theft. In my book, at least.

You should report him to the police. Who knows, maybe he's done this to others before.

i agree with everyone else above.. he was trying to get your cool video card and replace it with a cheap one.

Depending on how he formatted the drive this may not be immediately visible, I tend to leave about 2-3GB unalocated in case of catastrophic system failure, so I can reinstall on the unpartitioned space, and back up any info before I do a clean wipe, right click my computer and select manage, open the storage folder, and click on disk management, that will show any HD's attached as well as the total space on them (divided by physical HD's, and split into columns by partitions)

Like I said before, call the BBB and see if there are any other complaints, and also verify any other hardware is still there, and the same you had. ie NIC cards, modems, sound cards, SATA cards, etc.