Protect personal data when my X61T is in for depot repair

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davekung · #1 Post by **davekung** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:18 pm

Just a quick question for people with similar issue.
My X61T LCD latch broke and the EZServ box is on the way.

I was asked to include the hard drive (change of policy, I was told)

They have no reason to login into Vista other than start up the machine to make sure everything is in working order.

my user account is password protected.

Any precautionary procedure I should do to keep out nosy technicans?

Thanks,

David

#2 Post by **carbon_unit** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:34 pm

Personally I would back everything up before sending it in just in case they determine there is a problem with the hard drive or they need to reload the OS.
You will need to take the hard drive out and read it in another machine to do this. It is easy to remove but reading it in another machine will involve either a USB adapter or an Ultrabay HDD adapter. Lenovo will not backup your stuff for you.

Brad · #3 Post by **Brad** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:13 pm

Why would they need the hard drive to repair a latch. They don't even need to turn on the ThinkPad to complete the repair.

I wouldn't include the drive.

Brad

#4 Post by **JaneL** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:14 pm

I wouldn't send the HDD.

hellosailor · #5 Post by **hellosailor** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:34 am

I'd agree--if you are asking them to perform a physical repair to the latch or case, do not send the hard drive. Packages sometimes get misdelivered, ignoring what my be on your drive.

Password account protection is a nice thing to stop casual users, but in every OS if someone has "console" access it can be bypassed. If you want to keep the information secure and MUST ship the drive--you'll want to fully encrypt it, with the longest key and best algorithm you can find. And a gnarly password that won't be found in dictionaries.

davekung · #6 Post by **davekung** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:53 pm

Thanks for the for suggestions! I already backuped all the personal data. I'm inclined to leave out the hard drive as well. However, I'll looking over the instruction sheet from EZ-SERV regarding hard drive (encryption will help protect the data from noisy technican, but will preventing anyone trying to reimage the drive) and report back. The rep on the phone could just be wrong.

#7 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:21 pm

The rep on the phone could just be wrong

.

I believe this is the case. I'd never send a real working hard drive anywhere with a system. Keep spares that I can killdisk and load the factory image on.

Protect personal data when my X61T is in for depot repair

Protect personal data when my X61T is in for depot repair

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