PC Repair store installed Clonezilla??? Bloatware -

E

Eighty8lx50

New Member
So my New Toshiba A215-S4747 fell and broke the hinges, took it to a computer repair store (Geomar Computers in San Diego 619-283-2364) to get that fixed. I get it back and turn it on, Everything is changed (start menu, desktop icons, slowness, etc.. Open up the cd drive and then this burnt cd pops out (something Clonezilla)?????????? WTFWTFWTF??? Later find the back of the lcd is not even shut, I had to pry it shut. I then just re-formated with Vista to a clean install. Why did they install this, do they usually install bloat ware like this?? What is this Clonzilla software???

DSCN4725.jpg


DSCN4723.jpg
 
So that program clones my HD or copys it?? Why would they do that? Should I complain to them? The pc was totally changed up, bunch of new bloatware desktop items and the start menu display was all changed. If I did not know how to reformat I would have been pissed, now I am a little paranoid.
 
Yea I would be pissed about it, but I,m a redneck anyway. I would want to know why they were cloning my drive. And you have the CD.
 
Cloning can be even worse... HOPEFULLY you were smart and didn't save any credit information/personal information on there...

I would also ask them to pay for that damaged close/open hinge on the LCD...
 
Oh.. Trust me I am pissed. My GF picked it up from them, so I did not test it until later that night. This was pretty sloppy of them, My GF must have picked it up on the techs lunch break or something?? There going to crap themselves when they see me, All they have dealt with was my GF sofar.
 
this kind of action to a local computer store. ive seen it many times. my brother in law took his computer in (trouble starting, slow etc). They took it upon themselves to just format and reinstall. Not consulting or asking for permission.
the problem was he had clients, email, favorites. pictures and what ever. bottom line no backup of contracts and documents. Needless to say he's hot tempered and was there on the fly with an nasty attitude. he usually brings to me but wants it back tomorrow. that wouldnt happen because it was not convenient for me. ya have to be careful and let them know. don't do it without asking.

sorry about your issue.
i'd be pisssed too!
 
Raise hell. Find out what 'tech' did it and just go-to-town :) I would never in a million years assume I had complete access to a Client's system like that. That's a great violation of your privacy.

Don't let them try to tell you it was done as a courtesy - that happened to one of my current Clients before we started working together. Again, raise absolute hell. Furthermore, if they give you *any* amount of attitude, tell them you're going to the BBB (even though you should file a complaint with them regardless).

I would also call Microsoft and tell them what they did, regardless of their intentions. Chances are they've done this before and the 'tech' got sloppy.
 
Last edited:
Dude, I would be in orbit by now. I don't know about you guys, but when somebody messes with my stuff, it's not good. I would go back to the guys that tried to fix it and ask for a full refund, or a even new laptop, then take them to court if they refuse. I pretty sure it is a federal crime to clone someone's HDD and take personal information.

Also, This is from Clonezilla.sourceforge.net

1. Copyright
This copyright is preserved for the author and publisher. Anyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document under the terms of the GNU FDL Free Documentation License. If you do make any distribution and modification on the documents, please add your name in the author list.
We recommend this document principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference. The author and publisher will not take any responsibility if there is any damage caused by this document.



2. Authors
Steven Shiau (steven _at_ nchc org tw)
K. L. Huang (klhaung _at_ gmail com)
H. T. Wang (c00wht00 _at_ nchc org tw)
Ceasar Sun (ceasar _at_ nchc org tw)
Jazz Wang (jazz _at_ nchc org tw)
Thomas Tsai (thomas _at_ nchc org tw)

3. Features of Clonezilla
Free (GPL) Software.
Filesystem supported: ext2, ext3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs of GNU/Linux, and FAT, NTFS of MS Windows. Therefore you can clone GNU/Linux or MS windows. For other file system, Clonezilla uses dd to dump the whole partition.
LVM2 (LVM version 1 is not) under GNU/Linux is supported.
Multicast is supported in PXEBoot Clonezilla, which is suitable for massively clone. You can also remotely use it to save or restore a bunch of computers if PXE and Wake-on-LAN are supported in your clients.
Based on Partimage, ntfsclone and dd to clone partition. However, clonezilla, containing some other programs, can save and restore not only partitions, but also a whole disk.
If file system is supported (ext2, ext3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs, fat, ntfs), only used blocks in harddisk are saved and restored. This increase the clone efficiency. For unsupported file system, sector-to-sector copy is done by dd in Clonezilla.
By using another free software drbl-winroll, which is also developed by us, the hostname, group, and SID of cloned MS windows machine can be automatically changed.
A single machine clone system without installation, Clonezilla live, is also available.
4. About Clonezilla
You're probably familiar with the popular proprietary commercial package Norton Ghost®, and its OpenSource counterpart, Partition Image. The problem with these software packages is that it takes a lot of time to massively clone systems to many computers. You've probably also heard of Symantec's solution to this problem, Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition® with multicasting. Well, now there is an OpenSource clone system (OCS) solution called Clonezilla with unicasting and multicasting! With DRBL and network boot enabled client computers, the only thing you have to prepare is a Clonezilla server. You do not even have to prepare a bootable CD or floppy with Partition Image for every client computer.

Clonezilla, based on DRBL, Partition Image, ntfsclone, and udpcast, allows you can massively clone many (40 plus!) computers simultaneously. Clonezilla saves and restores only used blocks in the harddisk. This increases the clone effiency. At the NCHC's Classroom C, Clonezilla was used to clone 41 computers simultaneously. It took about 50 minutes to clone a 5.6 GBytes system image to all 41 computers via unicasting and only about 10 minutes via multicasting!

A DRBL server must first be set up in order to use Clonezilla to do massively clone. On the other hand, if you do NOT want to install DRBL, just need clonezilla to clone individual machine, i.e. not massively clone, then you can try Clonnezilla Live, which allows you to use CD/DVD or USB flash drive to boot and run clonezilla. The DRBL installation documentation is here. Once DRBL is installed on the server, Clonezilla is ready. Before downloading or installing clonezilla, it is recommended to read the "Change log" for different branches: stable, testing, unstable.

When setting up the DRBL server, it is recommended to collect the MAC addresses of the client computers and let the DRBL server offer the same IP address for the clients every time it boots. This will keep you from cloning the system to incorrect or unknown clients. Besides, if you do not provide the static IP address to client, as mentioned previously, different operating systems (like GNU/Linux and MS windows), they use different DHCP client ID. Therefore even it's the same client, when it boots GNU/Linux via DRBL, it will leases one IP address, then next time when it boots into local MS windows, it will lease another different IP address. This is annoying sometimes. However, if you are 100% certain that no other computer will be involved in the DRBL environment, and you do not care about the different IP address leasing problem, you can use the range in dhcpd.conf. In this case, you can even use the "impatient method" to setup the DRBL environment.]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like they cloned your Hard-Drive, if you ask me.
I would be calling the cops, if you had any personal information on that computer, pictures, videos, bills, email.
 
sounds like one of them was trying to get a copy of your hard drive to me as well. could have been to get copies of any music/games/software you had so they didn't have to download it themselves, or easily could have been to try and get personal info like others suggested

due to the later, i'd definitely go back and complain to the manager. along with seeing what legal action could be taken if you had personal info saved on the pc.

Either way, keep an eye on your bank account, email, bill sites, and anything else that you have the pc storing passwords and account info for (especially paypal and ebay). watch for any unauthorized activity and definitely report it to the police if something happens. with it being the holiday season, people might not notice a few extra charges to there credit card or bank account if they've been doing a lot of purchasing. so i wouldn't doubt that somebody was trying to get a bank account number or credit card number off your pc to use for xmas shopping.
 
Yea go back and confront them about it! You sent it to them for an external fix, and to find out they actually turned on your comp and cloned your HD and screwed with your personal stuff, be pissed. I actually wish I was you so I could do it for you..
 
Grotzyy said:
Yea go back and confront them about it! You sent it to them for an external fix, and to find out they actually turned on your comp and cloned your HD and screwed with your personal stuff, be pissed. I actually wish I was you so I could do it for you..
Click to expand...

I'd be pissed about the cloning of the drive, but a couple people have commented that they shouldn't even have turned the machine on because it was an external fix. The reality is that they should turn it on to ensure that everything still functions after the dissassembly and reassembly of the machine.

Again, this is an aside from the cloning of the drive.
 
Eighty8lx50 said:
But why was the whole pc different when I turned it on (new desktop items, changed start menu, etc.)??
Click to expand...

Not sure if this is a response to my last post, but I'm not defending them messing with your machine; that isn't right. I was simply commenting that even when doing external fixes the machine should be turned on to verify it is running.
 
munkyeetr said:
Not sure if this is a response to my last post, but I'm not defending them messing with your machine; that isn't right. I was simply commenting that even when doing external fixes the machine should be turned on to verify it is running.
Click to expand...



Yes, They should. I just don't know why it had a bunch of added bloatware, Does that come with the Clonezilla software? I will be going to there shop Wednesday, and figuring this out maybe?? I think there going to go into denial status right off the bat.
 
Eighty8lx50 said:
Yes, They should. I just don't know why it had a bunch of added bloatware, Does that come with the Clonezilla software? I will be going to there shop Wednesday, and figuring this out maybe?? I think there going to go into denial status right off the bat.
Click to expand...

How can they possible deny it? --you have their CD! If they give you a hard time, call BBB and MS, and let them KNOW you're doing both. I'd be on the phone with MS before I got back to my car in the parking lot :)
 
yea, from what i have learned, if you mention the BBB and FTC while complaining about a businesses actions (or lack of actions) you will often get there full attention.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top