Taking laptop into genius bar...

[acearchie]

Hi guys,

I have been having some issues with my Macbook Pro and it's still within the one year warranty so I am going to take it into the genius bar.

I quizzed a guy previously with my problems and he said that it might be something that they have to hold onto for longer to find the problem.

The question I have is that if they take my laptop overnight what should I do to secure the data I already have on the laptop.

I'm not paranoid but I have a large lightroom collection of photographs that I have taken and I don't want the potential of people snooping through my stuff.

I remember reading that it's possible to create a full admin login account for the apple store to use.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

The only way to really be safe would be to securely erase the whole HD. As long as you have a backup, this is actually pretty good method. It's the most secure and also fairly simple (just run Migration Assistant when you get it back).

 

[acearchie]

The only way to really be safe would be to securely erase the whole HD. As long as you have a backup, this is actually pretty good method. It's the most secure and also fairly simple (just run Migration Assistant when you get it back).

Would I have to use software like TriBackup to do this (have that for my lightroom collection)

It would take a bit of time but I suppose it gives me the chance to get rid of this annoying partition that was there when I got the laptop (through a company aiding with disabled students).

 

[Hellhammer]

Would I have to use software like TriBackup to do this (have that for my lightroom collection)

It would take a bit of time but I suppose it gives me the chance to get rid of this annoying partition that was there when I got the laptop (through a company aiding with disabled students).

You could use e.g. Time Machine. It backs up all the files so it's pretty much an all-in-one solution. Even preferences etc will be backed up so after the restore, everything will be like they were before.

 

[acearchie]

You could use e.g. Time Machine. It backs up all the files so it's pretty much an all-in-one solution. Even preferences etc will be backed up so after the restore, everything will be like they were before.

Cheers. Suffered from a memory blank and completely forgot about time machine!

 

[teleromeo]

If you make a clone with Carbon Copy Cloner ot Super Duper you'll have a bootable clone of you hard drive that you can copy back to your HD when you get you laptop back.

If your problem is softwarerelated this will not work because with the clone back your problem will reappear.

 

[Quad5Ny]

I had a genius let me take out my HD and hold onto it once but I don't think they let you do that anymore.

Anyway, CCC or SuperDuper is the best way, as you won't have to set anything up after you get the laptop back (just restore the image and it will be just as you left it).

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

I know for a fact that at some stores the techs will snoop a little if they see something on the Desktop that looks interesting, for example I've known guys to copy any movies or music that they find...

Either take out the drive, or use time machine + secure erase. Or full disk encryption.

 

[acearchie]

I know for a fact that at some stores the techs will snoop a little if they see something on the Desktop that looks interesting, for example I've known guys to copy any movies or music that they find...

Either take out the drive, or use time machine + secure erase. Or full disk encryption.

Full disk encryption? Can you give me a little more info if it saves me having to buy a bigger drive to copy it all across?

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Full disk encryption? Can you give me a little more info if it saves me having to buy a bigger drive to copy it all across?

Either the one that comes built into Lion, or I've previously used PGP Whole Disk Encryption (fairly expensive.)