What happens if my iMac goes for repair

[star555]

My first Mac is a few Months old now, when I bought it , the Guy in the Apple shop set up the account for me, and ive been using it ever since with out too many problems . When I switch the iMac on it boots up and I can use it straight away, there's no asking for any password Etc, its just occurred to me what would happen if for some reason the iMac did not boot up , and I had to take it back to the Apple shop for repair, would this mean that the Apple shop staff would have access to my files and all my email account passwords stored on Firefox and Apple Mail .? What can I do to prevent any one possibly accessing my information should I have to leave my iMac with the Apple shop for repair..?

 

[SaSaSushi]

You could backup your entire HD to an external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper and then format the iMac and send it in. Alternately you could password protect your account and create a new user account and set it to be the default log in. The latter is far easier. I suppose it all depends on your level of paranoia.

But there is another consideration that may make you want to backup all of your data. Apple does not guarantee the data that is on your hard disk will be there when they return the machine to you. If, during the course of repairs they need to replace or format the hard disk that data is gone and they make it quite clear in their policy that it is up to you to back it up before sending it in.

That said, I've sent mine in a few times for display problems over the years and the data was always intact when I got it back.

Always back up your data.

 

[star555]

You could backup your entire HD to an external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper and then format the iMac and send it in. Alternately you could password protect your account and create a new user account and set it to be the default log in. The latter is far easier. I suppose it all depends on your level of paranoia.

But there is another consideration that may make you want to backup all of your data. Apple does not guarantee the data that is on your hard disk will be there when they return the machine to you. If, during the course of repairs they need to replace or format the hard disk that data is gone and they make it quite clear in their policy that it is up to you to back it up before sending it in.

That said, I've sent mine in a few times for display problems over the years and the data was always intact when I got it back.

Always back up your data.

Thanks for the advice, Where I would have to send the iMac for repair ( Bangkok ) could be a problem when it comes to possible data theft so I am trying to make my personal internet account details ( only ) more secure just in case, my main concern is if the iMac for some un known reason will not boot up and I cannot get to remove my internet passwords before the machine is shipped off to the Apple shop for repairs Etc , would the ...

password protect your account and create a new user account and set it to be the default log in ..

stop some one in the Apple repair shop from gaining access to my Firefox and Apple Mail stored passwords ..?

I do not have any other sensitive personal information on my iMac other than Forum and internet passwords .

 

[indefatigable]

I'd not keep any important /sensitive data on the computer at all. What happens if it breaks and you can't get into the computer at all? This happened to my mac book—the ram slot went out. I panicked, thinking I still had my taxes on the hard drive. Luckily, I was smarter than I thought. But still, lesson learned.

I keep stuff written down on a well-hidden note card in my house. That way, you never have to worry about it.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Agreed, best bet for you is to back up any critical data or passwords and then format and clean install OS X before sending it in for repairs if the security is of any concern to you.

 

[alphaod]

Though they don't go browsing peoples computer usually.

 

[star555]

Agreed, best bet for you is to back up any critical data or passwords and then format and clean install OS X before sending it in for repairs if the security is of any concern to you.

Thanks , my main concern is what happens if my iMac just wont boot up and is dead , thus not giving me chance to do a back up, I have now removed all of my personal information Etc onto an external HDD . I have managed to password protect my Firefox passwords , but this just leaves my Apple Mail
I was hoping that there's some way to stop any one opening my Apple Mail and going through all my emails and passwords..? does any one know of a way to stop some one from launching my Apple Mail , say when the iMac
is in for repairs ..?

 

[star555]

Though they don't go browsing peoples computer usually.

Yes I would say that's normally correct , but have a look where I am located