David Swanner at the South Carolina Trial Law Blog wrote about his experience sending his laptop to the manufacturer to repair a cracked case. Despite the fact that the only problem was with his case, the repair facility also replaced his hard drive. Unfortunately, David did not have his hard drive backed up.

Normally, when you hear a story like this, you expect some one to lecture you on the necessity of keeping a backup. I certainly agree that backups are a great idea. However, the problem here is easily solved. The first time I had to send my computer to be repaired, my IT guy told me to remove my hard drive before shipping it.

This is a simple solution that not only ensures that the data on my drive is safe, but it also ensures that I maintain the confidentiality of any client information that may be on the drive. I now also typically remove my battery to make sure that it is not accidentally lost in shipment.

Protect yourself and your data, remove your hard drive before shipping it off for repair.