Back up before a repair. Here’s the ten-minute version

Every repair shop in Australia has to tell you the same thing before taking your machine: the repair may result in the loss of your data. It’s the law, and it’s also true. Most repairs don’t touch your files. Some, like a storage replacement or a reset, wipe them. Back up first and a wiped drive is an inconvenience, not a disaster.

Mac: Time Machine

1. Plug in any external drive with more free space than your Mac has used.
2. Open System Settings, General, Time Machine, and add the drive.
3. Let it finish. The first backup can take a while. Leave the lid open and the charger in.

If the Mac is too slow or sick for that, iCloud Drive on for Desktop and Documents will at least save the folders most people care about.

Windows: File History or a plain copy

1. Plug in an external drive.
2. Open Control Panel, System and Security, File History, and turn it on with that drive selected.
3. No patience for that? Copy Desktop, Documents, Pictures and Downloads to the drive by hand. It’s crude and it works.

The machine won’t start at all

Don’t keep trying. Each attempt on a failing drive can make recovery harder. Tell us when you book it in that you need the data, and we quote data recovery as its own job before we do anything else. We tell you honestly what the odds are.

Phones and passwords

Check your phone is backed up too, since that’s where most people’s two-factor codes live. And know your Apple ID or Microsoft account password before drop-off; after a repair, the machine will ask for it.

Questions? Call 0421 741 424 or book your device in.