We’ve heard this story before:

We heard about another Apple Authorized Reseller who has a client, an attorney on the West Coast, whose MacBook Pro and Time Capsule were stolen in a recent break-in. Everything he had was on those two devices.

If a drug addict breaks into your home or office looking for stuff to steal to fuel their next drug fix, they WILL steal anything that has an Apple logo on it and anything else they think might be related. They will grab ANYTHING else they think they can get as little as $5 for. GPS devices go for $5 at pawn shops by the way when they are sold.

You might be 100% totally backed up locally, which is AWESOME because so many people don’t even do that, but if your data needs to be backed up, you need three things to have a complete back up:

The important thing is to PLAN AHEAD. Your back up is not complete if it’s not:

1. Automatic (Use Time Machine and this point is covered)

3. Off-Site (Take your double back up off-site or get Mozy or CrashPlan Pro and this point is covered)

If you’d like to sign up for Mozy or CrashPlan Pro, we have links to those services, including the hard to find free 2GB Mozy account. We also strongly recommend LoJack for Laptops.

http://www.macmedics.com/mozy (Use code “2012″ for 10% off paid service until 2/1/12)
http://www.macmedics.com/crashplan
http://www.macmedics.com/lojack

We also have a number of other backup related articles on the MacMedics Blog about Time Machine, backups in general, and some posts about disaster planning.

Don’t Play Trick Or Treat With Your Mac’s Back Up!

It’s Not A Real Backup Until You Also Have An Off-Site Copy Of Your Data

Be sure to read “The Nine Things We Wish We Did Before Our House Burned Down” in the post listed above. We have the list line by line and a link to the original post, which is a “MUST READ” for anyone that has a house OR a computer

A Google Local review from MacMedics client, Angelina:

“An Apple representative recommended this place when my hard drive crashed a few months ago. Although they were unable to fix the issue, since it was mechanical, they were more than helpful. They were empathetic to my situation since the hard drive contained pictures/videos of the first two years of my daughter’s life. They were so helpful and knew exactly what they were talking about. They informed me of my data recovery options and recommended the best way to go about the situation. Their recommendations were far from self-serving and were shaped to fit my needs, even if that meant they would lose money. I will never go anywhere else. Everyone there is amazing. They even took it a step farther, since it is a bit of a drive for me; they looked at my computer with in 15 minutes (even though they were closing) and called me so that I could pick it up before I left the area. AMAZING.”

You can see more Google reviews here: http://is.gd/z9hLfO

If we’ve helped you in the past, please consider leaving us a review, as we’ve just had the honor of someone posting a totally fake review (which we responded to). You can also post a review on Yelp at: http://is.gd/Zge2yO

If you’re in a serious data recovery situation and you need a second opinion, please call us at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS. If we can’t help you, as was the case with the client who wrote the Google review of MacMedics that is listed at the top of the message, we’ll refer you to one of our data recovery “clean room” partners. If you already know that you need to go to “clean room” data recovery, like if the hard drive was damaged by liquid, or it was dropped and now is not spinning, we can send you right to our partners with the details you need as well as discount codes (free evaluation and up to 10% off a recovery) for most major data recovery firms.

From now through October 1, 2011, one of MacMedics’ Clean Room Data Recovery partners is offering $500 off their data recovery services for hard drives damaged by water, mud or power surges from Hurricane Irene: one recovery per person and one recovery per business.

By taking advantage of this special pricing, hurricane victims may be able to recover irreplaceable digital photos, critical financial records, address books, passwords, personal files and other important data from their damaged hard drives that might otherwise be lost forever.

If your hard drive has been submerged, has been leaked on, or has been damaged by mud or sewage. Please bring it to MacMedics. We’ll bag it, tag it, and ship it off for you free of charge to the Clean Room data recovery firm of your choice.

If you’re not a MacMedics client, and you’d like a list of our Clean Room data recovery partners, please call us at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS and we’d be happy to send you our list. All of our partners offer a free evaluation of your data loss situation as well as 10% off off your Macintosh or Windows data recovery. Also, some of our recovery partners also offer iPod, iPad, and iPhone data recovery as well.

Follow these tips to protect from further data loss.

For water damaged computers and drives:

- Do not attempt to power up visibly wet devices.
- Do not dry a wet hard drive or other computer media.
- Place hard drives in an airtight bag (double bag it).

To avoid data loss caused by power spikes/surges:

-Unplug all electronic devices from outlets, surge protectors and battery backup systems before power is restored
-If a hard drive won’t spin up or makes any unusual noises, shut down the computer immediately

With hurricane Irene approaching the Mid-Atlantic area, MacMedics clients and friends should un-plug their computer and remove and store back up hard drives in a dry place if you’re not going to be around when the rain and wind hits us.

Power surges via power lines and lightning hits via Comcast’s network seem to be the leading cause of damages to our client’s Macintosh computers. Don’t count on your Surge “Suppressor” to protect you! You really want a Surge “Protector”, and if you paid less than $50 for your’s then chances are, all you have is glorified extension cord with an outlet, a switch, and a little fuse that will do nothing to stop a real surge. Unplugging your gear is really your best first defense. If you have Comcast or DSL, those should also be unplugged during the storm. For Comcast, at the very least unplug your Mac and other computer gear (gaming system) from your cable model, so there is no physical connection via EtherNet. If you really want to be safe and you’re leaving your house, unscrew the cable TV connection from the back of your cable modem. It’s not a bad idea to disconnect your TV as well. In the case of DSL service, just unplug the telephone line from the back of your DSL modem or router.

Also, if your computer is in the basement, get your computer, power supplies, and related hardware off the floor in case there is flooding.

This might also be a good time to enhance your back up plan by adding an off-site back up. MacMedics is now a Mozy partner, so click here if you’d like to sign up for that. We are also a CrashPlan Pro Partner as well, so the link for that is here.

For our friends everywhere, who might be impacted by Irene, MacMedics recommends that you back up your hard drive via a “clone” use Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner, as that way you can “test” your back up to insure you have a good, bootable copy. Storing a back up at your office an another way to ensure that you have easy access to your data should your community be in an evacuation zone, or not accessible due to flooding or downed trees.

Take that back up put it in a Ziploc bag and have it ready to go with you, if you should need to evacuate. Also, hurricanes bring the rain with them, so plan ahead to protect your computer AND your back up. If you have to leave it behind, put a garbage bag over your computer. If you have a light roof leak, that might be enough to save your computer. And, don’t forget to keep stuff off the floor.

The important thing is to PLAN AHEAD. Your back up is not complete if it’s not:

1. Automatic
2. Redundant
3. Off-Site

We have tons of posts on Time Machine and we even have a free White Paper on it If you’d like a copy, let us know. We love Time Machine, but for planning ahead, there is no real way to “test” a Time Machine back up, unless you have a scond computer that has enough free space to retire your “user folder”. This is why we like having Time Machine AND a “clone” backup.

If you’re not using an automatic backup, your data is at risk!

P.S. If you are going to be where the hurricane is, then you DO need to go get a Ziploc bag right now, and put it with your iPhone. That way if you get caught outside in the rain, or you’re checking out the surf at the beach, your iPhone is protected. Take my word for it, and you’ll thank me later!!

P.P.S. If your computer or other electronic device gets water in it, don’t turn it on to see if it still works. Just bring it to us. Same for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod if it gets wet leave it off and don’t connect it to power. Put in in a Ziploc bag with one cup of rice and then force all of the air out of the bag. That might help save your device until you can get it into our shop.

Update 1/25/12 Lojack For Laptops is not available from the Apple App Store. See our link below for 25% off.

Update 1/8/12: If you don’t already own LoJack for Laptops for your Mac (or PC for that matter), we highly recommend it. Also, a pro tip from your friends here at MacMedics: Just because this product it called Lojack for Laptops, there’s no reason you cannot install it on any Mac computer. Obviously the iSight camera capture features are not going to work on a Mac Pro or Mac mini, but they can still be tracked, erased, and potentially recovered! Since this MacMedics Blog post seems to get quite a bit of traffic, we’re posting our link for special Lojack pricing that is currently 25% off any version, here:

http://www.macmedics.com/lojack

The LoJack team have been working hard to ensure that LoJack for Laptops will be fully compatible with Apple’s new version of OS X, Lion (10.7)

If you plan to upgrade to OS X Lion before July 25th, you will need to take a few simple steps to maintain your LoJack for Laptops protection until our update is fully distributed.

Step 1: Download and Install OS X Lion (10.7) from the Mac App Store

Step 2: Go to www.lojackforlaptops.com/login and login to access your account (Note: If you have more than one Mac in your account, first click on the Mac you are upgrading.)

Step 3: Click Remove

Step 4: Click Install

Step 5: Download the installer

Step 6: When prompted, enter your registration code.

Step 7: Follow the remaining steps to complete the reinstallation of LoJack for Laptops.

Your LoJack recovery info won’t be of much help to you when you need to report your MacBook or MacBook Pro stolen if you don’t have that info with you. Lojack suggests you print your license info and put it in a safe place. It is not likely that you will be able to find it quickly, or have that info with you while traveling or at work.

Macs get ripped off all the time, so be sure to save this info as a PDF and upload it to your iPhone or iPod touch to iBooks via iTunes, so you’ll have it when you need it the most! See our new Blog post for more info.

Sign up for LoJack for Laptops for Mac here: http://www.macmedics.com/lojack

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Here is a MacBook Pro that was thrown down a hallway. Thankfully MacMedics was able to save the data. Other than the data, the machine is a total loss. The SuperDrive is bent, the case is heavily damaged, the glass is broken and the LCD is also cracked.

While we were able to save the data, this is an extra expense for our client. A better solution would be to have your data fully backed up. If you need help setting up the “Golden Triangle” of backups, talk to your local MacMedics office. We have backup solutions starting at $89 for 320 GBs.

Sign Up for Our Newsletter:

It’s not just fire you need to worry about. Anything can happen, and it will (See this link and the picture of the two week old MacBook Pro below. How do you think that data is doing right now?). You could drop your iPhone, iPod, or laptop or any of those devices could get doused with water, lost, or even stolen. Hurricane season is coming. You’ve got water, wind, surges, power outages, and perhaps even looting if it really gets bad.

Here’s a typical email from a client. This one came today:

“Dear MacMedics:

My daughter has a MacBook which we bought in June 2008. It has served her very well. Her roommate spilled a Coke on a chair but never told her. The computer was there. It was not until my daughter tried to turn it on that she found out. She is devastated because she never backed it up as I repeatedly told her to do. She wonders if there is any hope to just recover her pictures. She doesn’t care about the music or the documents. She lives in CA and I can have her ship it to you or whatever.

Thanks for answering. I suspect this is hopeless.”

So no matter how careful you are, bad stuff happens to good people. In this client’s case, she should have been backing up as soon as she started generating data she cared about AND because her MacBook is more than two years old, she should have been thinking about a hard drive replacement anyways. Another situation is waiting too long to back up.

Ok, you never had a back up, you read a Blog post or an article (like this one) that disturbs you, and you start backing up. You try to back up your data, and in the first full copy it fails and you suspect you did something wrong, so you head to the Apple Store. There’s a problem: Your hard drive is already too worn out to make a full back up and when you try to back it up sitting in the Apple Store at the Genius Bar you end up even further away from your data, because as the Genius is helping you back up, your hard drive is still inside your laptop where it’s failing. The more it fails, the hotter it gets, and the hotter it gets the more it fails, and it CAN literally DIE right then and there.

When you buy a new computer, you really need to also budget about 20% of your computer’s purchase price for the other stuff you need to protect your digital life. A backup hard drive, a stack of blank CD’s. a copy of LoJack for Laptops, and maybe even a subscription to Mozy or CrashPlan Pro. The trick here, is to start backing up when you start generating data, and you keep backing up for as long as you generate new data. By the way it’s not a real back up if it’s not automatic, redundant, and also has an off-site element!

Do it now people! I see good people lose precious data on an almost daily basis. One client lost years of pictures of her deceased son. That one really sucked. Back up, rinse, and repeat and take one of those backups off-site!

MSNBC Video: Disaster-proof your digital possessions. Backup and then take it offsite so says Consumer Reports (and MacMedics)! http://is.gd/u1wEcR

Also see: 9 Things We Wished We Did Before Our House Burned Down. http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/01/on-a-serious-note/

Here’s the list in case you don’t make it to the article, but please take a minute to read it:

1. Subscribe to an online data backup service (my external back up drive sat right next to my laptop in my office).

2. Keep passports in a safe deposit box. (MacMedics Pro Tip: Make copies as well and store digital copy in your new online backup service too!)

3. Take pictures of each room initially and update them as improvements are made (storing them somewhere offsite – like Flickr).

4. Take pictures and keep hyperlinks of all expensive purchases, including jewelry.

5. Hire an architect (my dad in our case) or use floorplanner.com to document each floor layout along with precise wall/ceiling measurements, each outlet, light switch, crown molding, other trim, type of flooring, any unique items to structure of property. (MacMedics Pro Tip: When you rebuild the insurance company will try to pay the lowest amount by building things as basic as possible. By having a detailed floor plan with engineering plans along with pictures of each wall, you can force them to build it the way it was!)

6. Put phones in a consistent place each night (MacMedics Pro Tip: iPhone is right there 24/7!)

7. Get fire ladders for any second floor bedrooms.

8. Scan each photo and receipt, again keeping them offsite, or on an online data backup service.

9. Do not be frugal with homeowner’s insurance. Spend the extra $50 per year for the most coverage. (MacMedics Pro Tip: Highly recommended! Buy a replacement policy rider for anything you have that is valuable. If your $3000 camera or computer system burns up, it’s going to be hard to get full amount. Insurance might pay for $500 to $1000. Also see SafeWare.com for computer insurance. If you don’t own your home, get renter’s insurance. It’s super cheap! Also, I happen to know that clothes are not fully covered in most polices. If you had to replace every single piece of clothing your family owns, that could cost $10,000 right there. Insurance will not cover that)

–
Dana Stibolt
MacMedics
Baltimore – Washington DC – Philadelphia
Apple Authorized Value Added Reseller
Apple Authorized Service Provider
Macintosh Consulting, Service, and Sales
1-866-MAC-MEDICS – 410-987-8588
http://www.macmedics.com

Sign up for LoJack for Laptops for Mac here: http://www.macmedics.com/lojack

This MacBook Pro Unibody came into our Washington DC office. The story is that the unit was destroyed by an angry child. This unit was purchased new on March 25, 2011. Our techs checked this unit out and it’s totaled, so it will need to be replaced. Let’s hope the client can claim this on his credit card Buyer Protection or insurance!

A letter from Craig Hirai / Amy Wooden of macUpgrades:

Dear Former macUpgrades Customer,

We are pleased to let you know that MacMedics, in Lanham, Maryland, has purchased all the assets of macUpgrades. Dana Stibolt, President, and Kory Barrett, Vice President, have been a real pleasure to work with, as we have completed this rather complicated transaction. Their professionalism and competence have been most refreshing. We would encourage you, your friends and neighbors, and your business to work with MacMedics as you would have worked with macUpgrades.

Thank you, again, for all your support over the years. We hope you will give MacMedics the same loyal support.

Kindest regards,

Craig Hirai and Amy Wooden

–

You can jump to the newest information available as it is now posted on the MacMedics website by clicking here.

macUpgrades of Bethesda, Maryland, a long-time Apple Authorized Specialist lost their lease, and sadly they have closed their doors after supporting the Bethesda and Washington DC area’s Macintosh community for more than 20-years. In an effort to continue and preserve their long standing legacy of Apple service and repair and to provide outstanding support to their long-time clientele, we enthusiastically welcome former macUpgrades clients to MacMedics!

macUpgrades has endorsed MacMedics as their recommended Macintosh sales and service provider. We are proud to have earned their endorsement and pledge to do our very best to provide previous macUpgrades customers with the high level of support that MacMedics and macUpgrades are both famous for.

Like MacMedics, macUpgrades had been serving the area’s Macintosh community for more than 20-years. We hope to be able to continue their tradition of outstanding support to Apple customers no matter where they are located. MacMedics is both an Apple Authorized Service Provider, and an Apple Authorized Value Added Reseller, so MacMedics is a logical and natural fit for long-time Macintosh clients who have been serviced over the years by macUpgrades.

As was the case with macUpgrades, MacMedics is Apple Authorized to resell the entire Apple line of products. That means that MacMedics can supply Apple Macintosh computers, Apple iPads, Apple iPods, and the Apple TV. The only item not available from Apple Specialists or Apple Authorized Resellers is the Apple iPhone. That item must be purchased from Apple, AT&T, Verizon and a small handful of other retailers like Radio Shack and WalMart.

Click on the picture below to see pictures of the MacMedics Washington DC office:

We welcome former macUpgrades clients to contact the Washington DC office of MacMedics for Macintosh service, sales, and support.

We can be reached by telephone Monday – Friday 8:30 to 5:00 at:

1-888-4-DC-MACS (1-888-432-6227)

or anytime via e-mail at: DCservice@macmedics.com

Please stay tuned to http://www.macmedics.com/macupgrades for more information as it becomes available.

Thinking of stopping by one of The Apple Stores in Bethesda or Georgetown for a Mac Repair? We offer a number of compelling reasons to visit MacMedics instead. Our clients tell us that the number one reason that people come visit MacMedics for Mac service vs. The Apple Store is that no appointments are ever required to receive expert Mac repair. Also we offer 24-hour warranty repair (for most warranty repairs), Low cost rental computers (if needed), 1-year parts and labor warranty on all out-of-warranty repairs (The Apple Store only offers a 90-day warranty), Hard Drive upgrades (The Apple Store will only replace your drive with the same size), Advanced Macintosh Data Recovery, and we repair all Apple computers right here in our shop. We do not ship units out for “Depot Repair” as is the practice for many cases at The Apple Store. Plus, we offer a VIP repair program for Walk-In service that blows the doors off of Apple’s One-To-One, Joint Venture, or even AppleCare. Our VIP repair program can cover your future repairs for as little as $99 (Mac Pros and MacBook Pros are $149).
Also, we love to talk on the phone. You do not need to be a client to call and talk shop. Call us to discuss your Mac problem or purchase a new Mac today: 1-888-4-DC-MACS

We love helping our clients with tough problems. It would however be great if we did not have to grapple with difficult data recoveries under stress. Basically, we don’t like to see our customers cry, when data is lost. The following is a review that one of our clients just posted over on Yelp. Thankfully this story has a happy ending. Also, we had forgot about the iPhone that we fixed that fell off the roof of a car. That was a pretty epic repair.

If you’d like to check into the multiple Yelp reviews we have, be sure to take a look at our “Filtered Reviews”. Turns out, that our reviews are so positive that Yelp’s review filter thinks most of them are fake.

“I have been a Mac user now for about 6 years and any time I have had anything minor to major issues I have gone right to Mac Medics. These guys are seriously like under cover angels.

One time I left my iPhone on the roof of my car and it flew off going 55 mph. These guys were able to salvage my phone and it was completely affordable. They did it fast too!

Recently my friend’s hard drive failed. She and I both are photographers and our hard drives are everything. They could tell we were both very upset and despite it being an incredibly difficult fix that would normally be around $400 they agreed to try and figure something out and try and help us the best they could for a much more affordable price. To quote them “lets put our hearts and our minds into this and do our best.”

They really are amazing guys and they will ALWAYS get my business and I will always take my fellow Mac users there.”

Ashley B.
Baltimore, MD