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My computer at work said that the computer needed a BIOS update. I clicked on it. I thought since the screen still showed I could keep working. The cursor didn't show so I touched the screen. The computer went black. The techie, when I reached him, said I probably wrecked the mother board.
The computer is under warranty so the repair or replacement should be free. I have a great relationship with my boss. 31 years, with a 2 1/2 year interruption beyond our control.
Should I offer to pay the techie's charges to assist in triggering the warranty and customizing the computer when fixed?
When you say "My computer", is actually the company's computer?
If so I would be inclined to think it wasn't your problem. Usually company IT Support should have all company computers locked down with various admin rights and privileges, thus preventing an "ordinary" user from having any access to anything other than what they need to see and use (unless you yourself have local or global admin rights).
IT Support could argue you shouldn't have pressed anything when confirming the update. But really motherboards fail all the time, especially with BIOS updates and company IT have to deal with it themselves.
You didn't do anything wrong. The blame is squarely on the IT dept.
I have worked at corporate for over 10 years. Business users should never see a BIOS update screen. IT should have it locked down. If anybody is to blame, it's the CIO or CTO for not having better policies.
When you say "My computer", is actually the company's computer?
If so I would be inclined to think it wasn't your problem. Usually company IT Support should have all company computers locked down with various admin rights and privileges, thus preventing an "ordinary" user from having any access to anything other than what they need to see and use (unless you yourself have local or global admin rights).
IT Support could argue you shouldn't have pressed anything when confirming the update. But really motherboards fail all the time, especially with BIOS updates and company IT have to deal with it themselves.
I would be inclined to speak to your boss anyway.
Good luck
Quote:
Originally Posted by move4ward
You didn't do anything wrong. The blame is squarely on the IT dept.
I have worked at corporate for over 10 years. Business users should never see a BIOS update screen. IT should have it locked down. If anybody is to blame, it's the CIO or CTO for not having better policies.
We are a two-person law firm with one secretary. There are just too many updates and the system is too fragile. Luckily I had very little data retained locally.
We are a two-person law firm with one secretary. There are just too many updates and the system is too fragile. Luckily I had very little data retained locally.
It is fortunate your critical data is stored on separate storage (and regularly backed up one would hope).
As for your machine, still speak to your boss about the warranty (check it carefully because some do come with exceptions such as malicious usage). Hopefully the warranty will be valid and you should get a new or repaired machine with little in the way of charges to yourself (if its a company machine any charges should go against the company account)
Moving forward, if you have any additional machines in your company with the same BIOS, they too might need similar BIOS updates. if you do have tech support for these machines get them to do it.
It is fortunate your critical data is stored on separate storage (and regularly backed up one would hope).
It is supposedly backed up to the cloud. I am skeptical. In fact today I'm going to back up from another computer the most of the files to a portable hard drive. That served my boss and I well when we bolted from our old firm at the end of 2013 and then reunited in 2017. I had all the old files backed up to two portable hard drives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Just Zola
As for your machine, still speak to your boss about the warranty (check it carefully because some do come with exceptions such as malicious usage). Hopefully the warranty will be valid and you should get a new or repaired machine with little in the way of charges to yourself (if its a company machine any charges should go against the company account)
The usage was hardly malicious. I think Dell, corporately, wants confidence in their products.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Just Zola
Moving forward, if you have any additional machines in your company with the same BIOS, they too might need similar BIOS updates. if you do have tech support for these machines get them to do it.
It is supposedly backed up to the cloud. I am skeptical. In fact today I'm going to back up from another computer the most of the files to a portable hard drive. That served my boss and I well when we bolted from our old firm at the end of 2013 and then reunited in 2017. I had all the old files backed up to two portable hard drives.
The usage was hardly malicious. I think Dell, corporately, wants confidence in their products.
I won't click that again!
If you don't already do so, make sure you encrypt data when you back it up to the Cloud. And I would still be inclined to backup to a portable drive from time to time just in case your Cloud host goes offline for a period of time.
As for malicious usage, I was just using that as a general example; some manufacturers will try to deny all culpability when it comes to fixing problems under guarantee. But I think you have a very good case.
The computer is not fried; it just needs to be re-flashed.
Exactly. Unless you somehow power spiked it (you didn't) or beat it with a hammer or dumped liquid on it there's really no conceivable way you "fried it" or ruined it just by hitting a key. Computers are simply not that fragile...
What frightened me was that the "techie" said the motherboard was wrecked...he needs a new line of work.
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