Not long ago an old-time computer client emailed me about their laptop. Windows 10 was failing to start and error messages were indicating hard drive problems. The built-in repair tool wasn’t solving the problem. I gave them some advice and said I’d have to be in front of the laptop to do any good. I figured they’d look for a new computer consultant in their new location but they liked my work enough to ship the laptop and external drive to me.
I first recovered the user data from the hard drive to their external drive in case it was physically failing. Then I attempted to get Windows working again on the laptop but it needed reinstalled. I was going to download installation media from the laptop maker, but my client had already bought a new laptop and just wanted his data back. He was happy i got his files off the laptop.
Today I shipped everything back to my client and will try and remember I can have things shipped to me for repair just like my competitors.