Crashing Computer Falls into the Right Hands at Tech Central

Overview

When President Benton asked Pepperdine sophomore Megan Fragola if she would like a little adventure over the summer, she didn't completely understand what was coming.  Fragola agreed to assist with the annual Youth Citizenship Seminar on the university's main campus in June, and she brought her laptop along so that she could work on different projects during the week.

"On the the third day of the conference, I was sitting in Elkins auditorium working on a slideshow for later in the program," said Fragola.  "All of a sudden, my screen started flashing and I had to restart my computer. I was freaking out  a little."

After multiple restarts and no progress, Megan knew she had a serious problem.

Recognizing and Reacting

"I could see my computer was crashing hard, and I didn't have much time," Megan continued.  "I remembered seeing some ads for Tech Central in the library, and I had just seen the I.T. Department's Finding Tech Central video.  So, I rushed down the hill behind Payson, and basically came through the doors at Tech Central yelling, 'Ahhh! My laptop is dying!'  The guys on duty kind of laughed, but then they went right to work on it."

"She was right – the computer was dying, and we were immediately able to narrow it down to either the motherboard or the hard drive," said Client Technologies Analyst Tyler Luedke.  "After some diagnostics, it proved to be the hard drive, which was something we could help her with on the spot."

"My whole life was on that computer, so I was pretty upset," Megan said. "My laptop was about five years old and had all my Pepperdine course work along with a lot of photos, videos and music on it. It also felt like incredibly bad timing, because I knew I would be leaving for Florence in a couple months and didn't need any computer problems."

In fact, the timing may have benefitted Megan because the Tech Central team worked fast and had good news for her the next day.

The Rescue Operation

"We were able to move everything over before the hard drive failed completely," said Client Technologies Analyst Ben Campos.  "Then, we happened to have a clean drive that was compatible with her machine, so we swapped out the drives and restored all her data."

"Given the age of her machine, Megan asked what she should do going forward," said Client Services Associate Director Abrash Khanmalek.  "Because we can't predict how long a laptop may last after an episode like this, we recommended a replacement so that she could start her year abroad without any more computer worries."

"I couldn't believe they saved all my data, and they installed a replacement hard drive too," Megan smiled.  "I was able to finish the conference, and I felt really lucky to have known about Tech Central.  My laptop is up and running; I didn't lose anything; and it didn't cost me a penny.  These guys are fantastic!"

In Malibu, Tech Central is located in TAC B100. Pepperdine students, faculty and staff may contact Tech Central directly with their computer challenges and questions at 310.506.4357, or through the Tech Central website.