Foo - What would you do here?

A friend brings me this PC because it's acting up. I usually don't give free tech support but meh, I was bored. He said to try to backup his data in case a full restore is needed. So I aimed for the data, armed with a usb drive. I got it all and then I burned it. I labeled the disc with the trusty sharpie, and insert it again to test, so far so good. I hit enter and pictures start displaying... good... and then... his daugther pics start to display... erhm... 19y/o... no so decent (darn good actually)... alone and with friends... and toys... etc

I don't want to give this data to my friend. I think is best to edit this and make a new disc with all the data except these questionable pics (and a few mini videos too). I really don't wanna get involved in that drama. What would you do?

spank it.

There should be no question about it.

I would ignore the content and give it to him. It's not your duty to police his daughter or protect his eyes. It's his computer, things are private and he trusted you to do a job. If it was a case of child abuse or sexual abuse (**** or molestation), then that is a different story. At that point I would call the police. But as for now, that is something that isn't really your business to get into. To edit or delete it would be stealing. It's not yours to do so.

YouTube

The data is already on his computer so it's not like he doesn't have access to it. Give him the CD without saying anything.

I'm going to have to say it.
Pics or it didn't happen.

I have to ask the morality of snooping into someone's files. All you were supposed to do was copy the files over. If you are an IT expert, you shouldn't need to "test run" the files with their program files or with thumbnails.

You are a snoop, and frankly, can't be trusted. Even worse, you've made judgment on the daughter's pictures, and discussed her and the issue on a public website.

You are wrong on so many levels...

Just give the guy back his computer and the back-up files. I doubt you should ever look him in the eye again.

Just save me a copy...mmkay? :innocent:

Send PM, please.

Don't give him the pictures, it can't help the situation, and could only make things really uncomfortable. She's an adult, and there are things that a father never wants to see, and you have some of them.

I'd also gingerly warn the daughter about not leaving stuff on dad's computer. As it was, I'd assume that the photos were in a place that dad wouldn't have found them. Putting them on a CD where you know he will find them will just cause unnecessary pain for all involved.

Don't give him the pictures, it can't help the situation, and could only make things really uncomfortable. She's an adult, and there are things that a father never wants to see, and you have some of them.


+11

she's 19 and an adult. none of Dad's biznatch

you could totally ruin a relationship here

The assumption that the dad does not know anything may not be true. Perhaps she is trying to break into the porn industry and he's cool with it. You never know what goes on behind closed doors.

I say just give him the disks and say nothing.

Bill

The assumption that the dad does not know anything may not be true. Perhaps she is trying to break into the porn industry and he's cool with it. You never know what goes on behind closed doors.

I say just give him the disks and say nothing.

Bill

It's a lot more plausible than your goofy theory. :rolleyes:

use one of the images and have a tshirt made. wear the tshirt when you meet to give him the computer back.

start your own porn site....you have pics and vids...set up a credit card system and you are set.

say nothing.


if you say or do anything you could end up in a lawsuit. have fun paying attorney fees.


I'd step away and not do the job.

I was cleaning off a friend's computer and getting him set up (he got the computer from someone who owed him money). And my friend is sitting with me as he was a computer noob when I found some files hidden with files and so on and opened them up to reveal jpg's of people's licensces for every state - some in various stages of rework (photshop was installed on the computer) - NICE! The guy was making fake ID's!

Killed everyone of those files, but I wouldn't have without my friend's say so. And I brought it up to him just because of the legal issues.

Pics, I'd leave alone.

what siu said. Not your concern.

What Siu and Rowan said. How many pics did you look at? Why were you looking in the first place? If you want to check the process, you could have done it just as easily with a simple text file you inserted in there as a dummy file.

It's a lot more plausible than your goofy theory. :rolleyes:

That's the point I don't have a "theory." No one here nor the OP has any idea why or how this pictures got on there. As someone mentioned above he should have not even viewed them. The OP is in no position to judge what files to save or what files to delete.

Bill

you didn't work for the geek squad did you? :p
http://consumerist.com/consumer/investigations/video-consumerist-catches-geek-squad-stealing-porn-from-customers-computer-271963.php

That's the point I don't have a "theory." No one here nor the OP has any idea why or how this pictures got on there. As someone mentioned above he should have not even viewed them. The OP is in no position to judge what files to save or what files to delete.

Bill

That's a great attitude to have. Just pretend you didn't notice the pain and conflict you helped to bring on. Thank god I don't have friends like you.

I have to ask the morality of snooping into someone's files. All you were supposed to do was copy the files over. If you are an IT expert, you shouldn't need to "test run" the files with their program files or with thumbnails.

You are a snoop, and frankly, can't be trusted. Even worse, you've made judgment on the daughter's pictures, and discussed her and the issue on a public website.

You are wrong on so many levels...

Just give the guy back his computer and the back-up files. I doubt you should ever look him in the eye again.

+1 seems unethical, man.

there should be no question about it.

I would ignore the content and give it to him. It's not your duty to police his daughter or protect his eyes. It's his computer, things are private and he trusted you to do a job. If it was a case of child abuse or sexual abuse (**** or molestation), then that is a different story. At that point i would call the police. But as for now, that is something that isn't really your business to get into. To edit or delete it would be stealing. It's not yours to do so.


+1

I have to ask the morality of snooping into someone's files. All you were supposed to do was copy the files over. If you are an IT expert, you shouldn't need to "test run" the files with their program files or with thumbnails.

You are a snoop, and frankly, can't be trusted. Even worse, you've made judgment on the daughter's pictures, and discussed her and the issue on a public website.

You are wrong on so many levels...

Just give the guy back his computer and the back-up files. I doubt you should ever look him in the eye again.

Don't agree.
I make backups all the time and I always check to be sure the data is where its supposed to be, god forbid I should just say,"Yeah, its there." delete the info and find that it didnt copy to disc! or I used a bad disc! Thats would suck! and RubenX didnt mention any names, so whats the problem? Im sure (I hope) that he's not going to post the pics, or send them to anyone, but if he does Id be the first to call him a ****ing scumbag :mad: but again, Im sure he's not, he just asked for advice and IMHO Sui gave the best advice he can get. :)
EDIT! I forgot to mention, if you did go on looking thru the pics and not just stop when you saw the one, well then you are wrong my friend :(

A friend brings me this PC because it's acting up. I usually don't give free tech support but meh, I was bored. He said to try to backup his data in case a full restore is needed. So I aimed for the data, armed with a usb drive. I got it all and then I burned it. I labeled the disc with the trusty sharpie, and insert it again to test, so far so good. I hit enter and pictures start displaying... good... and then... his daugther pics start to display... erhm... 19y/o... no so decent (darn good actually)... alone and with friends... and toys... etc

I don't want to give this data to my friend. I think is best to edit this and make a new disc with all the data except these questionable pics (and a few mini videos too). I really don't wanna get involved in that drama. What would you do?

Not to sound overly scalding, but viewing personal documents from any customer's PC (even if it's a friend) has gotten people and whole companies into a lot of hot water. I would advise to burn the disc as a straight backup as asked, just to be on the safe side.

There should be no question about it.

I would ignore the content and give it to him. It's not your duty to police his daughter or protect his eyes. It's his computer, things are private and he trusted you to do a job. If it was a case of child abuse or sexual abuse (**** or molestation), then that is a different story. At that point I would call the police. But as for now, that is something that isn't really your business to get into. To edit or delete it would be stealing. It's not yours to do so.

^^

This.

There should be no question about it.

I would ignore the content and give it to him. It's not your duty to police his daughter or protect his eyes. It's his computer, things are private and he trusted you to do a job. If it was a case of child abuse or sexual abuse (**** or molestation), then that is a different story. At that point I would call the police. But as for now, that is something that isn't really your business to get into. To edit or delete it would be stealing. It's not yours to do so.

That's my first response.





I have to ask the morality of snooping into someone's files. All you were supposed to do was copy the files over. If you are an IT expert, you shouldn't need to "test run" the files with their program files or with thumbnails.

You are a snoop, and frankly, can't be trusted. Even worse, you've made judgment on the daughter's pictures, and discussed her and the issue on a public website.

You are wrong on so many levels...

Just give the guy back his computer and the back-up files. I doubt you should ever look him in the eye again.

This is the second response.

As these pictures are not illegal, none of your business and when you saw the pics why the hell did you keep looking.

Interesting comments people are making about not needing to check the files in the first place. I don't know of other ways to verify data, so I am not sure I what I would have done, so as a hobbyist, I think some people are being extra hard on you, Ruben. I have done backups and recovery for my inlaws and check at least one Word doc, one photo, etc.

Once, my sister in law deteled the wrong folders of pictures on her computer, emptied the trash, and asked if she could get them back. I thought I would be helpful, and used some freebie file recovery software. I recovered about 50 jpgs.

She told me she was looking for a photo of her with her friend's kid. She wanted me to look through the photos I recovered to see if I could find it. Since I was bored, I looked through them for her while she did some work or something in the next room. Keep in mind she asked me to look...

Anyway, I ran across a few photos of her in a bra. Not a big deal for some people, but this is my sister in law, ultra-conservative, and I had never seen any skin below her collar bone before, so my heart was thumping pretty hard and I felt guilty at the same time--it's not like I was snooping though.

I did find the photo with her friend's kid, put it on the desktop, and then I re-deteled all the others and never mentioned them. I told my wife but she thinks I made it up as she thinks her sister would never have photos of her in a bra taken. I think my wife just doesn't know her sister very well.

Anyway, Ruben, I sort of feel bad for you. You have been put into a weird position you weren't asked to be put into.

Interesting comments people are making about not needing to check the files in the first place. I don't know of other ways to verify data, so I am not sure I what I would have done, so as a hobbyist, I think some people are being extra hard on you, Ruben. I have done backups and recovery for my inlaws and check at least one Word doc, one photo, etc.

Once, my sister in law deteled the wrong folders of pictures on her computer, emptied the trash, and asked if she could get them back. I thought I would be helpful, and used some freebie file recovery software. I recovered about 50 jpgs.

She told me she was looking for a photo of her with her friend's kid. She wanted me to look through the photos I recovered to see if I could find it. Since I was bored, I looked through them for her while she did some work or something in the next room. Keep in mind she asked me to look...

Anyway, I ran across a few photos of her in a bra. Not a big deal for some people, but this is my sister in law, ultra-conservative, and I had never seen any skin below her collar bone before, so my heart was thumping pretty hard and I felt guilty at the same time--it's not like I was snooping though.

I did find the photo with her friend's kid, put it on the desktop, and then I re-deteled all the others and never mentioned them. I told my wife but she thinks I made it up as she thinks her sister would never have photos of her in a bra taken. I think my wife just doesn't know her sister very well.

Anyway, Ruben, I sort of feel bad for you. You have been put into a weird position you weren't asked to be put into.

Eeeeeeeeeeewwww...

:cry:

Most of my PCs are set up to auto open and display pictures/videos because most of the time that is what I use them for. Both me and my wife take photos of our children almost every day and when we insert the media, that is what we want the PC to do, open it and start displaying the media. We have no problem with this because at home, we do not keep any questionable material of any kind.

Now days, thanks to broadband internet, there's no need to keep those things at home. You can always stream some from the net if you require it, and clear your browser's cache and history afterward. Just as we all found our parents/older-brother adult magazines when we were young, our children WILL FIND any questionable digital media we left around at the house. Ergo, it is better not to keep any of it.

And not only that... when you die, your family WILL GO TROUGH your stuff to decide what they are going to do with it. They will go trough your boxes, check your drawers and browse your digital files. There is no difference between a family photo album and a folder full of pictures on your PC. People WILL look at them. And when it happens, is not the people's fault. It is YOUR fault for having them. And if they happen to be pictures of yourself, then shame on you for having those taken in the first place.

And I'm not criticizing those who enjoy filming themselves. If that's what make you tick, it is your business. But it is up to YOU to take measures to prevent that material from being seen, digital or not.

Think about for a second. Lets say you just move and you call a friend to help you unpack in your new home. Your friend opens a box with a coffee maker and takes it to the kitchen. Then opens a box with towels and places them on the bathroom closet. But then opens a 3rd box and ask you "hey mate, where you want me to put the 2-headed *****, the handcuffs and the whip?". Is it your friend's fault? Was your friend supposed to help you out with his eyes closed? I think not. YOU (or your daughter/wife/whatever) should have taken care of that box first.

Back to the data at hand, under different circumstances I would be real mad at my friend for asking me to work at my home (where my wife and children live) with pornographic material without even warning me. He knows how I feel about keeping stuff like that in the house. But on this case I don't think he knows so I can't blame him. I can't say why tho, I wont give away any details that might be a clue to somebody to identify this guy. I'm just pretty sure he doesn't know.

I do think is ridiculous that some accused me of snooping, just because I opened the CD (DVD actually) in autoplay mode. Every techie knows that very often you burn a disc and then it won't open. When making a backup it is really stupid not to verify that your data is OK. Specially if you are about to reformat/reinstall everything on the original machine. Verifying the backed up data is standard procedure. But I'm glad you guys bought it up because my friend WILL open this disk and those pics are among the first ones to pop up (filenames start with an "A"). He will most probably ask his daughter for an explanation and most likely SHE will accuse him of snooping.

My first idea of deleting the files was precisely to prevent my friend from knowing what will most likely hurt his relationship with his daughter. Not to mention the embarrassment of knowing that you asked a friend to perform a backup of pictures/videos of your nekkid daughter. But there are 2 problems with that. #1, In order to delete the questionable ones, I would have to go trough all the pics/vids on that disk and watch them all, which I haven't and I don't wanna. And #2, even tho I THINK my friend doesn't know these exist, somebody must know. Giving the data back with those missing will raise flags, and again, the embarrassment. Ergo, as Siu and other suggested, I'll give all the data back and keep myself out this.

However, I'm not giving back the 1st backup disk I made. That one was done by copying all personal files (pics, vids, docs) from the original disk and dumping them into a new directory, not preserving the original directory structure. I destroyed that one. Instead, I made a bunch of backup dvds, using a separate disk for each "c:\Documents and Settings\user", and I labeled each disk with the username. It takes more space as this copies a lot of other data that is irrelevant for a personal backup (like cookies and application data), but it preserves the directory structure. If my friend wants to go trough the files on his daughter's back up disk, that his problem.

I can only add that after this one, I will not be doing any favors to anybody with data recovery needs. This whole thing got me thinking. What if somebody publish these pics (the girl herself, or a boyfriend), then Dad finds out and I end up being blamed because I had access to those pics at some point? Or even worst, this one was really close to being underage.

I guess some got offended because I said the pics were "darn good". But from a photography point of view, the clarity, the filters, the lighting (you do need good lights to film those)... these were not made on some random dorm room. These were done on a studio by somebody who knew what they were doing. Is not my fault that I own a big arse monitor, capable of displaying lots and lots of thumbs at once... not my fault these pics were taken with an "afga" camera, and their filenames are among the first ones to pop up alphabetically... not my fault that my PCs are set to autoplay everything... and not my fault that my 100k/year salaried friend wanted to get some data recovery for free. In fact, I can't even remember my friend visiting me in years, without asking for some free tech support at some point. He didn't even provided me the blank DVDs...

Anyway, the PC has been reformatted and the OS has been reinstalled and backups are now on separate disks for each user. He should pick everything up later today.

PS: And those of you (if any) who keep questionable pics of yourselves on your PCs and then question the morality of those who happen to see them... LOL! :roflmao2::roflmao2::roflmao2: Learn to use external drives and encryption software (stegano anyone).

2nd PS: wow.. i didn't noticed the post was so long... my bad..

I traded some tech support for 2000 ft of tile for my house. The guy called me and told me that several of his business computers were on the fritz and could I come over and take a look. Told me his wife would be in the office on Sat and Sun. I show up on Sat and start running some test and while I am sitting there she looks over my shoulder and says, hey what's in that drive, I click on it and boom, this guy has 200 gb of porn. Seems he was running a website from his office server and she new nothing about it. I stopped what I was doing, asked her how much the tile would be, paid her for it and left.

I say, ignore it, and walk away.

Done.

My friend called after my last post and said he was going to be working late and asked if he could sent his daughter to pick it up. "That PC has been sitting at the house for a week and she said nothing about it. Today I told her I took the PC to have it checked and she got all mad about it because there's an essay on her documents that she needs to complete and turn in by tomorrow." :rolleyes:

The girl came in half an hour later and asked if I found what the PC had. She said the PC started acting up when she was working on her "essay" and she downloaded some free tools off the net but the PC just got worse and became unusable. I explained the PC had various infections, that I took the drive off and connected it to my PC via USB adapter, burned the data on DVDs, placed the HD back on the PC and reformatted/reinstalled the OS.

I gave her the PC and the discs, explaining that each disc was labeled with the username and contained the docs of that user. She opened her eyes and asked nervously "but... how you know which pics were mine?" (notice I never mentioned pics, I just mentioned docs). And I replied "I don't... whatever was under YOUR username, ended up here... Under your Dad's username, ended up here..." and so on. And she said "Oh, like whatever was on my desktop is here, and my dad's desktop is there?"... "Yes"..."because when I log in, everything goes under my username?"...."Yes"... "Oh, I see" she replied smiling with an expression of great relieve. She put her DVD in her purse, everything else on the trunk and took off.

Surprisingly my friend called back later and asked "how much I owe you?". I told him he didn't owed me anything and suggested he could use the money to get some USB drives to keep backups of the data there, in case the PC gets infected again or whatever. We talked for a while as he was interested in getting one of those USB drives with a backup button but he is clueless about the technology (yet more free tech support). Then he dropped another question but that's material for a new thread as it is a different situation, kinda...

She opened her eyes and asked nervously "but... how you know which pics were mine?""Easy. The ones that I posted all over the internet are yours."