What data will be lost when sending my laptop in for service?

I've had to send my laptop in for service to HP and i'm wondering what data will be lost when I get it back. They said they would be restoring the factory settings, but a friend said i could probably do a recovery and I could get some of the data back, now i do not make it a habit of doing system back ups (brand new computer didn't expect it to go down) will i still be able to get info back?

Basically i'm asking because I have been extended on how long it will take to get my computer back and I need it back ASAP and am thinking about just requesting a new one be sent instead, but if I can get all of my information back I may just wait because I had 2007 Microsoft Office, Microsoft Digital Image suite anniversary edition and like a year left on my antivirus which probably totals up to about 300 worth of stuff...

Oh btw, the reason i didn't back it up myself b4 sending it in was because I could not get the monitor to come on. It would not connect to an external monitor and it would not turn on, I tried shining a flashlight at it to check the one peice and that didn't work.

I really doubt you'll get any of your data, sorry. They say to always back-up your data before sending it in for repair in case they need to do anything that'll lose it. Resetting it to factory defaults loses your data, I'm pretty sure... they did that to my Acer (after putting in a new motherboard and processor) and I got it back as if it were new right out of the box. None of my data was there.

You should have your discs or product keys for your programs. They'll likely be gone when it's back. If you don't you can request them to send the info, I don't know if they will but you can try! :) I have never dealt with HP.

I'd ask for a new one to be sent. You can re-install all your programs from the discs that came with them, or download the trials and put in your product keys if you bought them online. Either way, you should have your software (discs or product keys) at home in a safe spot. But if your laptop had all the info for them, and you have no way of re-installing your software, I'd ask for it back, write down all of the product keys, etc... so you can re-install it later. Then send it back in.

Good luck!

You should always make backups as its not always down to the laptop or pc but could be due to virus or other problems. If they are setting back to factory settings, why dont you give them a call and ask them if your data will be wiped.

when you do get it back and if the data is gone, you can still re-install your programs, software and this should not affect the time you have left on it, though with microsoft you may have to inform them of what has happened so that the can sort this out for you.

Hope this helps