Do you know "computer stuff"?

**jawn_tech** · #1 (**permalink**) 08-10-2006, 05:07 AM

Is it just me, or do you experience that just because you excell in a certain area that one needs a computer to do, that people have this high expectation that you everything there is to know about "that computer stuff?"

I find more and more, people still equate computers with other home appliances. Like, 'he's good with microwaves'. So what exactly does that mean -- he knows how to use them, or how to fix them? Even if one does both, does that mean they can make every recipe in the world in a microwave? Equate that to computers, the internet, software, hardware, and the millions of applications there are related to "computer stuff".

I can write programs in Windows programming languages, code websites, get jazzy in graphic design. And yeah I can even change a hard drive, ram, or install a dvd drive. Like a geek I have a thumbdrive on my keychain that I use religiously. So therefore family and friends call me when something's wrong with their computer, or can't figure out how to use a certain program (that I've never had a need to use) and are shocked to see me shrug my shoulders if I don't know the answer. It's like I'm slipping in "computer stuff".

nerdbyte · #2 (**permalink**) 08-10-2006, 04:16 PM

It's the same way with me.

**dharrison** · #3 (**permalink**) 08-10-2006, 04:25 PM

Yep. Same here.

Every Christmas, one of my e-commerce customers expects me to be a combination between an IT Consultant, a secretary and general gopher. I'm sure that if I lived closer, I'd be expected to make the coffee as well! She tried to get me to ring her head office for the season's new product lines when I said "thats not really my job" she was like "Well its computer work that you do, isn't it." Grrr!

I also have a customer whose secretary seems to ring me up with no end of problems on her PC and after 2 years of recommending an IT Consultant, they have only just taken the initiative and called him. I don't think I can take another panic phone call about what a computer is, isn't or should be doing.

**jawn_tech** · #4 (**permalink**) 08-10-2006, 05:56 PM

Lol!

I have friends that take it a step further... One keeps dropping his iPod and eventually it stopped working. So he gave it to me to see if I could fix it.

An iPod.

At the same time, it's flattering in a way.

**dharrison** · #5 (**permalink**) 08-11-2006, 11:37 AM

And infuriating in another way. :)

Is it just me, or do you find the customers asking the technical questions are the same customers who won't fork out extra for an IT Consultant who could answer all their questions?

Mmm, answers on a postcard. :roll:

Chris · #6 (**permalink**) 08-11-2006, 12:01 PM

all my friends ask me where i get my free porn from. it seems they can't surf for teh pR0n w/out contracting some kind of spyware or malware.

**jawn_tech** · #7 (**permalink**) 08-11-2006, 12:04 PM

Only cool tech-savy people have the best porn. It makes one very popular.

Friends and family are tolerable for the most part. Sometimes it's funny though. I was at the pub with a few long-time friends and after a few they started thinking I could build them a monsterous plasma tv. My goodness.

As for customers, I only have a few non-profit clients who have my contact info (that I donate to), the rest use the customer service line (who are more knowledgable than me in most cases, so they're better off).

But yeah, who knew that iPods and wide-screen tv's are 'computer stuff'.

**dharrison** · #8 (**permalink**) 08-11-2006, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jawn_tech

Only cool tech-savy people have the best porn. It makes one very popular.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

all my friends ask me where i get my free porn from. it seems they can't surf for teh pR0n w/out contracting some kind of spyware or malware.

That sounds like the voice(s) of experience talking.
Oo er missus. I will say no more. :D

GroovyDaddy · #9 (**permalink**) 08-14-2006, 04:55 AM

I consider myself a continuing student when it comes to computer stuff. :)

irodgers · #10 (**permalink**) 08-16-2006, 07:32 AM

What bugs me most is that all this expertise is worth nothing.

Why are all I.T. manuals "for dummies" "for beginners" etc. Does everyone think you have to be stupid to be in I.T?

A friend rang me during a pub quiz to ask me "whats mircosofts email product called?"

I asked why he was asking me because he used all microsoft products just as much as me, but I said it could be Outlook or Outlook Express.

He rang back later to tell me I was wrong, the answer is Hotmail.

kgun · #11 (**permalink**) 08-16-2006, 09:57 AM

My daughter had trouble with her six - 6 - year old PC. She does not want to buy a new one, an option I reccomended very hard.

She told me on the phone:
1. She was not able to put the cursor in the Google search box.

2. When she clicked on URL's, a lot of blank pages popped up.

To solve 1., I reinstalled the mouse driver, with no success.

Then thought it may be an infection and continued with point 2.

I at once noted that 2. was because of the about:blank Homepage Hijacker. There are a lot of versions and they are getting more and more advanced.

My first option was to reset the computer to an earlier time. But, that option was destroyed on her computer. There was no calendar of restore points!

Then I thought it was best to take backups and format the harddrive and install everything from scratch. But she did not like that option, so I started with.

1. BitDefender.com and removed about 100 viruses.
2. Used this Remove About Blank page, installed SpyWare Doctor and removed about 30 spyware infections etc without success. Thereafter, I removed additional 10 adware's and spyware's by using Trend Micro online scan and Ad-Aware Personal without success. about:blank was still there. I know hijackThis is good but did not try it. Instead I tried the free version of RegisterMechanic that found nearly 2000 malfunctions and repaired only the ones that is removed in the free version, about 700.

Then it was night, I had to leave without fixing the Pc.

My first option now is to formate the Pc and reinstall everything from scratch. What do you think? She mostly uses the Pc to read online newspapers and her children uses it for gaming online. So she claims that she does not need a new Pc. Her husband has a new Laptop that is only for him.

I will not use much time now unless you have a fix proposal that I have not seen.

From this I learned the following.
1. It confirmed that there is no antivirus / antispyware program that removes every infection.
2. She should have followed my reccomendations earlier to install abtrusion protector and not log in as administrator.
3. You work hours for your children, even with a computer that should not have been accepted on a musum.

P.S. I know that a lot of people format old Windows Pc's and install Linux. But that is perhaps too difficult for her. What is the memory, harddisk requirements for various Linux versions?

irodgers · #12 (**permalink**) 08-16-2006, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

My daughter had trouble with her six - 6 - year old PC. She does not want to buy a new one, an option I reccomended very hard.

Tell her it would be kinder to put the PC to sleep now. Once she's grieved for a while she'll go out and buy a new one (unless she's grown out of that phase).

kgun · #13 (**permalink**) 08-16-2006, 11:57 AM

She prefer to use the money on her children, parafume, clothing, beer.....

And I know it will be good enough for her needs if, I format it and reinstall everything from scratch. It may even be the fastest. There are also arguments to wait until Vista is out of beta to buy a new one. I just bougth a new one to my youngest daughter for NOK 4000 with 1 Gb memory, 500mb recommended for Vista, 2.6 GHz processor ++. Pc's are cheap now.

I have never in my life seen a so infected computer :-) Fantastic that it has functioned so long.

If a user has XP installed with restore points, I usually take the hard way, and restore to an earlier restore point. Usually takes 10 minutes, but this option was as explained aboce, destroyed too.

khurramali · #14 (**permalink**) 08-19-2006, 02:40 PM

I am known by my family and friends as SOAP, which stands for Solution of all problems, I am a compter Geek and a hard core gamer, even some of my clients call me Mr. SOAP.

khurramali · #15 (**permalink**) 08-19-2006, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

She prefer to use the money on her children, parafume, clothing, beer.....

get her a notebook, she will be a happy kid :)

Lerza · #16 (**permalink**) 08-21-2006, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

I know that a lot of people format old Windows Pc's and install Linux. But that is perhaps too difficult for her. What is the memory, harddisk requirements for various Linux versions?

I have a very old P2 333 MHz with 64 megs of RAM that runs Linux quite nicely, and I successfully installed Linux on one of my friends' oldschool IBM thinkpad (it's like 8 inches thick when closed and weighs 20 pounds) that has 16 megs of RAM. So in terms of system requirements, I'd say your daughter's 6-year-old computer could take either of those machines down.

Do yourself a favor and hop on over to Ubuntu.com and read up on Ubuntu Linux. It's the easiest way to bring Linux to someone that is scared of Linux. If you are connected to the internet during the install process, it will get online and find all of the proper drivers for you and you won't have to set anything up. It's very similar to a Windows install in that it installs a very basic set of programs and allows you to choose more once you're up and running.

Ubuntu uses the Gnome gui, so if they've ever used a Mac all of the menu options will look very familiar. It comes with plenty of software, too - stuff that you'd pay big bucks for if it said "Microsoft" on the splash screen. Stuff like office software, image editing, music players, etc are all included. AOL instant messanger for Linux is included, as well, so once you're up and running, the operating system itself will look very familiar.

My advice to you, especially if your daughter will definitely not purchase a new pc, is to load it with Linux. Even if you do reformat with XP, it's only a matter of time until they are in this predicament again. Don't expect them to understand how to use TeaTimers and things of that nature, because a lot of the time the judgement that you make requires you to understand the implications. With Linux, they wouldn't be susceptible to invasions that work in XP. "Untrustworthy" sites suddenly aren't as much of a problem anymore.

Ubuntu is a great Linux distro for beginners. It's not nearly as feature-rich or powerful as some of the other distibutions, but it is backed by technical support, and it will install itself and set itself up all on its own. If you can install Windows, you can install a copy of ubuntu. It is literally intended to be used by people who are scared of the transition to Linux, so the complete experience will seem very familiar and a lot like installing and using windows.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I'm running Kubuntu (ubuntu with the kde gui) on the machine at home and I set up Slackware on my buddy's laptop. Each were the most recent versions.

kgun · #17 (**permalink**) 08-21-2006, 05:24 PM

Thank you very much for a fantastic answer.

Some shcools in Norway give live to old Pc's by installing Linux. I will reccomend that I can install Linux for her.

Hope she will, since one in our family then gets Linux experience. She is a relatively fast learner.

Lerza · #18 (**permalink**) 08-21-2006, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

Thank you very much for a fantastic answer.

Some shcools in Norway give lives to old Pc's by installing Linux. I will reccomend that I can install Linux for her.

Hope she will, since one in our family then gets Linux experience. She is a relatively fast learner.

No problem at all! Isn't this forum great?

I'm all for schools breathing life into older computers. I wish more folks knew that this was an option rather than upgrading.

Once you get it up and running, you'll be amazed at how fast and efficient it is!

kgun · #19 (**permalink**) 08-21-2006, 05:36 PM

Yes, and they do it at the schools in the most rich part of Norway. May be that is the reason why that it is the most rich part of the country.

My definition of a good economist. A person that makes the correct investments and reduces costs to a minimum.

Dream:
Give Pc's that you do not need to poor people and countries with restricted economic resources.

khurramali · #20 (**permalink**) 08-21-2006, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

Dream:
Give Pc's that you do not need to poor people and countries with restricted economic resources.

Countries in my region, India and Pakistan are poverty strucken, one way to empower us is to donate your old computers so we can stand up on our feet.

If you feed a man a fish you are feeding him once, but if you teach him how to fish, you are feeding him for the rest of his life.