10

8/10/2007 2:59:08 PM

Man I have a beauty for you guys.

My parents recently merged companies with a big IT Consulting company in greensboro (whose name shall remain anonymous). First thing they do is to install their anti-virus and domain stuff on my parents computers.

Next day my dad notices his cd drive has disappeared in Windows. No less than 4 different techs at the company tried for 3 days to get it back. They replace the drive 4 times. The flashed the BIOS. They did a system restore. No dice.

So I go home last night to look at it for him. Here are my steps:

1) Enter bios, drive is recognized - Check
2) Enter windows, no drive - Check
3) Device Manager, driver conflict, copy/paste error message in google - Check
4) First two hundred results all say "delete upper/lower filter keys in registry", do this - Check
5) Reboot, drive is back and good to go.

Total time: 20 minutes.

I'm waiting for the phone call this afternoon, because he is going to tear them a new one.

8/20/2007 10:31:34 AM

What antivirus was this that screwed up the registry like this?

8/20/2007 10:33:53 AM

it wasnt antivirus. I'm 99% sure they removed whatever cd burning application he had installed (Roxio Sonic whatever from Dell is most likely) and botched the uninstall, just neglecting to tell him.

8/20/2007 10:43:31 AM

So CD burning software would cause a drive not to recognize when a disc is present?

8/20/2007 7:20:58 PM

^^^^ I guess that is bad because they were supposed to be IT people. I don't think a regular person would understand wtf they were supposed to do in that situation.

8/20/2007 11:33:35 PM

wow - you think? you're very insightful, lowjack

8/21/2007 3:41:56 AM

lololol

8/21/2007 9:15:41 AM

i think we all know who Noen really is.



Oh by the way. You're welcome!

8/21/2007 10:33:36 AM

no see, i help people ALL the time with computer stuff. And I dont fault people at all for not knowing how to find these retarded problems.

But if you are an enterprise level IT consultancy, and between your best 5 guys, you cant figure out something like this, that's laughable.

8/21/2007 11:32:18 PM

well don't forget that you yourself didn't even know the difference between $60 and $50 just a few days ago

8/21/2007 11:34:10 PM

Hey now, math and IT have nothing to do with each other - just as with literacy and writing articles for the technician.

[Edited on August 22, 2007 at 10:54 AM. Reason : ]

8/22/2007 10:54:27 AM

what's that image of? Geocities is blocked where I am at.

8/22/2007 11:00:56 AM

Nick Burns.


From SNL

8/22/2007 11:04:11 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Burns,_Your_Company's_Computer_Guy

bwahahah yeah I could see Noen being like him.

8/22/2007 11:12:49 AM

The ladies and gentlemen that email mailing lists with shit that requires a confirmation of receipt be sent.

Really guys, like really?

8/24/2007 11:06:20 AM

^ on every email is a bit hard to swallow. it can be useful at times, but it is also abused at time. we have someone that does this and has the replies all go to a folder, so she never really notices it and only uses it to call people out if need be...

8/24/2007 11:20:35 AM

I just refuse to send the acknowledgment by default.

8/24/2007 11:35:37 AM

I use Gmail (for my domain) these days and I don't think it cares about return receipts, someone correct me if I'm wrong ... however, in the past I've always configured my email clients to auto-delete/refuse any return receipts.

I'll let you know when I get your email.

[Edited on August 24, 2007 at 12:55 PM. Reason : .]

8/24/2007 12:55:33 PM

Quote :

"well don't forget that you yourself didn't even know the difference between $60 and $50 just a few days ago"

what the hell are you talking about?

8/24/2007 1:59:59 PM

Cowoker came to me the other day asking for my "magnets". I asked why A. i should ahve a bunch of magnets and B. what she wanted them for.

She told me she wanted them to erase her hard drive.

8/26/2007 11:37:24 AM

this is probably just some made up story, but its still pretty funny:

* Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?
* Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect.
* What sort of trouble?
* Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.
* Went away?
* They disappeared.
* Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?
* Nothing.
* Nothing?
* It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.
* Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?
* How do I tell?
* Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?
* What's a sea-prompt?
* Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?
* There isn't any cursor, I told you, it won't accept anything I type.
* Does your monitor have a power indicator?
* What's a monitor?
* It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?
* I don't know.
* Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?
* Yes, I think so.
* Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall.
* .......Yes, it is.
* When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?
* No.
* Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable.
* .......Okay, here it is.
* Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer.
* I can't reach.
* Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?
* No.
* Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?
* Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark.
* Dark?
* Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window.
* Well, turn on the office light then.
* I can't.
* No? Why not?
* Because there's a power outage.
* A power... A power outage? Ah, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?
* Well, yes, I keep them in the closet.
* Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from.
* Really? Is it that bad?
* Yes, I'm afraid it is.
* Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?
* Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer.

8/26/2007 12:38:15 PM

While scientists have yet to determine which came first, the chicken or the egg, recent studies have proven conclusively that that joke predates both of them by several thousand years.

8/26/2007 1:21:07 PM

I just had someone yell at me because I couldn't see what's happening on their computer screen

she also doesn't what a giraffe is, wtf

8/28/2007 2:49:04 PM

Jiffylube.com

Simple typo has had the search down for a long time now.

[Edited on August 28, 2007 at 4:10 PM. Reason : .]

8/28/2007 4:02:59 PM

lol

8/28/2007 6:13:23 PM

^^i can't believe they have detailed errors turned on in IIS... big security hole

8/30/2007 9:52:20 AM

well, the fact that they're using IIS says they don't care a whole lot about security anyways

OH, BURN

8/30/2007 9:55:50 AM

Quote :

"just got a call about a computer problem she says she can't see the desktop computer from the laptop (shared folder) i ask her if the desktop is turned on. she say "no, does it have to be?" i can't make this up people."

8/30/2007 9:56:39 AM

lol I'll enter that (^^) into "tales of technically inept"

[Edited on August 30, 2007 at 9:57 AM. Reason : .]

8/30/2007 9:57:18 AM

^^ that's not such a far-fetched expectation

she's basically got the mindset of an AFS or similar network - if anything, that's not inept - its actually fairly forward thinking for someone who is obviously new to technology

[Edited on August 30, 2007 at 2:14 PM. Reason : s]

8/30/2007 2:12:10 PM

Quote :

"VB is not .NET"

-Noen

8/30/2007 2:15:37 PM

"

Quote :

"VB is not .NET"

-Noen"

[Edited on August 30, 2007 at 2:19 PM. Reason : /]

8/30/2007 2:18:47 PM

^^ Come on dude, you know that there is a difference between VB and VB.Net.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic

8/30/2007 4:30:44 PM

Well, the old VB isn't supported anymore, and I dunno why anyone would develop new applications on it.

So sue me.

8/30/2007 4:31:31 PM

Freshman year I had an OLD computer with a 4GB hard drive. A bunch of my friends had Counter Strike, so I got a copy from them to install on my computer. But first I had to make room.

I ended up deleting lots of things (some .dll files, some other important things) to make room. Eventually, I got Counter Strike working, but MANY other things on my computer either wouldn't open or wouldn't work.

But it was worth it

8/30/2007 4:32:33 PM

Quote :

"that's not such a far-fetched expectation she's basically got the mindset of an AFS or similar network - if anything, that's not inept - its actually fairly forward thinking for someone who is obviously new to technology "

hahahaha, forward thinking. not quite. we're not talking about a large network here...its a shop with a desktop computer, and a laptop...and thats it. and she went to college so shes not exactly new to technology. the setup has been in place for at least 6 months, its not exactly new. ntm she considers herself the "technology contact" for the shop.

8/30/2007 11:12:00 PM

While setting up an MS AD server to do some testing with CIFS

:downs: "dude I fucking swear I can't ping this server but I can ping out of it"

:coworker: "...."

:downs: "Its a routing issue, it has to be. I'm telling you, i just can't get return ping. Lets install wireshark.

:coworker: "...."

<coworker disables windows firewall>

:saddowns: "Fire me now please."


downs = me

8/31/2007 12:24:08 AM

hahahaha....i learned that lesson long ago.

wierd unexplained happenings connecting to the internet: check
disable windows firewall: check

problem solved.


even opening ports and all that mess doesn't work well.

8/31/2007 12:36:25 AM

its not really weird. windows firewall has settings for how to handle pings.

8/31/2007 7:36:10 AM

i'm happy to hear that sysadmins believe the best way to solve a network issue is to disable the firewall

8/31/2007 7:49:37 AM

^You would too if you saw the pain and suffering Windows Firewall can cause.

8/31/2007 7:59:26 AM

gargs, drop the VB == .NET issue.

1. You said VB is .NET, which is fundamentally wrong as VB is a programming language and .NET is a framework.

2. There are good reasons NOT to use the .NET framework when developing applications. The .NET framework is not as stable as it should be and it is not uncommon to have problems getting it installed and getting .NET applications to run reliably. While this only occurs in a small fraction of cases, this can result in problems on large networks. In trying to force programmers to use .NET, M$ has essentially ruined VB for a lot of people.

3. I know about a dozen people who program in VB (exclusively not .NET). I got commissioned last summer to write a database application in VB. Just because MS doesn't support it doesn't mean it's dead.

8/31/2007 10:47:42 AM

I'm not a sysadmin

This isn't a production network.

8/31/2007 10:57:27 AM

^^Thank you for taking the time.

8/31/2007 12:08:17 PM

My dad fixes computer problems at his work, and says he gets a lot of calls from people saying their computer isn't working, and when he asks what kind of computer they have, they'll read off "Trinitron" or "Panasonic".

Last fall, I was on the phone with GoDaddy tech support trying to get a Ruby application up on their server, since their site says Ruby is one of the languages they support. I was talking with the guy for awhile, telling him what I'd done, and then I ask a question about what else do I need to do to get it working. He was silent, then asked what Ruby is.

8/31/2007 1:50:51 PM

some guy at work brought me his busted laptop and said he needed a new replacement hard drive...

i asked him how big of a hard drive he wanted

he started making motions with his hands to show me the exact size

8/31/2007 2:01:59 PM

hahaha

8/31/2007 2:07:35 PM

^^get him a new 4 gig or so (just enough to get the OS and a few programs on)... and see how long it takes after that to get him back to asking questions. tell him he only wanted a then start making hand movements

[Edited on August 31, 2007 at 2:08 PM. Reason : ^^]

8/31/2007 2:08:38 PM

ahhhhhahaha

8/31/2007 2:14:34 PM