My friend who knows about computers suggested...

[http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum1/noncgi]

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE SAY THIS! If your friend knows so much about computers, why doesn't HE fix it!

My grandfather's HP scanner quit working recently. It's SCSI, so I checked the power, the cables, the termination, the ID numbers, everything checks out, but nothing can see the scanner. Even the SCSI card BIOS says there's nothing there. It's obviously a hardware problem.

I advise my grandfather to replace the scanner (it's out of warranty, and this is the fourth time it's caused major trouble). The next day, he tells me, "One of my friends at church who knows about computers suggested we try replacing the drivers."

DUH!!! I've only been fixing and programming computers for the past 19 years now! I think I bloody well know what I'm talking about! And if the SCSI card can't even see the device at startup, the drivers aren't going to do squat! It's obviously a hardware problem.

"But, why don't you try replacing the drivers, just to be sure."


AAAAAARRRRRGGGH!!!! *bangs head on keyboard*

[valyard]

What os ar you using. there are some compatability issues with some of them

[Deity]

LOL! I've heard that "friend of a friend" garbage too much. There could be smoke coming out of the power supply and they would suggest reinstalling Windows! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[paulsands]

LOL, liked that one Deity

love it

[Bio-Boy]

Oh God I hate this!

I remember at my first warranty repair job, this guy and his brother came in with an HP laptop. He set it down on the counter and opens up the sytem info and says, "This is supposed to be a 700Mhz laptop! How come this only says 657Mhz???" then his brother pipes in, "Yeah I read in a PC World magazine that some computer manufacturers are using lower end chips and selling them as good ones." I interrupted his nice story about overseas chipmakers and started explaining that it wasn't a lower end chip, only that it was a mobile processor. The brother says, "Mobile processor? What the hell is that? I've never heard of that before." I said, "I'm sorry if you've never heard of it before but that's what you've got!". This guy started flipping out! He started yelling about how he was an original member of LoD (Legion of Doom) and sh!t and about how I was just a kid and I don't know what the hell I'm talking about...

I had to leave for about 2 minutes. I was honestly going to hit him as hard as I could in an uppercut fashion to the jaw. Really only because in his rage he was spitting all over the place, ew!!

So after I let the adrenaline pass through, I walked over to the display model and yelled at them to come watch what I was doing. I found the exact same model display notebook as he had. I opened the sys info, unplugged that POS and !bam! voltage drop from AC to battery caused the speed to drop to 657. After showing them this they finally let me talk to them and explain all about the mobile processor. I hate people. <IMG SRC="smilies/mad.gif" border="0">

[Papa Smurf]

A friend came to my door last night and told me that her PC had a virus.She couldnt tell me any more other than its not booting. She was in a bit of a panic cause the her kids had been mucking around on the internet downloading software just prior to this "fault" appearing.

So me being bored and having nothing else to do with my time other than to help a mad woman with a virus on her PC "NOT" went round to her house.

When I arrive at her house I discover that the monitor is dead....you know no power , no LEDs. This was a DEAD monitor no doubt about it. Pretty straight forward or so I though. It was then she told me that a friends 17 year old kid "who knows a lot of stuff about computers" had told her that he had seen a PC virus which causes it to destroy monitors by sending an electrical spike to the unit via the video board. I guess this kid had been watching the James Bond movie "Golden Eye" to get his certification.

I had to spend 30 minutes explaining to this woman that the fault with her monitor probably happened because of electrical rewiring she has been having done in her house. She did mention that her lights had been flashing and had been having frequent power cuts and she had never thougth to unplug the PC from the mains during this time. She then wondered if I had any spare monitors I could GIVE her. It was then I left.


Why me.......... <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0">

[KamuelaJedi]

ROTFL!!!!!! <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0">

[kingtbone]

Originally posted by Papa Smurf:
<STRONG>I guess this kid had been watching the James Bond movie "Golden Eye" to get his certification.</STRONG>

Ha ha ha. I love these kinds of stories. That's a good line

[Poseidon]

If you want my opinion, I think you ought to try replacing the drivers. . LOL
Just kidding no offense intended. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

It’s just that your situation reminded me of a similar experience I had with my mom.

[Scuba]

If i had a penny for every time i had to fix a computer that was fixed by a friends friend.

I boot the computer and get warning masseges that some cards that i didnt install are missing......
Open the case, and some one was playing inside. one of the things was that the CPU was full of this Greez **** and i was prety shure i didnt put it there.

Hemmmm, did some one played Overclocker......
the guy was 18 yers old - just the type that will do it.

O yes - and the friend told him that he think that the CPU is not good........

[ShadowWynd]

My favorite was an early pentium machine (p166-200) (this was several years back) that had some problems and was assualted by a "friend who knows about computers".

End Result: EVERY jumper / dip switch in case was changed. All the motherboard jumpers, CPU jumpers, all the jumpers on the I/O cards were all changed. Very thorough, I don't think they missed any. I think it the original problem that prompted this rape of technology was a Windows glitch.

We told the customer (after hours of labor) not to let that friend touch it again.

[Gabriel]

Happened too many times...
when it happens I "Kindly" Sugest that the person will give the "KnowAbout" His computer and let him fix it...
Because from this moment on i get my nerves ON!

[Cave_Dweller]

It is frustrating, but I've made money cleaning up after "the whizz kid next door".

What gets me going though, is the people who ask me the "what could be wrong with my machine" questions, and after telling them what I think, they say OK, My brother-in-law is a tech for the school district, I'll have him try that. <IMG SRC="smilies/mad.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/mad.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/mad.gif" border="0">

[Geek #1]

Yes, I hate them too. Basically, I do this for a living (and I happen to be good at it which is a bonus), and I don't tell you how to do your job.

You wouldn't take your car to a garage, the mechanic is under the hood when you say "Gee, my mate thinks you should check the fuel line..."

[82camaro]

I work in a small town for a small company--about 150 computers, 60 in the local office. I get questions all the time about personal PC's. I used to do explain exactly what I thought was wrong with the PC and how to fix it, so they could try it at home or a friend could try it. That didn't last very long. The other computer guy in town(at the local internet/computer place) and I use the standard "sounds like a windows problem" "or microsoft problem" "or configuration problem" and end by saying "I'll have to look at it"
It just happened again, no kidding!! "I just got a digital camera and it won't completely install, can you help me. I brought the computer and everything here. Can you work on it on your break?" Come on now, at work, on my break. I try to be nice because I have to work with these people, but seriously I work on computers to make money. I enjoy it, but it's still my job! I could go on and on about this. I've seen some pretty scary 'friend fixed my computer' repairs. The funniest is when I explain to somebody what I think is wrong and they ask to have me "write it down", so they can "have a friend work on it". Ever seen a 256MB SDRAM cut down to fit a 72pin SIMMS.... I wanted to keep it for something to look at on stressful days, but the customer said she wanted to shove it up her brother-in laws @ss. I have to stop now, and talk to the digital camera lady....