f***ing stupid!

[kato2274]

the other night I got a call from a cousin wanting to know if I had a winme upgrade disc. I said I didn't . . . that all my software had recently been lifted from my car. I should've left it at that, but instead of doing the smart thing, I said "why"

well she begins "rick (her husband) is trying to upgrade a PC to ME but only has a full version it won't let him upgrade"

I say "you can upgrade with a full version you just need to rename a few files in dos first then run the setup from Dos" I give her the brief instructions "rename win.com and winver.exe and the upgrade will work." anyone who is installing an OS SHOULD be able to boot into dos and rename a few files without detailed written instructions right? wrong. I end up having to type out and email instructions. they looked like this.

1.) get a win98 boot disk put it in floppy drive turn on pc
2.) when it asks if you want to enable CD-ROm support say yes
3.) type ren c:\windows\win.com win.bak [enter] ren c:\windows\winver.exe winver.bak [enter]
4.) type X:setup (where X is the letter of the CDROM drive, typically e:

last night I get a call from rick himself. "I type x:setup and it doesn't work"

"X is represented as the letter of your cdrom try e:"

"that doesn't work either"

I explain how the 98 boot disk works. how it creates a ram drive so your CDROM drive letter is typically one letter past what it normally is. he doesn't get it. I tell him to reboot the computer and see what drive letter his CDROM is assigned.

"it says starting windows 95. now I'm at A:"

"you can't do this with a 95 boot disk. it doesn't have built in cdrom support you need a 98 boot disk to do this." which as you all can clearly see was the very first step in the instructions. so much for reading comprehension eh?

"do you have one?"

"no not on me you can get them on the internet. just use google and search for 98boot disk or see if you can boot directly from the CD"

"how do you do that"

"you have to set the bios to boot from cd"

"how do you do that"

"you have to watch when the computer puts it's first screen up and look for the phrase hit [key] to enter setup. usually it's del f1 f2 on compaqs it's f10"

"where's the setting in bios"

I realize this is an even bigger losing proposition than finding a bootdisk. "forget it. just look on google for a bootdisk."

"google how do you spell that"

meanwhile the baby who has not slept much at all that day and was finally peacefully sleeping on my chest is starting to stir because daddy is essentially talking directly into his ear

"I'm going to fire it back up and look for that boot disk." a few seconds pass. "it says it can't find win.com"

"that's because you renamed it. you need to reverse the rename commands you typed and name the files back to how they were" he has no clue. 5 minutes of explaining pass - still no clue. "look at the two ren commands on the email. where it says .bak change to .com or .exe and where it says .exe or .com change to .bak"

"I'm at a: just tell me what to type"

my ears and red and I'm pretty sure steam is shooting out of them and my nose"

I try to explain again. I'm not holding his hand. if he's not smart enough to do this he has no business working on this pc. it's no good. the baby is starting to cry. I give up and walk him through the rename but even that is akin to getting several small paper cups and pouring bleach over them.

windows boots and I struggle to get him off the phone and the baby who is now in full cry to my wife so she can feed him.

people this dumb SHOULD NOT be allowed to own computers much less work on them.

[PeLiGrOsO]

that usually also happens with family members.. you try to help them out and you just get screwed in everyway.. all the computers i have i put them together.. like every other teck out there.. family members or friends have computers by compaq, ibm, ect.. i have learn to just say.. " i am really busy right now with my kids.. call your tech support !!" screw that.. let them break their heads, they get paid for that.. i have lost many hours and postpone things that i had to do just to try my friends out with their stupidity.. sometimes you just have to say NO.. regardless of how simple the problem might seem when they explain it..

[PeLiGrOsO]

by the way.. i hope your baby stopped crying when he was fed..

[Chëëzmønkëy]

i read somebody;s post about getting dinner and party invites, which quickly tunr into oh, while youre here....

i agree,
what annoys me the most tho, is my dad, who not only has it all done for free, but expects it done yesterday. he has dragged me out of bed a few times because the latest BD*M site he is looking at has done something nasty to his comp, or to get rid of the dialler icon that has appeared on his desktop that he dont want mum to see bla bla, i think next itme i will charge him if he drags me out of bed...

[kato2274]

Originally posted by Chëëzmønkëy
he has dragged me out of bed a few times because the latest BD*M site he is looking at has done something nasty to his comp, or to get rid of the dialler icon that has appeared on his desktop that he dont want mum to see

that's classic. I too have had to give detailed instructions on how to cover internet tracks. . . . . . .just never to my dad. that's frickin hilarious (except for the part about being dragged out of bed )

[Aaron Cake]

What I don't get is that if it's such a hassle, why do you people still provide tech support and free advice for friends/family? I sure as hell don't...

[Ya_know]

Originally posted by Aaron Cake
What I don't get is that if it's such a hassle, why do you people still provide tech support and free advice for friends/family? I sure as hell don't...

What did you do, disown them? You can't turn your back on family. What are they supposed to do, go to rip off artists like Best buy, or the mom & pop down the street and pay through the nose? You can't pick your family, and you gotta help them out. That doesn't mean that they don't owe you one when you do. I always get great meals, and steal jewelry when ever I pay a visit...

[Carlitos_Way]

Originally posted by Ya_know
What did you do, disown them? You can't turn your back on family. What are they supposed to do, go to rip off artists like Best buy, or the mom & pop down the street and pay through the nose? You can't pick your family, and you gotta help them out. That doesn't mean that they don't owe you one when you do. I always get great meals, and steal jewelry when ever I pay a visit...

I hear you there. It's very hard to say no to a steaming plate of homemade enchiladas, rice and beans.

[Titchski]

Originally posted by Carlitos_Way
I hear you there. It's very hard to say no to a steaming plate of homemade enchiladas, rice and beans.

Exactly, my family and friends don't expect me to fix their computer for free. They all either a) know how to do things that I don't (like household stuff and putting in mailboxes and cleaning pools etc etc) or b) are really, really awesome cooks. So I get repaid in other ways

As an aid to fxiing their stuff, I usually stick VNC on their box (not running as a service) rename the icon to "Click this when Nick tells you to" and then take it from there. Obviously doesn't work well for dial-up/connectivity issues, but works GREAT when they've moved their start menu to the top of the screen, lost icons, etc etc.

[confus-ed]

Originally posted by Titchski
Exactly, my family and friends don't expect me to fix their computer for free.....

Can I swap ?!? ..... sadly every one of my relatives, various friends & worse still 'hangers on' (friends of friends or friends of relatives) all seem to expect either free or practically free advice/help .....

When I lamely say 'but its my business .... I am self employed, I need to make a living !' ... they smile sweetly & start on about loyalty & not making money out of relatives or friends....

Variously I have relatives & friends who work in the water,gas & power industries, food stores blah blah blah .... so ok I'll keep working for free, as long as I get all the other stuff back for free ....

Actors have a saying - 'Never work with animals or children..' ... for Computing folks add ' ...or relatives!!!!'

[PeLiGrOsO]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by confus-ed
all seem to expect either free or practically free advice/help .....

like my mechanic says.. " there is nothing free but a bad advise"

[rgharper]

Originally posted by Carlitos_Way
I hear you there. It's very hard to say no to a steaming plate of homemade enchiladas, rice and beans.

Or to your mother-in-law ... at least if you want ANY domestic tranquility for the next few weeks ...

[constructor]

I find the most annoying thing is the friend of a neighbour who turns up with a PC.
Its usually a 5 year old machine with a 500 celeron and everything running off the mobo. 64mb Ram. 2Gb HDD.

No maintenance carried out on it since they bought it,stuffed solid with demo games,viruses,spyware and every programme you can find to play an mp3.

CDRom is clapped out

It usually has the words PACKARD BELL on it.

They dont want to pay much and dont understand its 5hrs work involved.

They wont take no for an answer

[Aaron Cake]

Originally posted by Ya_know
What did you do, disown them? You can't turn your back on family. What are they supposed to do, go to rip off artists like Best buy, or the mom & pop down the street and pay through the nose? You can't pick your family, and you gotta help them out. That doesn't mean that they don't owe you one when you do. I always get great meals, and steal jewelry when ever I pay a visit...

I just recommend a shop that I trust. *shrug* Avoids all the problems, and the shop knows that if they screw up, I won't be happy.

[Poseidon]

I would have stopped at the begining and talked them out of upgrading to ME.