Engineers as Users

Anybody got any of these guys as users?

Here's what I've got:

Engineers/Draftsmen running Dell 610 Power Workstations w/512Mb RAM, SCSI drives and running NT 4.0 with the customary 2Gb primary partition and about a gazillion Mb of storage on other drives/partitions.

They've purchased these on their own with no input or advice from IS. Now, they've gone ahead and installed what seems like everyh CAD program and CAD file viewer in existence on their primary partition and are now wondering why their machines run like crap and they complaint about the size of their primary partition being sized wrong, running out of virtual memory.

My recommendation to them was to wipe and load, from the beginning and reinstall their applications acordingly.

They freaked out!

Anybody else got these types of users who know it all until a problem arises? Then when they ask your advice, and you give it, the flip?

How do you deal with them?

Yeah, I hear you. I am surrounded by them at my office. At first it can be intimidating, but show them you know what you're talking about. When they put in doubt my options to fix their problem, I give them the choice to either live with their grief or let me do my job to so I can fix it (in more polite terms, of course!) Usually when you make it clear you are there to help them & explain clearly what you want to do, it works wonders. Good luck! ;)

Actually, I work for a company that makes software for engineers. What frustrates me is this: Our software acquires data from over 3000 online sensors in a plant once per second, so to say the least it is VERY labor intensive. We tell these guys not to load games, ect. on the machines or data acquisition could be affected. Then I get a call that the machine is AFU. I fly out to discover stuff like DOOM, UT, Quake, ect is loaded up, and that they have completely ignored our minimum system requirements! Oh, but it is our stuff that sucks....

Of course, don't we all. My personal favorite is the one that knows my job so well that when she sends me trouble tickets, she pretty much tells me how to do MY job.

My question is: IF she is SO damn smart and good at MY job, then why is she a customer service rep and I am the tech? :eek:

I actually work in the Engineering dept here. Since our main product is PC based, most of the Engineers are at least semi-competent. But it is surprising to see just how many people understand the ins and outs of Visual Basic or UL certification or CCD design, but don't even understand how to use Internet Explorer efficiently.

I'm the department's PC guru. I understand just about everything that makes a PC function (or not), and wind up doing a lot of the fix-it stuff for our product ("Our customers want to access this stuff by modem! Fix it so that they can!" "How can we stuff a 1/2T of storage in this unit without using SCSI?" etc.)

I am in that exact type of office, I am Network Administrator/Chief Drafter, with lots of other drafters and engineers.

We purchased all of the computers at the same time, so they are identically configured. This allows us to have one or two ghost images on CD to reconfigure the workstations in less than 15 min if something starts acting funny.

We even purchased all the servers for each office at the same time, so they are the same, too!

We don't allow anybody to install software, unless it is essential to their job function. If somebody's computer is royally screwed, we wipe it and start over from the ghost image. (I did this yesterday afternoon)

Everyone stores their personal files in their home directory on a network drive, that is backed up at night. Each user has a 50MB limit on their home directory. This way, if the workstation goes south, they don't lose their timesheets, todo lists, AutoCAD configuration, etc.

I just had a talk with my boss about an architect we are working for, who was complaining about all the problems he was having with his network. No wonder, the guy was upgrading every piece of software in his firm as soon as a new version came out. We are using Novell 4.11 with workstations running Windows95b. We have no immediate plans to upgrade anything.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by PuterGeekGirl:
[B]Of course, don't we all. My personal favorite is the one that knows my job so well that when she sends me trouble tickets, she pretty much tells me how to do MY job.

I've got those too! They almost take offense when I sit in front of their PC and start going through my troubleshooting procedure.

I try to explain that I have to go through the process etc, etc. You know the drill. We've all got out method. But, they'll stand over your shoulder and bitch, piss and moan about how they've got work to do. Then suddenly, when you find out they're out of disk space because of all the MP3's and free screensavers they've downloaded or that damned cat or dog thing that drops down from the top of their screen is what's causing the problem, they'll give you one of these:
"gee.....how did that get there?" or "I've got that on my PC at home and it doesn't give me any problems!"

Just makes you want to smack people doesn't it?

My users are exactly the same. They get pissed if there internet connection is slower than yesterday but never mind that they have 5 stock tickers going. My boss and I have put our foot down on all software not installed by the IT department. We also have locked down on security. You should have heard all the crying when I force them to change there passwords every month! "Well yes I realize you have had the same password for the last 16 months, THAT is why the new policy was made." :rolleyes:

That's why they're engineers, not techs.

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Originally posted by TheoneDKS:
My boss and I have put our foot down on all software not installed by the IT department. We also have locked down on security. :rolleyes:

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We're doing the same but we're migrating from Win98 to W2k Pro. It's great! The self-proclaimed "power users" go berserk when realize they can't install anthing anymore!

Oh the humanity!!! :mad:
Tell your "power users" that they are no longer "power users" they are just 'users' like everyone else. You can use the fact that you are migrating to 2k.... 'Windows 2k is so different from our old system that we have decided not to give anyone that kind of power'

Two words:

<H2>WORKSTATION LOCKDOWN</H2>

Leave your workstation the he11 alone! Quit screwing around with it, and get to work!

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Originally posted by TheoneDKS:
Oh the humanity!!! :mad:
Tell your "power users" that they are no longer "power users" they are just 'users' like everyone else. You can use the fact that you are migrating to 2k.... 'Windows 2k is so different from our old system that we have decided not to give anyone that kind of power'

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You are right, there are no such things as power lusers, thats impossible. You are lucky if your lusers can read, no less actually login to their machines.

I am one of THOSE designers/draftsman, but I have made every attempt to educate myself about computers, and learn the correct the ways of setting up hardware and software. I do feel your pain as I work with some others who have no clue what the heck their doing. A buddy and I have a good laugh over it when their machine crashes 2wks after being ghosted, when mine has never been ghosted. Oh well...life goes on.

Since this subject's about engineers, here's my 2¢ worth:

In my engineering career, I've observed three types of engineers. The first assumes to know everything there is about computers (and everything else technical) and makes reckless changes without understanding the consequences of the actions. The second doesn't want to know anything about computers and only wants everything to work perfectly all the time, everytime, no matter what. The third, a vast minority, wants to know all about computers and takes the time and energy to research the subject, ask intelligent questions, keep up on the latest software and hardware advances, etc. That person invariably gets tagged as "nework boy" by most engineering organizations and is loved by some and hated by most of his peers (or her peers, as the case may be).

Unfortunately for "my kind", most engineers are simply egotistical a$$holes that couldn't begin to humble themselves regarding anything remotely technical, as if it's a personnal affront to their abilities when a technical issue arises. Quite simply, most are afraid to admit they don't know something. An engineer doesn't have all the answers, regardless of what they think, but a good engineer will know how to find the answers. Without trying to make this sound corny, it's too bad we reflect so poorly on such a noble pursuit. Anyway, that's all I have to say about this subject.

Yesterday I couldn't spell "engineer", now I are one... :D

A couple of years ago I installed a new washing machine for a retired Engineer. Just short of his house the truck started to boil, so when I arrived I asked to top up the radiator with water. "Don't leave that water in it" he warned. "When you get back to town, empty it out and fill it with COOLANT." I said nothing. He knew these things, he said, he was an Engineer.

I moved a "fantastic plastic" machine out of his laundry, and set up the new large, heavy one (a Speed Queen, you'll know in the US). The laundry floor was timber, and bounced a bit when it spun up. Engineer was quite put out. The old one didn't do that, & this expensive new one is supposed to be much better. I proceeded to explain to an Engineer that Resonance is a function of Mass and Compliance. The floor has the same compliance as before but the Washing Machine has much greater mass, so the resonant frequency is much lower. The spin rate of the washer can now reach resonance, whereas it couldn't with the old, lighter machine.

He grunted & grumbled, but he knew I was right! After all, he was an Engineer.

I have seen this before best sugguestion is to run the app CADD from the Server WINNT Server 4.0 or OS/2 Warp Server. Setup the user files in the server and run the APP on the WS.

I hate that when it happens

My DC3 crashed and when I came into the office I had to bump the system and found that I hated everyone in the office because they blamed me. Thats BS, so I feel for ya man

Yep gotta love it, we gave a dept here internet access, that was a mistake. They immediately loaded Ao hell instant messenger, my boss wasn't happy about that and on top of it all the whole company even our satellite offices are getting access. SNET was here all day friday installing the rest of the 5 T-1 lines

could nothave said it any better myself

ok...I know I have said this more than once in these forums but here goes.
The engineers we have here are ID10T's!!!!!!!!!! all of them with the exception of...nope they're ALL ID10T savants(although I am not sure what they are savant in yet) who have trouble even logging into their computers in the morning, using an address book, reinstalling a printer, mapping a network drive, changing the size of their screen,etc etc etc ad infinitum.

I have never seen such a bunch of high falutin inept A$$holes in all my life.

but on the lighter side...nope there is NO lighter side.

WHEW...that felt good

I am smack-dab in the middle of the engineering dept here surrounded by about 50 of them types. We have a prett simple policy. If I/S did not purchas the software or approve it, we will not support it. The machines belong to us, not you. We can do wahtever we want to them at anytime we feel. You have plenty of network storage space, so do not store any data on your hard drive. It will carash. If you need to store data on your hard drive, it is your responsibility to back it up as often as necessary. you harddrive will crash and I will ghost your machine. DO NOT NSTALL SOFTWARE> That is MY job. thank younullDO NOT NSTALL SOFTWARE

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Originally posted by QSECOFR:
That's why they're engineers, not techs.

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'Nuff said. The worst calls...the worst problems...the worst users...are the Engineers. The best way to deal with them...is to send someone else!! :mad: :mad:

it is funny to see the look on people face when you bust them.. :D whats even funnier is listening to their explanations.

"I am using the beta because its more stable"

Whats wrong with this picture.