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  1. #1
    Old but Crafty RayMac's Avatar
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    IT Nemesis

    Her name's Lillian and I got another call from her yesterday. Lillian has (had) an HP Omni 100 all-in-one PC. She reported that she turned it on and nothing happened. So I made my usual housecall.
    After checking the obvious - plugged in, powerstrip on, brightness on the screen not turned down - I tried a reboot. No beeps, no POST, no HP logo, no BIOS text...nada. Tried booting with a system recovery disk from the DVD - no go. Tried a hard reset on the BIOS - nope.
    The PC didn't have a video connection so I could not try another monitor. The lights were on the power switch and it seemed to me the hard drive was spinning so it was getting power OK.
    At this point I told Lillian it was past the point of a simple reboot. Might be the monitor, might be the video inverter, might be the motherboard. In any event it was going to require someone with more tools and diagnostic skills than myself.
    Anyhow Lillian decided a new PC might be better - she's wanted to get a laptop for a while. I convinced her earlier this year to get a small external drive and back up her computer so she had a recent image.
    Well to make a long story short, Lillian got a new 17.3 inch HP laptop. I spent yesterday and some of today getting it set up. I was able to parse her backup image, extract her data files and copy them to the new machine. The rest of the task included installing her software again, making Windows 8 look like Windows 7, setting up Facebook on her browser, and trashing MacAfee in favor of Norton Security. This is in my view preferring measles over chicken pox, but I digress.
    After I got the new machine installed on her wifi network, configured two printers with it, I was done. Oh yes, Lillian being Lillian she wanted to plug her old keyboard into the laptop and use that. Why ask why?
    Later she called me. Couldn't get the backup to work because the external drive wouldn't plug into the laptop. She was trying to put a USB connector into an HDMI socket.


    Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap. ~Doug Larson

  2. #2
    Another Member crownpuller's Avatar
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    ^^^ Sounds like a regular day at work, for me Dumb people, doing dumb things, with machines they don't understand...... Square peg in a round hole ?..... Sure; just push it harder until it goes in. Hey, it keeps me in a job
    Some people have opinions - The rest of us have taste.

  3. #3
    Old but Crafty RayMac's Avatar
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    Lillian is very typical of the work colleagues I dealt with at my former job - and I wasn't even an IT guy back then!
    These people use computers and tablets, may even enjoy it within the limits of their interests but really don't have a clue as to what's going on. They want the latest technology but they want to pretend it's 2005 when using it. They also expect the resident geek to know everything about everything and just set it up so they can run on autopilot.
    Examples:
    Despite having run backups in the past, Lillian expected all she had to do was plug in an external drive and the PC would do a backup automagically. I had to explain (again) that: You...have...to...launch...a...backup...program... to...get...a backup...accomplished. I have installed the simplest backup program I know of and all it takes is a couple of clicks, but you have to start it up.
    Lillian has used Microsoft Mail since Vista days, and expects she will be able to do so until 2050 or so. But Microsoft got rid of it with Windows 8 and now uses a Mail app which is totally different in its look and feel. You need to use a People app to keep track of your email contacts now - it can't be done in the brain dead Mail app.
    I had to research this and get it all organized for her. She's be far better off to use a browser and just read her mail that way - but she cannot shake the idea that email has to come via some type of stand alone program. I thought briefly of installing Thunderbird for her, but the concept of trying to get her using Thunderbird and configuring her accounts to use it is just too daunting at this point.
    Lillian wants to get rid of some obsolete contacts, but she uses Yahoo Mail. To get rid of them in Microsoft Mail you have to:
    • Disconnect Yahoo Mail from the Mail app.
    • Go in to Yahoo Mail and delete the contacts.
    • Reconnect Yahoo Mail and Sync with the Mail app.


    Simple enough for me but this will boggle her mind. I'm going to let it slide and maybe she'll move on to some other issue.


    Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap. ~Doug Larson

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by RayMac View Post
    . I had to explain (again) that: You have to launch......................

    This (.........) is where Lillian's ears will go to temporary mute .................


    Fair enough , and something you just have to get used to ... Nice to hear you're venting your irritation here rather than in front of her - this is your job from hereon in Ray

  5. #5
    Old but Crafty RayMac's Avatar
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    She's a nice lady and her husband (a Korean war special forces guy) is about as good a person as you'll ever meet. I try my best to be patient.


    Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap. ~Doug Larson

  6. #6
    Dive Watches & Japanese Moderator OTGabe's Avatar
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    Good on you for helping out, Ray.


  7. #7
    I have an elderly friend who I swear thinks just before sending an email ... is it a weekday ? and is it still daylight?............


    Cos as we all know, the internet shuts at 6pm and isn't there at all at weekends

    He's so old , he's even starting passing those stupid 'old people' joke emails to me ... he'd better beware ..... because people that start sending those to me get blocked !

  8. #8
    Mountebank MarkO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seriously View Post

    Cos as we all know, the internet shuts at 6pm and isn't there at all at weekends

    Seriously - have you just moved to Turks and Caicos? As well as weekends and after 6pm I lose internet at work if it rains!
    MB2, SOH, Aquascope, Tangente, MM300, Blackbay, North Flag, Officer, Visitor.

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