6 Reasons Your Computer Guy Hates You

I once was called over and saved my friend's $50 by using a useful tiny program that refreshed his PC's IP address (it was running Win2000 Pro) and finally got it online in a minute - now get this - it took 3 Comcast techs' 3 hours of failed attempts after hooking it up for internet service. One of techs' face was priceless. :D
 
Most people poorly communicate the things they know. Which means that they're in real trouble when they're talking about something they don't know. That's why you have to go over to their home to find out what they're talking about.

They never uncheck the boxes that install crap with their freeware. And, if you offer to remove some of it, they either claim to use it or they don't know if they use it. This makes their computer slow and uses up screen space. "Really? You use Whatsup Toolbar?"

They offer a little payment, making you feel like a cheap whore. Or, they offer you nothing, making you feel really exploited.

At gatherings of the extended family, half a dozen people ask how to solve problems on their computer. Nice to see you, too.
 
The worst is that guy with the ancient computer who just dont grasp its value.

I get so sick of hearing "I payed $XXX XX years ago"
 
I hate it when you go to family functions, Thanksgiving, X-mas and such. You finish dinner and are ready to relax and then they come from all over. You go take a look and find 3 computers sitting next to each other with Post It Notes attached with the list of problems.

...and they all wonder why I try to get out of these events.
 
I actually configured my family computers a standard users so they can't install shit on it. I'm the "admin" of the family systems. If they want something installed, they have me check it and approve it. Haven't had an issue yet. :)

As far as friends or co-workers... $50 per hour is my rate bottom line. Cheaper that the morons in black ties.

Now all of my support is using Mikogo... saves me a trip to their house.
 
Here you guys go:
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Something I had to deal with. Good times!
 
wgm3446 said:
As far as friends or co-workers... $50 per hour is my rate bottom line. Cheaper that the morons in black ties.
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Same price I charge co-workers.
Figure that $50/hour is low enough that they can't say I ripped them off.
 
every month I go back to fix family and cousin's computer, adware, full of viruses, browsers full with toolbars and pop ups and random softwares that were installed online

I clean it up, uninstalled, run anti virus/ adware and etc etc for hours, patching windows and softwares

rinse and repeat
and I get asked why don't I do it right.........
how about those idiots stop clicking random sites and stop installing crap
 
I used to do it for close friends-they treat me to food which living single is not a bad deal. However now, I'm quite annoyed and tired fixing the bloody pc all the time that food is not enough to temp me :p
 
tazeat said:
I don't even bother. Boot the computer up with some sort of knoppix or ubuntu boot disk, recover my documents and whatever else they want to save. Reformat with new copy of windows. Done.
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Sometimes you can't just reformat system even if you stored some important data. Many programs and so on you can't install again or set up and so on, and they wont be working on new installation. I've been in such a situations countless times.
 
I fix family members' PCs for free. I cleaned and tweaked my Grandpa's PC, and he gave me $20. The difference was like night and day.

Friends (or should I say acquaintances) don't count, because they're asses. Other people are either going to fork cash out or GTFO. Best repair I did was some 5min job for $50. I forgot what the problem was some UAC thing if I remember right. I don't do anything but fix the problem hoping they call me back for more. When people ask for my advice regarding hardware, they don't listen or buy something completely different.
 
Cracked articles are terrible. I mean really. Six points and you have to put it on two pages? Stupid advertisement money!

However this one seems to be semi accurate
 
i don't get it, i'm not the best tech guy to have, but i do keep security for families,

Personally, i haven't had security software since back in 2003 and been uisng windows forever. never had software/maleware/other junk problem, never had identity theft of my own or anyone in my family. did had few blue screens, but it was just HD errors on many case (about 25 in last 8 years) i use about 4-14 hours of computer, (4 hours on weekdays - 14 hours during exams and weekends)
 
I get lucky. My older brother is the "tech guy" in my family so everyone goes to him for help. My mother tends to call me though, but she's been well trained. When she bought a laptop it came to me before she got to touch it and I did a complete reinstall of a clean version of Windows Vista Business (laptop came with it, this was pre-7). got it all up to date and installed Firefox and an add-blocker. When she got the laptop I taught her how to use FireFox and how not to touch IE. She got into the habit of calling me before she updates or downloads anything now and I'm perfectly happy with that. Despite her laptop being nearly four years old now she has never had any serious problems with it. I don't have the patients for people that are unwilling to learn how to take care of their stuff so I could never deal with people that constantly mess up their computer after being repeatedly told what not to do.
 
I still like the one where the tech support guy told the person to box up the computer and take it back to the store for a refund because they were too stupid to use a computer - after it turns out the person had not even plugged it into the wall and was wondering why it didn't work when they tried to turn it on. Yes, people ARE that stupid, and yes, it will somehow be YOUR fault.
 
Reminds me of my uncle overseas in Germany who invites his favorite IT Guy over for a visit, and usually I end up spending 4-8 hours fixing his OS, replacing hardware, supervising a completely new build, etc. All because his best friend & self appointed knowitallcomputerfriend can't seem to fix all his problems, but I can.

At least he pays me well.
 
great article.
now as to the cable tech bashing, they are not pc repair or the like, they are only trained to get the modem online and basic config stuff . some are qualified to set-up routers , but fix someone elses hardware ?
if they tried it was that they were trying to be helpful.
i use to service customer pc's until someone tried to play funny , set-up his pc with a wireless card , 6 months later his pc stopped working and tried to sue , saying i killed his power supply, lol.

so now if i see a pc is slow or has any issues getting online and it will take longer than 5 min to fix , i pull out my laptop , get online and explain that they need to have their pc looked at by a PC savvy person or shop.

"why does my computer running windows 95 w/128 meg of ram run so slow while sufing the internet " ? ( pulls out laptop) .
btw they are coming out with a third party service , http://xfinity.support.com/
 
artimusbill said:
When friends or family ask if I will build them a computer, I point them to Dell.com. They usually want cheap, and want support. This way the get a descent computer, and I don't have to troubleshoot/fix it (much). I can't/wont try to out-do Dell or others on cheap computers.
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Its super hard to out do Dell in price. Heck I am usually over by $100 for almost the same thing because of the OS and mouse/keyboard.
 
avatardelta said:
Cracked articles are terrible. I mean really. Six points and you have to put it on two pages? Stupid advertisement money!

However this one seems to be semi accurate
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Two pages is nothing. Try reading a Forbes article.
 
I used to build lots of systems, but as many have pointed out, I can't under price Dell. Mostly because they use parts that marginally work. I wont use cheap ass parts that will break in a couple of months. The fact is that the bulk of my side work are Dells. The only ones I do IT work for free are my family and "very close" friends.

And just like others have noted, they ask you for your opinion on something or other and they do the opposite of what you tell them. So, I no longer do that. I just tell them to ask the guy at BB.
 
I guess you should know "I" am actually the guy who know's computer's around here and yes I do all the chores, even for my bro in law who knows Cad, but only plays Xbox games. The funniest thing I've found is that my person I know who had a problem with their puter that needed fixing lost their HDD becuase they downloaded too much porn. I never got to get that working again btw :)
 
Don't forget the people who call you, saying that the Internet connection doesn't work, the computer is "slow", "crashes a lot" or "the printer doesn't work" and expect you to solve it over the phone in 2 minutes. Yeah, just go to the control panel, click Fix Stuff, select Printer, and click "Make printer work again".
 
After finding out the hard way I have stopped all builds for friends and co-workers.

Nothing but a pain in my ass for just a few bucks. So not worth my time.
 
Every. Single. Thing. On that list has happened to me numerous times. I was laughing hysterically while having flashbacks at the same time.
 
I stopped fixing people's computers 5-6 years ago. Some folks would stick to your advice, others would hose their computer within hours of me fixing it.

I now tell them to go buy a new one from one of the big box stores and let them deal with the warranty if they screw it up.
 
one of the comments to the article:
Ppleater

Posted on 08/20/2011 01:42 AM

Ugh I hate those friggin toolbars. Even when I go out of my way to keep them off my browser, sometimes they show up anyway, and I have to go through the trouble of getting rid of them.
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It's funny that he doesn't realize that he is one of the people the article is insulting.
 
Acer_Sheep said:
Sometimes you can't just reformat system even if you stored some important data. Many programs and so on you can't install again or set up and so on, and they wont be working on new installation. I've been in such a situations countless times.
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How do you reinstall Windows without the right disk, without using cracks or exploits to get around WGA, etc? The Windows sticker on the box is 100% useless without the right CD. I haven't had any success modifying the right file for this and then slipstreaming either.
 
Heh Im one of those guys. I go sick of it and just started saying "Wow I dunno what you did but I cant fix it."

Now they pay me to fix stuff :)
 
Fortunately, my family is reasonably logical, so they rarely get a virus or have an issue, and when they do, I can explain it to them.

I don't work for others for free. My reasoning is simple. One, my time is valuable. People need to understand that. I wouldn't ask a buddy to repair my car for free --if I had one I trusted in that area, I'd pay, or find another agreed-upon method of compensation. Neither would I ask my realtor buddy to sell my house with no commission, or my lawyer friend to draft me a will "on the house". I'm not a "user" or a "taker".

Two --if you do the work for free, people have no incentive to avoid screwing their computer up again --after all, you'll come dashing to the rescue for free. If they have to open their wallet every time they screw it up, there are far less people who will repeatedly screw it up. The lesson is just painful enough to their budget that they'll learn to be more careful. It's not a lesson I force on someone; I have just seen enough people who don't want to buy a cow if they think they can get the milk for free. Those who don't want to pay can find another "friend who can fix computers".

I'm fair with how I charge, and I'm trusted by a fair number of people, so I think I'm doing all right. However, I have one last bonus --people get to trust me, and so they give me referrals. However, none of them will refer people like the ones in these articles to me, because they want me to keep doing work for them, and they don't want to inflict someone on me who will never be satisfied, or who will blame me for their own problems.
 
I've learned the hard way that you never never never NEVER offer even the smallest fixes for free to anyone outside of family or close friends. Someone who was an acquaintance of my mom had a laptop with a malfunction wireless card that I offered to fix for free (surprise, surprise; turned out that the wifi switch was in the 'Off' position). No more than a month later I got inundated with dozen's of emails from the same person asking for help from malware removal to recommendations for a new PC. When I tacked on a price for doing those things all the asking suddenly stopped.

spawn447 said:
"why does my computer running windows 95 w/128 meg of ram run so slow while sufing the internet " ? ( pulls out laptop) .
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lol, I don't know how somebody would be able to browse the internet today in Windows 95, regardless if they have 5MB RAM on a Pentium 90 or 512MB RAM on a Northwood P4. I screwed around with the OS in a VM not too long ago and even with IE 5.5 (apparently the latest IE you can get for Win95) nearly all websites created/updated in the past 7-8 years are pretty much unreadable. I wasn't able to successfully install FF, though I heard that you can run 2.x on it.
 
Top reasons why that computer guy hates you. Anyone who's ever repaired computers knows what I mean.

#1 He knows you better then you do. Remember, he's gotta back up all your photos and porno before needing to reinstall the OS. He knows what you did to break the machine, and you disagree.

#2 His time is better spent on reinstalling the OS, and you'll hate him for it. It can take several hours for a spyware, bloatware loaded machine to recovery from what you did, or just a couple to reinstall Windows. The choice was obvious.

#3 It's his fault, even though it's yours. The technician put something on your machine that you're sure it messed up the computer. Despite that your knowledge of computers is limited to turning on and off the machine.

#4 Someone else can do it cheaper. Technician tells you that you need a new part, but decided that it was too expensive and you'll go someplace else to have it fixed. He's obviously an idiot, and it can be fixed for a reasonable $5.
 
My brother & law is one of those super porno, click, click, click, people. He got into the habit of breaking his laptop on a bi-monthly basis, and would drop it by "just fix it real quick okay?" He would then call every 20 minutes or so, "is it fixed yet? Damn!"

So, he drops it by one day. I tell him "No Prob! It should be done in an hour or less this time!" It came with Vista, and I had maintained his Vista for over a year by this time. I grabbed an Ubuntu Disc, and "Did him a little favor". Less than an hour later ( and at least 3 phone calls - is it fixed yet? ), I tell him "ok it is fixed real good!"

Funny thing is, it took him nearly a year to break it again after I installed Ubuntu. He got brave and got to messing with system settings and managed to kill his touchpad. These days, he uses Ubuntu exclusively, and when he bought a netbook for his son he brought it by for me to dump windows and install Ubuntu so it would be "bullet proof".
 
About an hour ago, I get an email from a loony woman whose laptop I've fixed up before. I call her, she is frantic because the writing in her gmail is "so small I need a magnifying glass to see it."

I assume the font size is just zoomed out and attempt to walk her through the concept. She's "already tried that." So she drops it off here and leaves.

T+1 second: I open IE9
T+5: I check the font zoom level, it is at "50%"

WASTE MY TIME?! :mad:
 
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