How many people do you know properly takes care of their PCs?

Azureth

Azureth

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 29, 2008
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By properly take care I mean makes sure not to put it on carpet or dusty places, has anti-virus/spyware programs, defrags, etc.?

I am the only one that I know that does. It almost makes me sick when I look at friends/familys computers, normally they have a pretty decent rig, but it's infested with virus' and/or spyware and runs hella slow, and always complains about it. It's really funny too because people will complain about how slow their computer is (even though had they properly taken care of it it would run much faster) and when they get on mine they're like "Wow, you're computer is blazing fast!":p

What bugs me even more is the people that have like 100 Icons on their desktop and 100 programs on startup. The first thing I do after installing all the drivers and whatnot after building a computer is to go to Start>Run>MSCONFIG>STARTUP>DISABLE ALL.

Though I know that's a personal gripe.

It's really amazing how you can keep your computer virus/spyware free yet as soon as a friend/family member gets on within minutes you're computer is jacked up. Funny story (well, certainly not at the time), awhile back I let my friend get on my comp, he said he just wanted to browse YouTube vids so I let him (I went to sleep), when I woke up I was greeted by around 50 pop-ups that wouldn't go away, and when I opened IE I had this very annnoying banner and more pop-ups. I finally did a system restore that worked. I asked him what sites he went to and he was all like "Well, I was watching a video on YT and someone posted a link saying he had a site just like YT.".....

Granted, I'm pretty sure everyone here takes good care of their computers but I know many that don't.
 
my very computer illiterate girlfriend can mess up a computer in a few minutes. I have to run anti spyware sweeps as often as I take a crap I'd do it at the same time if I weren't such a fast pooper....

even she said "how do people that don't have a computer geek in the house use a computer?"

I've realized that using a computer is really a completely different experience for most people. To them it's an awkward frustrating experience. They are used to it just sucking and being slow not realizing that a few regular basic PC maintenance like updating and running an anti virus sweep would make their experience so much better. I imagine what it would be like if owning and driving a car was as bad. It's like if most the of world never changed the oil in the car and then wonder why the engine blows.

The only thing I have not completely figured out yet is that I can surf the net for hours upon hours downloading searching ect... whatever it may be heck even porn sites and barely get few if any spyware at all... While most people including my girlfriend heck even my mother pick up extra tool bars pop up programs and even viruses within a short period of using the web... and I doubt my mother is viewing porn. Could the religious sites she views being filling her PC with junk....
 
Lots.

But I don't have nor do I need any antivirus programs on mine - that's not necessarily "not taking care of" a system. Just depends on how experienced you are.
 
not many people do, I gave up doing support for home users because I felt bad about charging enough too make it worth while for me too clean them up for them.
Then you get the user that 5 min after you leave installs all the crude you just removed again then calls and says it is slow again the next day and wants it fixed for free.
 
I do. My boyfriend's little sister's computer was like that though, couldn't do anything on it at all.

I run anti-spyware stuff on a weekly basis, even though it usually doesn't have anything since I trained my boyfriend how to avoid that crap. I also defragment on occasion, and have the computer set up to automatically run virus scans (though I intervene sometimes and run them myself).
 
Last few builds I did for people I did the following:

- Download and Install AVG, set it up so that it automatically downloads updates everyday and tells the user to restart the computer when needed. Then I would setup a weekly test at like 4am in the morning. I used Gigabyte Mobos in my last few builds so they allow you to turn on the computer monthly - so I do that just to be sure they have at least a monthly virus scan.

- I also set to defrag monthly (the auto wake up thing ensures a monthly virus scan and defrag)

- Installed Firefox 2 with Adblock Plus, Security Advisor (for checking if websites are a-okay), and Filterset.G

Sure the Firefox2 isn't perfect with Adblock Plus cause it blocks some good content (say WGN Radio) but most people won't notice it. If they do, all they have to do is call me and I'll fix it up for them.

I also set up their power settings so that they save power, the system automatically goes into standby say after 1 hour and the monitor goes off after say 30 mins or something like that...

It's been working well, my family computer hasn't gotten anything yet, my uncle however, starting to get some viruses and I suspect it has something to do with email and outlook express, I'm going to be switching him over to Thunderbird in the summer. Another one of my "clients" hasn't reported any issues yet, I should do a follow up check one day in the summer when I get back home and make sure his system is running stable.

But yeah, that's what I do everytime I setup a persons computer or I rid it of spyware. I'm starting to charge for it now.. so Sick of it being free, it takes a good few hours, and if you have to remove spyware by hand - forget about it, that can take days of tracking application uses and figuring out where the damn things are respawning at.
 
Azureth said:
What bugs me even more is the people that have like 100 Icons on their desktop and 100 programs on startup. The first thing I do after installing all the drivers and whatnot after building a computer is to go to Start>Run>MSCONFIG>STARTUP>DISABLE ALL.
Click to expand...

Why not at least have AVG on startup? I mean, is disabling EVERYTHING really smart move? I mean...I have a startup service called Microsoft Windows Operation System. I think that's pretty important

tzk said:
Another one of my "clients" hasn't reported any issues yet, I should do a follow up check one day in the summer when I get back home and make sure his system is running stable.
Click to expand...
Just wondering, do you get paid maintaining other people's computer?
 
Actually he's outside of family, so I don't know what I would do if some arose. I billed him $50 for the computer build, and $50 for setup. I need to up my prices... I don't know what I would do... I mean I guess if he said something within a year or two I would probably go over there and check it out for free.. if any work had to be done (clean ups and what not) I'll probably charge him slightly.

I'm in college, I work for little. :-P haha. But usually I quit doing tech support for free....

It took 6 hours one day to revive a computer crippled with spyware and it was barely functioning and I was thrown $50, but I never went back to finish... just too busy. Frankly.. I didn't want to work on it anymore.. that thing was crippled... If they took it to geek squad or some other lame computer shop I doubt they would've got it working... and they would've charged like $400. That's a new computer..

I feel kinda bad for ditchin them, the machine probably just fell back down with the shit it was downloading. but egh.

* P.S. Sorry for the horrible typing.. I'm too lazy to fix it, cause I probably can't. There's just something about tonight that has caused me to talk very weirdly...
 
stevedave said:
two words
In Laws

now Four words
RE Tarded Old People
Click to expand...

LOL.

i think alotta people actually get their IQ sucked outta their heads cuz they stare at the screen and dont know what to do, not just older people(kinda like a screen saver). so many people just clik without paying attention. they assume everything is ok. thats why people screw up computers while surfing. WE know not to press stupid ads and popups, but alot of people dont. i have 3 people i clean and/or redo their sytems multiple times per year because of this. between that and stupid teenagers trying to surf porn i get a few extra beers out of it. all hail the computer-retarded. their stupidity is your paycheck.
 
I haven't worked on any computers while I'm away at college... nobody knows I'm a computer nerd yet :-P
 
I haven't aimed a duster or can of compressed air in my pc in a long time.

When I first got it through, I swore I would do it every saturday, I keep sworing.
 
I take care of my computers as if they were my children.

I don't run any anti-virus because I'm aware of what I download and where I download from.
 
paulmr said:
I've realized that using a computer is really a completely different experience for most people. To them it's an awkward frustrating experience. They are used to it just sucking and being slow not realizing that a few regular basic PC maintenance like updating and running an anti virus sweep would make their experience so much better. I imagine what it would be like if owning and driving a car was as bad. It's like if most the of world never changed the oil in the car and then wonder why the engine blows.
Click to expand...

That's probably why normal people go Mac.
 
you definitely need your basics.
first thing i always install is a firewall (i use it as a proxy to deny access out) after that i can download other things. but before that, no cat5 cable touches my PC.

got antivirus and CCleaner. i usual monitor what goes into my startup with regseeker or CCleaner.


cleaning other peoples PC is time honored college students (and part time) work.
hehe and can bring some nice cash, if you know what youre doing.
 
For me personally I do not use anti-virus or anti-spyware programs because they are resource hogs - plus I don't really require them because I don't do anything stupid on the internet. For clients however I normally use AVG and spybot to keep them clean but normally they manage to mess it up somehow in spite of my efforts.

I don't know how you all get by charging $50 for a computer build, I charge a minimum of $75/hr when I do anything computer related, but it is my job I suppose, and I mostly deal with small business customers who are used to paying that much or more for IT consulting.
 
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