Why my life sucks...
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)Posted by: clocker
Two (of many) customer encounters this week ...
Lady tells me she is quite the computer expert...knows her way around Windows and likes to tinker with the OS.
"I can't get on the internet".
Hook up PC and power it on.
First thing I notice is how clean the desktop is...no wallpaper and only two icons..."Recycle Bin" and right next to it, "Shortcut to the Recycle Bin".
Oh, oh.
Nothing, and I mean nothing!, works...cannot access Control Panel, Program Files, Task Manager...zippo.
Reboot to Safe mode and run services.msc and viola!- eight, count 'em!, eight services running.
Everything else is disabled.
I didn't know Windows would even boot when crippled like that.:stars:
You gotta love the adventurous "power user".:wacko:
#2
...this one starts over the phone...
"I'm trying to load Windows and it won't recognize my new SATA drives."
I'll cut this short...we had at least five conversations before I ran out of patience and told him he'd have to bring the PC in...I didn't sell him the drives and wasn't going to be free tech support for whomever had.
He arrives...
Place old eMachines on bench...
Again...Oh, oh...
Two Seagate 120GB SATA drives sitting on case floor.
Has used an adaptor to go from Molex to SATA power connector.
Has the SATA data cable connected from one drive directly into the second drive.
Brilliant! Absofuckinglutely brilliant!
Geekboy's PC does not support SATA at all.
No headers on the motherboard to plug into, so he decides the best course of action is simply to plug them into each other. Perhaps they can communicate with Windows telepathically.:frusty:
Think that's stupid?
We're just beginning.
I tell him his only option will be to add a PCI SATA host card...but he'll have to figure out what he's willing to give up because all four PCI slots are already populated. One slot has a NIC installed. Naturally, there is ALSO an ethernet port onboard but you can't have too many network interfaces, right?
The other three slots have three identical 4 port USB cards in them.
Apparently you cannot have too many USB ports either...
"But I use all those ports!"
"You're an idiot and I don't believe you."
Turns out, he does use them all...he has every USB device known to man.
Including the ever useful USB coffe cup warmer AND the cold drink chiller. Not to mention the keyboard, mouse, printer,scanner and of course, the "personal cooling fans".
TWO of em.
For stereo cooling, I guess.
It's a miracle that the POS mobo and Bestec PSU haven't melted because I'm pretty sure he uses all these devices at the same time.
He finally decides that yes, he could eliminate one of the USB cards.
The SATA card is slotted in and drivers are installed.
The drives are hooked up.
Still with me?
Here comes the payoff...
The drives are dead.
He bought them used off eBay.
One of these days I'm going postal.
Posted by: suprafreak6
hahahahahhahah i love that second story, two to each other magically connects with windows...ahh gotta love them folks that know what they are doing..
Posted by: peat moss
You should write a book or at least keep a journal , funny one was my dear mom
telling me she couldn't find her desk top icons and she had looked everywhere !
Think Homer "Doh " wheres the any-key ?
Posted by: bigdawgfoxx
Yesterday a lady called about installing aol and activating windows and i tried to help her on the phone but she didnt know what a cd rom was...so i told her to bring it in. Right when i power it up and open the cdrom the first thing i discover is the cd is upside down...wow.
Posted by: Skizo
I love these stories. Good laughs. :happy:
Posted by: Seedler
rofl:glag:
Posted by: thewizeard
well...he should get his money back and we can but hope, you, your patience
:)
Enjoyed reading that...
Posted by: mikeco
:blink:
well if the people knew shit about pcs then u would be out of a job :shifty:
i hope u slapped them both round the head with there keyboards
Posted by: tesco
The fact that the guy in the second story had all those USB devices is the funiest part, I mean anyone could mistakingly plug 2 sata drives together (Atleast he had the power supply plugged into them, maybe he thought that's all it needed...), and anyone could get ripped off on ebay, but all those useless devices that's just funny :lol:
Posted by: Virtualbody1234
He could use a separate USB power adapter:
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/12-250-001-02.jpg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812250001
Or a USB hub.
Posted by: suprafreak6
he would have to plug that to a USB hub, then from USB hub to another USB hub, and then by then i think that little thing would fry out...hahah
Posted by: accat13
Embarrassing story many,many,many moons ago when I got my first got my laptop I couldn't figure out why the cdrom didn't work. I didn't realize that I had to push the cd down onto the spindle of the drive.When I took the laptop in for repair of a separate issue I felt very embarrassed when I saw the tech push the disc down:wacko:
Posted by: Mïcrösöül°V³
that is funny stuff, and ebay is almost always a rip-off, unless you are buying beanie babies :lol: I always find it funny when people leave 3½ discs in the floppy and say their pc wont boot. (note the gratuitous use of the alt 0189 :lol:)
Posted by: lee551
:lol: thanks for a good laugh clocker. you should make this a weekly report.
Posted by: Chewie
½ (note the gratuitous use of the alt 0189 :lol:)
God DAMN!
So that's the code for ½!
Posted by: ApacNTS
haha omg 2nd story was killing me. great one. that's awesome.
Posted by: Shiranai_Baka
I agree with lee551. We should have a sticky with stories for the hardware section.
Posted by: thewizeard
..yes make this a sticky, possibly call it U.S.B's (Undeniably Stupid B******'s) or...erm... :)
Posted by: lynx
For Chewie:
⅓
:P
Posted by: Skizo
..yes make this a sticky, possibly call it U.S.B's (Undeniably Stupid B******'s) or...erm... :)
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=108469&highlight=posterity
Another good one. :)
Posted by: Duffman
man i want a usb coffee warmer and drink chiller.
Posted by: papaji
LOL! And I thought some of my relatives were pains in my arse with their computer problems; your customers beat them all! :) But hey, at least you get paid for helping them, right? ;)
Also LOL at net2usb adapter! :D