20droger
15th of September 2008 (Mon), 14:07
WARNING!!! This is a vent. The experience decribed below left me unhappy and just plain mad! Please feel free to skip this thread. I will not be offended.
My wife has a coworker who is, at best, computer semi-literate, and not too bright. She is a nice person, though. It's just that her elevator misses several top floors.
Her home computer (an old Dell) failed. I talked extensively with her husband over the phone, and after describing what happened (a lightning strike right next door while the computer was in use, no surge suppressor, etc.), walked him through several tests, etc. We came to the conclusion that his power supply and/or motherboard was toast.
I offered to go out to their house and do hands-on tests, and if, necessary, take the computer home and rebuild it. With a Dell, that means a new case/PS, motherboard, and copy of Windows XP Pro.
The husband declined, and said he had a friend in the next block who built computers, so he would have him check it out and do what's necessary.
Well, he did. They got what was essentially a new computer (for more than I would have charged, but that's a different story).
Unfortunately, their "friend" loaded it with all kinds of stuff that they didn't know how to use, and they couldn't find any of their old documents and their library of pictures. Could I come out and help?
Naturally, this was asked through my wife (it's her coworker's computer, remember). So I agreed. My wife and I went out there yesterday (about 70 miles from our house to theirs).
What a mess! Remember that we are dealing here with someone who is not the brightest bulb in the pack! And her husband is only a little better.
First, he gave them a new hard drive. That's okay. He put their original hard drive in the case (a very cheap 39.95 special with a 200W PS) as drive D:. In theory, that too is okay, except for two things. First, my wife's coworker couldn't grasp the fact that her CD drive is now E:, a fact of life that seemed beyond her. And second, their "friend" left the old operating system on the old drive, so everytime they tried to open a file on the D: drive, the system would freeze and require rebooting.
It took about 3 hours and several reboots to find and retrieve all their data. Several very strange inter-operating system problems! For example, I could MOVE files from D: to C:, but not COPY them. Once all the data files were moved, the system refused to reformat the D: drive. I had to reboot and open Windows in safe mode in order to format the drive (which took forever!). Then, and only then, could I delete the partitions on physical drive 1 so that 5 GB (out of 80) weren't stolen for an OS that was no longer there! Then and only then could I create a new basic (whole drive) partition (couldn't do it in safe mode for who knows what reasons), set the new partition as drive E: (I set the DVD/CD drive as drive D: to make the coworker happy), and reformat again!
Then comes the moral dilemma. Their "friend" loaded the new drive with Windows XP Pro SP3, Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, Adobe CS3 Master Collection (as a "favor" because they are into digital photography), and a sh!t pot full of other small stuff. None of these are legal copies! None of the big stuff (Windows, Microsoft, Adobe) can be registered or updated. And naturally, there are no disks with the machine.
I, personally, am a fanatic about not using pirated software. Everything on my systems is duly licensed and registered. Even the shareware. And here I have been asked to work on a machine with over $2500 worth of completely illegal major software!
Well, for the sake of my wife's relationship with her coworker, I kept my mouth shut, cleaned up the system, showed them how to organize and access their DOC files and their pictures, and gave them basic lessons in how to use their "new software." But I was not a happy camper!
What would you have done if faced with blatant piracy of very high-priced programs? Bear in mind that the owners of the machine are essentially innocents. It was their "friend" who is the actual thief.
All in all, It was a very long and stressful five and a half hours. Ruined my weekend.
Thank you for allowing me to vent. I do feel a little better having gotten it out in the open.
My wife has a coworker who is, at best, computer semi-literate, and not too bright. She is a nice person, though. It's just that her elevator misses several top floors.
Her home computer (an old Dell) failed. I talked extensively with her husband over the phone, and after describing what happened (a lightning strike right next door while the computer was in use, no surge suppressor, etc.), walked him through several tests, etc. We came to the conclusion that his power supply and/or motherboard was toast.
I offered to go out to their house and do hands-on tests, and if, necessary, take the computer home and rebuild it. With a Dell, that means a new case/PS, motherboard, and copy of Windows XP Pro.
The husband declined, and said he had a friend in the next block who built computers, so he would have him check it out and do what's necessary.
Well, he did. They got what was essentially a new computer (for more than I would have charged, but that's a different story).
Unfortunately, their "friend" loaded it with all kinds of stuff that they didn't know how to use, and they couldn't find any of their old documents and their library of pictures. Could I come out and help?
Naturally, this was asked through my wife (it's her coworker's computer, remember). So I agreed. My wife and I went out there yesterday (about 70 miles from our house to theirs).
What a mess! Remember that we are dealing here with someone who is not the brightest bulb in the pack! And her husband is only a little better.
First, he gave them a new hard drive. That's okay. He put their original hard drive in the case (a very cheap 39.95 special with a 200W PS) as drive D:. In theory, that too is okay, except for two things. First, my wife's coworker couldn't grasp the fact that her CD drive is now E:, a fact of life that seemed beyond her. And second, their "friend" left the old operating system on the old drive, so everytime they tried to open a file on the D: drive, the system would freeze and require rebooting.
It took about 3 hours and several reboots to find and retrieve all their data. Several very strange inter-operating system problems! For example, I could MOVE files from D: to C:, but not COPY them. Once all the data files were moved, the system refused to reformat the D: drive. I had to reboot and open Windows in safe mode in order to format the drive (which took forever!). Then, and only then, could I delete the partitions on physical drive 1 so that 5 GB (out of 80) weren't stolen for an OS that was no longer there! Then and only then could I create a new basic (whole drive) partition (couldn't do it in safe mode for who knows what reasons), set the new partition as drive E: (I set the DVD/CD drive as drive D: to make the coworker happy), and reformat again!
Then comes the moral dilemma. Their "friend" loaded the new drive with Windows XP Pro SP3, Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, Adobe CS3 Master Collection (as a "favor" because they are into digital photography), and a sh!t pot full of other small stuff. None of these are legal copies! None of the big stuff (Windows, Microsoft, Adobe) can be registered or updated. And naturally, there are no disks with the machine.
I, personally, am a fanatic about not using pirated software. Everything on my systems is duly licensed and registered. Even the shareware. And here I have been asked to work on a machine with over $2500 worth of completely illegal major software!
Well, for the sake of my wife's relationship with her coworker, I kept my mouth shut, cleaned up the system, showed them how to organize and access their DOC files and their pictures, and gave them basic lessons in how to use their "new software." But I was not a happy camper!
What would you have done if faced with blatant piracy of very high-priced programs? Bear in mind that the owners of the machine are essentially innocents. It was their "friend" who is the actual thief.
All in all, It was a very long and stressful five and a half hours. Ruined my weekend.
Thank you for allowing me to vent. I do feel a little better having gotten it out in the open.