some peoples kids

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Originally Posted by stalkingwolf

He called again yesterday, still couldnt get on line. had contacted his provider
and as usual they told him it was a linux problem . Which it ended up being in a roundabout way.

He brought it over, i set it up logged in to the system it booted and immediately connected to my wireless network. I plugged a cable in and it again instantly connected to the net. so whats the problem? In talking to him
i discover he has yet to get to the desk top. keeps telling him authentication failure. I log in a couple times with no problem.

i restarted the computer have him sit down at it. get to log in he his the caplock key and types his pass word. this after the first night telling him several times what the password is and writing it down for him. I tap him on the shoulder and say that wont work. so he releases the caplock and holds
the shift key down. exqueeze me that dont work either. hold the shift type the two letters let off it type the numbers (even with a written password and being told he is typing a Q instead of 0.) then hold it for the last letter.

so now he can log in. he has the cat5 he uses with him so i say lets test it.
he pulls it out one lock is broken the other end doesnt look right. guess what it doesnt work. i plug a good one in and bobs your uncle.
I send him home knowing and proving it was after all a PICNIC error.

And the reason i put linux specifically Zorin with the windows desktop on it is pretty simple, the last legal copy of windows i own is 98ME

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Stalkinwolf, if I could give you some advice...

Give up. Accept that some people can't use a PC at all or at the current moment, they have other priorities and problems and can't focus, act and think coherently. Or that you could use your time to help much more people (those that are actually interested in learning).

Just phone the guy and say: "Look, I'm really sorry, I did my best but I have no idea how to help you. I though I knew how, but your situation exceeds my skills. If you want I can give you a list of companies that fix computers".

Then use your time for you, your family, your friends, your health, your knowledge, etc.

Regards,
Effenberg

Well, these kinds of people are exactly why the iPad is so popular. Just tell them to buy one of those (or a Nexus 7 if you're a little more confident in them), and a cloud printer or something. Then they'll never need to use a real computer again, and you'll never need to deal with their incompetence.

Even my wife, who has issues with her iPhone, can use our Ubuntu setup.

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Originally Posted by Mikeb85

Well, these kinds of people are exactly why the iPad is so popular. Just tell them to buy one of those (or a Nexus 7 if you're a little more confident in them), and a cloud printer or something. Then they'll never need to use a real computer again, and you'll never need to deal with their incompetence.

Even my wife, who has issues with her iPhone, can use our Ubuntu setup.

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But then they complain to you "it won't let me load this game!" when it is in Flash, which is infamous for being disowned by Apple and will subsequently not be coming to it any time soon.

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Originally Posted by Ubun2to

But then they complain to you "it won't let me load this game!" when it is in Flash, which is infamous for being disowned by Apple and will subsequently not be coming to it any time soon.

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Tell them to suck it up. Or simply not to bother you with stupid problems.

Some people are simply never happy, or can never be bothered to do anything for themselves. It's not anyone else's job to change their outlook on life.

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Originally Posted by Mikeb85

Tell them to suck it up. Or simply not to bother you with stupid problems.

Some people are simply never happy, or can never be bothered to do anything for themselves. It's not anyone else's job to change their outlook on life.

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This is why I hate half the people I know. They are ignorant fools who rely on me for fixing of all their technological problems, when many of their problems are just stemming the fact of how bad they are with something as simple as the iPad to begin with. If you can't use an iPad, you shouldn't be using anything digital to begin with.

Solution: Whenever you are about to fix someone's computer, force them to sign a contract:

I, <his_her_name>, by agreeing to let <your_name> fix my computer must follow the following conditions:

1. If error persists after fixing, I must blame myself.

2. If I have any questions, I must answer them myself.

3. If I manage to break my computer a second time after fixing, I must deem myself unfit of owning a computer, and I'm allowed to submit my computer to <your_name> forthswith.

If I have installed Ubuntu on anyone's computer it has always been in their own house so I can have all networking configured and working and then a quick tutorial of the system to show them what is installed and how it works... After that Google (which is their home page) will become their best friend ;)

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Originally Posted by effenberg0x0

At a point I started asking myself if a particular relative was radioactive, psychic or something - he could break a PC apparently just by staring at it.
Effenberg

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Tell me about it. My girlfriend is like that:

http://xkcd.com/1084/

Also, living in the tropics (heat, moisture, sea spray, volcanic ash) on a small island with dodgy power supply (brown-outs, black-outs, spikes, fluctuating frequency) does not help.

it seems that after i drew him pictures and led him by the hand on how to type in the system password all is working fine. havent heard a word in almost 2 days. will see he works with my wife tonight.

Seriously, what kind of work do people do who don't even know how shift and caps-lock work and can't even type their own password?

Reminds me of a cleaner at a previous job who was very surprised to find the keys on the keyboard where not in alphabetical order when we sat her down in front of a computer.