The Tech Support Generation 574
prostoalex writes "Newsweek technology columnist Brad Stone is looking forward to the Thanksgiving dinner with his family next week, spending time in candle-lit rooms, preparing holiday shopping lists and... let's admit it - fixing the folks' computer. 'We are the Tech-Support Generation. Our job is to troubleshoot the complex but imperfect technology that befuddle mom and dad, veterans of the rotary phone, the record player and the black-and-white cabinet television set. Next week, on our annual pilgrimage home, we'll turn our Web-trained minds and joystick-conditioned fingers to the task of rescuing our parents from bleeding-edge technology on the blink', Brad Stone writes. In related news, what other products besides Google Desktop Search, Spybot Search & Destroy, Google Toolbar and Service Pack 2 are Slashdotters installing on their parents' Windows machines?"
they are slooow (Score:3, Interesting)
Ack, don't remind me. (Score:5, Interesting)
I won't let them use Windows purely because it would get trashed with spyware, adware and trojans, instead, they get a Slack 10 / KDE install and a nice low UID user with SSHd setup so I can log in as root remotely and fix anything if needed, and easily upgrade and install applications and the kernel.
Work for an ISP (Score:5, Interesting)
IE6sp1 full
IE55 full
IE517 full
IE_Reinstall_bat (batch file that reinstalls ie using run dll)
IE secure site fix
Winxpsp2
winxp winsock fix (rebuilds winsock using registry)
winxp individual critical fixes
Ad-aware
Ad-aware/spybot definitions
Spybot
Coolweb killer? removal? Shredder? Can't remember offhand
AVG anti-virus (highly recommended)
McAfee AVERT stinger (even more highly recommended)
norton's varius virus removal tools (fix sobig, fix blaster, etc)
Win2k Sp4
Firefox
Thunderbird
Why bother with a windows machine? (Score:3, Interesting)
Show your parents you love them. Buy them an iMac. (And get it used..they're cheap and reliable and all they need.)
Security vrs Familiarity (Score:5, Interesting)
However, whereas I'd like to give them a Linux box, they are used to using PCs with a WIndows 95 / XP interface from their PC and the local library. As they, especially my dad, have trouble getting to grips with new tools, I think I will have to compromise and install Windows for them.
I know that even after making it as secure as I can and giving them a quick list of don'ts (open attachements, etc) that it won't be as secure, but as they're both retired there is no business critical data there. I think that their ease of use will be more important than trying to move them away from Windows.
Re:None of the above (Score:3, Interesting)
Change the OS (Score:5, Interesting)
I will (for free) wipe MS Windows and install Linux on any friends machine but my days of providing free support for Bill G are over.
I find this cuts down on the support calls and I can then enjoy Thanksgiving.
Ed Almos
Budapest, Hungary
Same thing here... (Score:5, Interesting)
Usually, people think a computer is like a wash machine. They refuse to learn, they just want to push the button and it should work; if it breaks, call the mech. My mother lost several times files because she didn't take the pain to save them on a floppy disk or on a CD-ROM.
Well, after a few weeks like that, I finally told her that in order to drive a car, you need a licence, you don't ask others to come over and drive your car each time you want to go to the supermarket.
On the bright side, my 90 year-old grandfather has bought a computer last summer, and I spent a week during holidays teaching him how to use the basics of mail, wordprocessing, saving, printing and net surfing. We wrote together a complete 12 pages course together (with screen prints), and I'm proud to say that he can use these tools alone now.
Re:I usually get flamed for this (Score:5, Interesting)
Since then, the beautiful internet has taught them lessons I could never have taught. My sis got a ton of browser hijacks and adware on her system, so bad that she contemplated getting a new system, until I finally gave in and cleaned it up for her, along with installing Firefox.
My Mom refused to use webmail for "problem" email recipients who spam her with dumb jokes, and finally got stung with 4 days of unreleating virus alerts generated by emails coming in on her POP account from a distant family member who is both a prolific joke spammer, and a really careless web user.
The person got a couple of email viruses and all hell broke loose with family across the country. I had to set up a new pop account for her, and set forwarding of her old pop to her Yahoo account. Second email addy she's had to bail on because of spam and knuckle head family members.
Re:Surely? (Score:1, Interesting)
Lourens
Re:Firefox & Thunderbird (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, it's one of the few reasons I switched.
Canadians, we're obsessed with the weather.
Parents use Linux (Score:4, Interesting)
I'll be upgrading them to Mandrake 10.1 official - they are already on Mandrake 10 and are extremely happy with it. Mother in law is on Mandrake 9.2 ,uncle in law Mdk 10, and my aunt is on - yes, Mandrake 10.
Just wondering - if lots of other Slashdotters are doing this kind of thing, are we now seeing the growth of the Linux desktop amongst non-tech users, which just isnt covered by Gartner style estimates.
TightVNC windows service (Score:3, Interesting)
No more running home to fix anything... even printer diagnostics can usually be fixed via phone (unless its some weird HW anomaly..)
I won't set up a dependant (on me) user without it.
Oh, and don't forget cygwin & sshd... helpful for when you don't have crazy bandwidth, and its a simple fix, checkup, whatever..
Got mum to buy a Mac (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I usually get flamed for this (Score:3, Interesting)
- She does exactly what I tell her to do. If she doesn't think something I've said makes sense, then she should tell me and I'll explain it more clearly.
- She doesn't install or run anything from the Internet without first asking me (usually by email with link to the download site).
With these two rules, I rarely have to do any recovery work. Most of what I now do is teaching. Oh, and I told her not to use IE or Outlook under any circumstances. I installed both Firefox/Thunderbird and Opera, and let her pick the one she preferred (Opera).I don't know enough about windows to support it! (Score:5, Interesting)
So, instead, I have a standing offer. Anyone in my family who's sick of viruses and spyware and the other ills of Windows can get my help setting up and maintaining a Linux box. So far, only my completely-computer-illiterate aunt has taken me up on it (after a major fight with viruses), but she's been so happy with the results that I think some others may come around soon.
A Useful Analogy (Score:5, Interesting)
So, I tell them that I'm like an engineer. I do the computer equivalent of building bridges, designing cars, etc. What they're asking me to do is the computer equivalent of repairing their car after the engine compartment started smoking. They wouldn't expect a bridge designer to be able to fix their car engine, and so they shouldn't expect a programmer to be able to fix their computer. Once they get the idea that I might be able to do something, but it's really not the kind of thing I'm good at, everybody is a lot happier.
Re:I usually get flamed for this (Score:5, Interesting)
I stopped doing that stuff years ago. It just ain't worth the hassle.
Typical genuine scenarios that have contributed to my attitude...
- As you've mentioned, folks whining for help before even attempting to solve their own problem
- When they stop offering any kind of token reward or payment (some never offer anything in the first place), regardless of whether you normally accept such gifts. It's not so bad if it's a two minute job, but some of these morons are so convinced of your passion for IT
problem-solving that they think it's perfectly reasonable for you to spend half a day in their spare room without so much as a cup of tea and
a biscuit
- When they start recommending you to their friends and handing out your number
- When they start with "my neighbour's brother is having trouble..."
- When the "problem" is clearly a veiled request for you to obtain a pirated copy of AutoCAD for them
- "My graphics card has gone faulty. You must have done something to it when you upgraded my hard drive in March" (i.e. they want you to buy and fit them a new card, cos it's your fault that it's busted)
- Asking for advice and then ignoring it ("don't buy it at Dixons", "You'll need more memory than that", "D-Link sucks", "Ethernet is better
than USB for networking", "You should really have some Antivirus", etc.)
- "Selective memory" when, after ignoring your advice, they experience an expensive problem
- When they call you at 21:30 on Christmas Eve with a computer problem
- They decide to save money by building their own system, except that they want you to spec it up, price it up, order the bits (they'll pay you back once it's working), take delivery of the bits and, of course, build it
- You get into the office and find that some ancient filthy hulk of a home PC has been deposited on your desk chair - with a note vaguely
describing a problem, specifying the day that it needs to be fixed by, and warning you against losing any of their (unspecified) data. Lots of
exclamation marks, and a smiley face at the bottom
- When they happen to be a millionaire but they won't upgrade their Amstrad 1640 and dot matrix printer
- They start forwarding every hoax virus warning to you, merely adding a "?" to the top
- They want you to arrange for them to no longer receive any spam
- They show up unannounced at the front door brandishing a laptop that they found at some car boot sale or something. They invite themselves in
and won't leave until you take a look at it. It almost seems to be your fault when it turns out to be missing some vital part - you know, like
the charger or the battery. They get mad at *you* when you tell them how much the replacement part is likely to cost for their lovely "new" £10
laptop
- They haven't got a CD burner, but they know that you have
- They *have* got a burner, but can't be arsed to learn how to work Nero
- They have access to at least a dozen spotty little geeks who are capable of hooking their new Deskjet up, but they still come to you
- They have a novel requirement - say ripping-off audio tapes to CD and scanning, resizing and printing the case inserts. You know that if you
listen to them, it'll suddenly be up to you to do all the research on the hardware required, pirate the software, make it all work, write step-by-step instructions, and be available on the phone the first ten times they try to do it
- Describing an apparently easy-to-fix problem in order to get you to visit, then revealing the true, massive, extent of the task once you're
onsite
Yep. That's why I don't do that sh*t any longer
Re:I don't know enough about windows to support it (Score:4, Interesting)
my sister uses debian, and I visit her every 4 or 6 months, and everything is in the same good state as before: she writes documents in openoffice, prints then, downloads videos with mldonkey, watches them with mplayer, burns them with k3b.
but she wants games for her son - so I allowed debian to dualboot with win95 (grub). and I don't touch win95 on her computer at all. She uses a husband of her friend for that. He reinstalls it every few months, to get the games running :>
I don't have time to run wine with directx support on her box, heck I even didn't done that on my machine, let alone someone's else machine.
Not all that different (Score:3, Interesting)
tried that and Macs aren't the solution (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, they still require a lot of work to support: printing has all sorts of problems, software tries to update itself and fails, Apple software tells you to buy the next version, etc. The Macintosh UI is remarkably unintuitive unless you are a Mac-head. Macs are a little better than Windows overall, but mostly just because they have bits and pieces of UNIX left in them.
A huge disadvantage of Macs is that they keep complaining that all their other friends have all this great Windows software that they can't run.
Linux is good enough now that their next machines are probably just going to be Linux machines: it's easier to maintain than either Macintosh or Windows, and Linux comes with huge amounts of software out of the box, software that, even if you have the money to buy for Macintosh or Windows, is a pain to install and maintain on those other platforms.
Re:You think thats bad? (Score:2, Interesting)
Bob! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Same thing here... (Score:3, Interesting)
Similar to the Xbox in size
Keyboard, mouse
CD or DVD Burner (and software that makes it act, more or less as a floppy)
Easily upgradeable....no weak DIMMS or stuff like that. Make everything cartridge based (like atari or nintendo cartridges)
Network adapter.
Built in software firewall automagically configured for the web, ftp, e-mail and nothing else.
MAYBE a built in lcd.
Have a admin password, and FORCE users to use regular user accounts and type thier password to install software (ala sudo)...like the Mac does.
Software should only have the basic functions. No scripting languages embedded in e-mail programs. If you want any automation, do it with mouse clicks and not script languages.
Users are going to do stupid stuff. While I am not going to go to mom's for turkey day (blasted live server cutover scheduled for that weekend....), I am going to go the next week and I will do the scans on my bro's computer as well as mom and dad's. I may also setup a router for my brother (NAT will help cut out the nasty virus crap). Mom and dad are still on dial up. I shudder when the first High Speed ISP reduces their price to 20 a month in their area. They have seen highspeed at both my house and my brother's house and they love it, but they don't want to spend any more money then they already do on the internet. Happy Thanksgiving brother, now fix my computer! Sigh.....
Re:tried that and Macs aren't the solution (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, it's hard in two ways. First, one one machine, the automatic updates are failing with no clear indication why. Second, Macintosh Software Update only updates Apple software; you yourself still have to worry about all the third party applications.
It sounds to me that the problem you have is not that your parents don't know enough about MacOS X, but that you know next to nothing about it.
Indeed, I do not know how to fix the OS X software update failure other than by reinstalling the entire OS. And I don't know how to fix the mysterious printer problems that keep cropping up. I'm sure a dedicated Macintosh geek like you would have no problem fixing those things. Which only goes to show: Macintosh has the same problems and requires the same kind of arcane knowledge and skills as other platforms; its claim that it "just works" are wrong, too.
In fact, numerous studies have shown that Macs are rather more intuitive than Windows for people who are new to the game
Maybe you can point to some of those "numerous studies"? In particular, "numerous studies" that apply to current versions of OS X? I bet you can't come up with any.
In any case, it doesn't matter whether it's intuitive to people who are "new to the game", because the pool of people who are "new to the game" is dwindling.
I'm giving my mom my eMac (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry but linux is not easy to use as a desktop.
I'm going to set her up with my old eMac with Panther and 1GB Ram on it and load Office for Mac 2004. We can get a .MAC account for her to setup and share photos with relatives and use the Virex anti-virus software to protect the windows owning relatives for macro viruses in office documents she might send/receive.
Oh and all this crap about software not updating. I call bullshit. I've only had that happen to me with the IM manager proteus because I had not kept up to date with it but that was only with the check for updates function. Installing an updated version is as simple as going to the website and downloading the dmg disk image and dragging the app package into the Applications directory.
No problems with printers either, you don't need to have a desktop printer to print from applications.
Re:Surely? (Score:2, Interesting)
consider OS X (Score:1, Interesting)
Unlike their old wintel box, where they were afraid of breaking things, OS X just encourages them to try things. Best of all, the only problem I've had to solve is when Dad first bought a pack of DVD+Rs instead of the DVD-Rs the superdrive required. He asked me what 'RTFM' meant, and was delighted with my reply:)