13 Things Your Computer Person Won?t Tell You
 

1. Turn it off, turn it back on. ?Nine times out of ten, rebooting your computer-and any equipment that connects to it-will solve the problem,? says Aaron Schildkraut, who owns a home tech-support service in the New York tristate area.

2. Just because we're ?buddies? at work, don't expect me to come running every time you've got a problem. I've got a slew of IT problems to fix.

3. We're like Santa: We know if you've been bad or good. Fessing up to what really happened right before the system crashed is going to save time-and I'm going to figure it out anyway.

4. Use ?strong? passwords. Geek Squad agent Derek Meister suggests combining letters and numbers-but not your birth date-to create a ?base? password, and adding a unique suffix for each site you use. If your base password is your spouse's initials and
your anniversary date (say, SP061789), your Amazon password might be ?SP061789AM.?

5. Make sure you have current antivirus and anti-spyware protection, and set it to update at least once a day and run a full-system scan at least once a week.

6. There's no free lunch. Downloading free music, movies, and games from file-sharing sites can open holes in your system for others to exploit. Play it safe and use established services like Rhapsody, iTunes, and Netflix.

7. Remember: Public Wi-Fi is public. If you don't have a compelling reason to check your e-mail or bank account while sipping a latte at the mall, don't do it. While you're on a public network, even one that's encrypted, a nearby hacker can capture your passwords.

8. Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it's not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

9. If you can't get online, call your Internet service provider first. Connection problems can often be checked and fixed-free.

10. If you want to see less of me, get a Mac. That's what we use. ?Macs are actually a little bad for my business,? says Schildkraut.

11. No, you can't use your cell phone to pop popcorn. Next time an Internet rumor drops into your inbox, don't just pass it on-check it out at snopes.com first.

12. Sometimes we talk about you-in code. If you hear ?HKI error? (for human-keyboard interface) or ?PEBCAK? (problem exists between chair and keyboard), we're insulting you.

13. If you don't understand me, I'm not doing my job. Confusing tech jargon is a sign of insecurity, not intelligence.

good post...


12. Sometimes we talk about you-in code. If you hear “HKI error” (for human-keyboard interface) or “PEBCAK” (problem exists between chair and keyboard), we're insulting you.

#10 is the biggest bullshit I've ever heard.

Nice! :)

By far the most retarded idea ever.

Also don't forget to periodically rotate the power knob.

Dammit Pete, now I have to change my amazon password.

Any recommendations on what to use when cleaning the integrated cupholder?

Ya they make this lil thing called a CD cleaner try it out, its cleans the soda out of the cup holder

I don't get that either..... I've been running Vista for a solid six months know and I haven't had a single problem. They've come a long way since Windows 95!

Spoken by a true Mac elitist, no doubt.

Mac loves to grab the ankles of the person on the ladder ahead of them.

my friend worked in it support and they would say did you rtfm ? I was like what does that mean Read the fucking manual. lol

These all elected an eyeroll from me, but number 8 is so stupid and inaccurate that it actually caused damage.. If you see an iris, it's mine.

Yeah the nicest thing is when you go to fix a problem and the computer is broke....
Person with the problem: Why did it broke??? ....
IT Specialist: Why does it rain outside?

Thanks for the advice

Wow, ever?


What password would you suggest the average, not daily, computer user, use so they can remember what the password is after weeks or months of not using it?

That is too funny!

i see someone's been reading RD :)
good post!

:1orglaugh

Well since you ask.

The key to remembering passwords is in not thinking about them.

Pick ANY 16 character string of evil nonsense. It has to be nonsense. Meaningful stuff does not work, and at all. Even if it's just a little meaningful.

Then go to the site and log in and back out 12 times right off. Type it in every time. That day, log in and off again every couple of hours 4 times in a row. That week log in and off coupla times every day.

Provided you log in more than once a month, you will remember that sucka like Pavlov's dog : Couldn't tell anyone what the fuck it was, if they tortured you, but in front of the proper login screen it'll just magically type itself.

It's how the brain of mammals work, and so provided you're not mentally inferior to the average rat, you will never forget a password again. This may not work if you've ever had a stroke.

Roboform, just started using it and loving it so far. :2 cents:

And now we know which answer was more retarded.

Roboform is for sure one handy tool, a tad annoying with the password stuff but a solid time saver either way.

I don't think tech support people can really dish out something like Roboform to the average caller and they get it any more than understanding why they need a complex password.

All you need to know is #10. The rest will no longer exist.

Whatever credibility this post may have had was lost at #10.

Not only do we know which answer was more retarded, but we also know how smart the person asking the question was.

How many watts does an idle computer use?

You are an odd fellow... to say the least.