07-10-2004, 04:46 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,725
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The Good, the Bad, and the Idiotic: Family Tech Usage
Basically I just want to rant about some problems my family has had with computers. I try to help, but they just keep going back to their old ways and ignore my advice.
Well, two years ago we got my sister a Dell laptop since she was going off to college. My mom was convinced she should have a near-top-of-the-line laptop so it would last 4+ years. It was a very nice laptop, and came out to over $3000 when done - with software and everything. We got her a docking station and monitor stand since she didn't like the idea of working off a laptop monitor, and I didn't think she could really handle the connections when taking the laptop to the library, class, etc. Big mistake. She decided she didn't want the monitor since it would take up too much space, and then about a week into school, apparently she had a problem with printing (USB printer), so someone apparently got it to work without the docking station. Woopdedoo. She won't even try using it again. Why? Because it works fine without it.
Same thing with Outlook. She doesn't use Outlook (XP) anymore (which btw I had setup with both her home and school accounts before she left). Why? Same thing. She had problems with it during her freshman year, and someone told her not to use it, but to use Outlook Express instead. :bad-words: In addition, almost every time she's brought her laptop home, I find loads of spyware and sometimes viruses on it. Fortunately last time I didn't find any, since the automatic NAV and Windows Updates I setup were actually still in place and doing their job.
Alright, on to my mom...hah. Well, she really wants to learn computers. Good for her, but she's still afraid to click around. Just like my sister (and I suppose most of the non-tech public), she likes consistancy. BTW, I gave her my old iPaq 3650, and she still claims to use it, however, most of that consists of plugging it in to sync every few days. She still uses a planner for calendar and notes. I just can't get her to convert. Anyway, yesterday I helped her install the free checklist from PocketGear. She really didn't know how to download the program. :| So I said, just click where it says "download" ...yeah, then how do you install it to the PDA? hmm...you get the idea.
Another thing that bothers me is how she uses Outlook. Email especially - she uses flags, but just to keep track of important emails. However, she has something like 800 flagged emails. That's not gonna tell you which emails are important! lol
Ah and my dad. Truthfully, he probably wouldn't use computers if he didn't have to. He loves surfing college websites (kinda addicted to researching colleges), but other than that, not much. His homepage was set to MSN.com at one time or another, and that seems to be the only way he explores the Internet outside of college sites. If there isn't a link to it off the MSN site, he doesn't see it. Good thing MSN has a search engine for colleges! :lol: Also, about a month ago, he tells me his emails are gone, but no big deal. No big deal?! If I lost all my emails for good I'd be in some serious pain. Well, I change his PW so I can login, and yep, all his emails are gone. I make sure his outlook data files are there and everything, and they are, only extremely small. Well, he must have done something, but I have yet to figure that out. I did a few system restores, but it didn't work. And yeah, partially my fault, he didn't have backups. But he didn't mind. They're just a few emails. :wink: :shocked!:
The other thing is, I don't think I've ever gotten a virus on my computer or laptop. Well, maybe once or twice, but they were gone within an hour or so. My family computer has gotten somewhere in the teens of viruses, and my sister's laptop has gotten a couple. I use my computer so much more than all of them combined. How am I so lucky? Guess I actually listen to my advice and update my AV, Windows, and other software.
Alright, I'm done ranting. Really guys, I love my family, but I just can't take the way they use computers sometimes. They're good people though, really. :werenotworthy:
How about you? Any good stories about your family's tech usage?
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07-10-2004, 05:34 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 350
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My grandfather got me into computing way back in the 80s. It started as a hobby for him & me, later it became my career. I always thought that was neat. Back then, he'd got a new app. that I'd never seen. During the day, I'd be in school, he'd be learning how to use it. I'd come over at night or the weekend. He'd drive me nuts getting me to figure out how to do one feature that's advertised on the box but not shown in the manual. Mind you, this is the first time I'd ever seen this program. For example, he was trying to do some advanced spreadsheet functions, I'd never seen a computerized spreadsheet before!
Sadly, he's getting way up there in years and his mental abilities have slipped over time. It's gone from as described above to "You have to install this, I can't figure it out" (Insert CD, click Install from the menu that pops up). Other times, he just clicks away. We never were able to get him to understand Uninstall vs. just deleting the program's folder. He too, has done stuff none of us can figure out.
My wife does pretty good, both on the PC and her iPAQ. She's catching on well. I still have to help her out occasionally.
We also have friends from my wife's hometown who are considered family. I'm their IT support staff. They keep getting the absolute nastiest spyware from the places they visit and stuff they download. Then when I point out what they have, where they visited, it's "We *NEVER* went there!" Um, so why does it show someone visiting there yesterday in IE History? And funny, you guys were just talking about somthing that is the subject of that site.
Family and friends, gotta love them. I suppose if I were a doctor, they'd would be like, "I got this pain". If I were a mechanic, "My car's making a funny noise", etc.
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07-10-2004, 08:41 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by buckyg
Sadly, he's getting way up there in years and his mental abilities have slipped over time. It's gone from as described above to "You have to install this, I can't figure it out" (Insert CD, click Install from the menu that pops up). Other times, he just clicks away. We never were able to get him to understand Uninstall vs. just deleting the program's folder. He too, has done stuff none of us can figure out.
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Part of that is "but this used to be how you got rid of programs". Once you're trained one way, it's hard to do it any other.
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We also have friends from my wife's hometown who are considered family. I'm their IT support staff. They keep getting the absolute nastiest spyware from the places they visit and stuff they download. Then when I point out what they have, where they visited, it's "We *NEVER* went there!" Um, so why does it show someone visiting there yesterday in IE History? And funny, you guys were just talking about somthing that is the subject of that site.
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Maybe they don't get that clicking a link in an email or from another site gets you there just as surely as typing in the URL?
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07-10-2004, 09:04 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 234
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if I have ever been able to relate to someones pain as much as yours, I cannot remember who. Being a computer tech, all your friends and family ask you for SOOOO much computer advice/deals, but then ignore the advice you gave them, and coem back weeks/months later with problems :?
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07-10-2004, 09:49 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Re: The Good, the Bad, and the Idiotic: Family Tech Usage
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Originally Posted by OSUKid7
Basically I just want to rant about some problems my family has had with computers. I try to help, but they just keep going back to their old ways and ignore my advice.
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OSUKid, let me tell you - I share your pain. And I'm freaking certified in computers and teach them at a local college - but that doesn't mean I know anything about them to my parents / friends mind you.
There was the girlfriend's dad (possibly future father-in-law... ) who didn't listen to me after I built him a new computer. I setup Win2k with limited accounts for everyone and one central admin account. My rationale: if you run it with admin rights, you'll have viruses run amok and more. What did he do? After being badgered he gave his entire family the admin login, they disabled norton internet security, and over the past 2 years, I've had to clean that thing more than you'd believe. Adding insult to injury, 2 months ago, he bought norton internet security 2004 and is "amazed" at how the computer doesn't crash as much.
I've had numerous people ask my advice on computers, not take it, and then have numerous problems that wouldn't have happened if they had taken my advice. I don't care if people don't take my advice, but don't ask for it if you don't think you'll take it!
Ok, my rant is over. The only advice I can give you is make sure everyone in your family uses their OWN computer, and if they break it, don't fix it for them without making them try some things on their own (i.e. "Here's the restore disk, pop it in and follow instructions" vs. doing it from start to finish yourself).
__________________
Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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07-11-2004, 01:25 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 597
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Nobody's as good as us, plain and simple.
If they were, they'd be here, too.
End of story.
0X
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07-11-2004, 01:42 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 34
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Someone's pain is my paycheck. If it wasn't for people NOT following my directions then I would be out of a lot of repeat business.
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07-11-2004, 02:25 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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I just flat out won't build computers for anyone anymore. I don't mind doing tech support at work, but when I come home, I ain't doin' it. Get a friggin' Dell and let them figure out what the problem with the email is. My only advice to people these days is: Use Opera, The Bat! and Zone Alarm, run SpyBot S&D every week, and have Windows XP download updates automatically. If they've done all of that and still have problems, they shouldn't have have clicked where they clicked or opened what they opened. :mrgreen:
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07-11-2004, 03:59 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by milkman dan
if I have ever been able to relate to someones pain as much as yours, I cannot remember who. Being a computer tech, all your friends and family ask you for SOOOO much computer advice/deals, but then ignore the advice you gave them, and coem back weeks/months later with problems :?
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Well, it's kind of hierarchy thing. So, my family asks me and my husband when they need help, and I ask mchang and Janak when I need help. 
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07-11-2004, 04:13 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Originally Posted by Kati Compton
I ask mchang and Janak when I need help. |
 ops: The perils of being a sysadmin -- you're at the "top" of the food-chain, and if you can't figure it out, it's a long night ahead. :P
(Of course, Kati only asks good questions... ones I frequently don't know answers to, so it's not exactly support per se. )
On a more serious note: even though it's frustrating sometimes, I don't mind helping my (extended) family and friends for a few minutes if I'm visiting them. It makes for good relations.  If it's a bigger problem, there are two options: for family, I'll tell them "I really can't do this now, if you want to get it fixed immediately find someone, otherwise I'll fix it as soon as I can get to it". For friends, I'll point out that I typically consult for this stuff, and I have very limited time, so if this is urgent for them they might want to treat this as a consulting call. It's really hard to pull that off, but I've been consulting for many years, so it's something I've actually done without damaging friendships. As long as you're clear with them, most people are pretty respectful of your time. The real challenge is extricating yourself from a preexisting "free support situation". I avoid getting into those in the first place, but if you're stuck in one, good luck -- it'll take some careful tact.
Also... I'm fortunate that my immediate family generally listens to my advice, and I feel sorry for those of you whose immediate family doesn't, as it's hard to back out of support for them. For the rest, once Firefox 1.0 comes out, I'll be installing that on their machines. :P
--janak
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