$50/hr + AOL on person's computer = KA CHING!

[SunnyD]

4 hours of work getting the thing cleaned up to the point it was even usable.

The machine would hang on an ipconfig for god's sake. So after 4 hours and getting it usable (among other things), I basically said at the very least, delete AOL (they don't need it, they're on cable), and I suggested backing up all the family pics and other data, and wiping the machine to start from scratch.

Needless to say, the family is eating out tonight.

edit - I should clarify, I suggested from the get-go that it would probably be more time efficient to wipe and start over. The client wanted the machine to work for the time being for various reasons, including to be able to back up data prior to such a measure.

 

[BW86]

::shudder:: AOL....

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

You are begging for a flamer to come into this thread and call you on your professionalism as a failing technician.

 

[mwtgg]

Only losers resort to formatting. :roll:

 

[envy me]

No Internet > AOL

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
4 hours of work getting the thing cleaned up to the point it was even usable.

The machine would hang on an ipconfig for god's sake. So after 4 hours and getting it usable (among other things), I basically said at the very least, delete AOL (they don't need it, they're on cable), and I suggested backing up all the family pics and other data, and wiping the machine to start from scratch.

Needless to say, the family is eating out tonight.

what did you do to get IPconfig to work agian? Was it the removal of aohell?

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Only losers resort to formatting. :roll:

Seriously, congrats on making $50 an hour and spending 4 hours on a computer just to tell someone they should start over.

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Only losers resort to formatting. :roll:

Are you serious? Not saying that a good technician can't clean it up and avoid a format reload, but sometimes it's more time/cost effective to format reload for both the customer and the tech.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: goku

Originally posted by: SunnyD
4 hours of work getting the thing cleaned up to the point it was even usable.

The machine would hang on an ipconfig for god's sake. So after 4 hours and getting it usable (among other things), I basically said at the very least, delete AOL (they don't need it, they're on cable), and I suggested backing up all the family pics and other data, and wiping the machine to start from scratch.

Needless to say, the family is eating out tonight.

what did you do to get IPconfig to work agian? Was it the removal of aohell?

In the end, I don't know if I did get it working or not, the goal was network connectivity and to ensure there were no viruses and spyware. The basic concensus between me and the "customer" was that as long as the workstation has internet connectivity in the mean time, he was satisfied until the time which he could either A) uninstall AOL or B) back up the data on the machine and reimage it.

And to BrokenVisage, the reason for the service call was actually to setup his new laptop on his wireless network. The reason for me working on that workstation was the fact that trying to access his router from that workstation in order to add his laptop's MAC address to the ACL list was failing. That is the only reason I had to work extensively on that machine, and in the end still recommend a wipe because I believe there are some latent or hidden spyware issues (possibly rootkits) still present.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Only losers resort to formatting. :roll:

Seriously, congrats on making $50 an hour and spending 4 hours on a computer just to tell someone they should start over.

exactly...give me their phone number and ill call them and thell them you should have just charged them for the time it took you to reformat and get it wokring again...

this is why tech's get a bad name with people....

 

[YoshiSato]

Some times a computer system is so screwed up you need to format.

Either that or spend 20 some hours trying to sort out what is going on after spending a better part of a day trying to find out what they were smoking when they screwed the computer up.

 

[Amused]

The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

 

[YoshiSato]

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: YoshiSato

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

AOL is the equivalent of LDL cholesterol

 

[RMSistight]

Originally posted by: Son of a N00b

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Only losers resort to formatting. :roll:

Seriously, congrats on making $50 an hour and spending 4 hours on a computer just to tell someone they should start over.

exactly...give me their phone number and ill call them and thell them you should have just charged them for the time it took you to reformat and get it wokring again...

this is why tech's get a bad name with people....

This is exactly why I started learning about building, assembling, and troubleshooting computers......so people like this guy couldn't take advantage of me or my family.

 

[Goosemaster]

Man, you people are harsh.

 

[Train]

I'm not even an IT guy, but I think I would have had all thier family photos/documents backed up to another HD, Partition, or CD/DVD and have them on thier way to a clean install in under 30 minutes. WTF were you doing for 4 hours?

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: YoshiSato

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

QFT

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Train
I'm not even an IT guy, but I think I would have had all thier family photos/documents backed up to another HD, Partition, or CD/DVD and have them on thier way to a clean install in under 30 minutes. WTF were you doing for 4 hours?

true.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: YoshiSato

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

Really? Explain (in detail) how.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: YoshiSato

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

AOL is the equivalent of LDL cholesterol

More absurdity. AOL, with the correct settings and the background programs turned off does nothing to slow down a system. AOL itself is a bit bloated and their system is slow, but the mere presence of a properly configured AOL program on a system does not slow it down.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: YoshiSato

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

AOL is the equivalent of LDL cholesterol

More absurdity. AOL, with the correct settings and the background programs turned off does nothing to slow down a system. AOL itself is a bit bloated and their system is slow, but the mere presence of a properly configured AOL program on a system does not slow it down.

<--The he has Never EVER seen a properly configured AOL system.

Hell, even from Dell they come out running like crap.


<--never bothered disabling anything for people.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: YoshiSato

Originally posted by: Amused
The most pathetic thing is that you blamed AOL for a problem you obviously could not fix. AOL can run quite smoothly on a person's machine.

I do agree that sometimes a system is so screwed up it needs to be formatted. But that's been rare for me, even in the most spyware/virus infected machines and usually only happens as a cost saving measure rather than a last resort. (It takes less time to reload than it does to clean)

AOL IS MALWARE!

AOL is the equivalent of LDL cholesterol

More absurdity. AOL, with the correct settings and the background programs turned off does nothing to slow down a system. AOL itself is a bit bloated and their system is slow, but the mere presence of a properly configured AOL program on a system does not slow it down.

The issue is two-fold:
-AOL used to be very invasive, took over many functions of a PC, and slowed it down considerably. (This was in Pentium 100 days...)
-AOL is still very difficult to remove completely

While the performance hits are nearly unnoticable, it is still very invasive and sticks it's associations and reg keys all over the place. And, last time I removed AOL from a machine (few years ago), it was still a pain to remove every little trace. Lots of reg and file searching.

The biggest problem is folks trying to remove AOL without knowing what they're doing. Many things break if it isn't removed clean. Including network connectivity.

 

[Goosemaster]

Don't get me wrong, AOL is not crap Amused, but it is something that, like LDL cholesterol, has the potential to create havok.

 

[bonkers325]

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Only losers resort to formatting. :roll:

:roll: