charge him for the new copy of windows and charge him for the time. tell him in advance you're going to, though.
what caused his system to go down again? Something he did?
If this is the case....charge him whatever you would charge to do an OS/drivers
reinstall.
NO freebies anymore.
If this is the case....charge him whatever you would charge to do an OS/drivers
reinstall.
NO freebies anymore.
Thats what I would have done, but he thought it was smart to put cd's upside down, and the recording surface got scratched off.. yay!
I'm not a "professional" so i guess I shouldn't charge the same as a store...
Last time I fixed his computer it was really bugged up, half the drivers didnt work, and the company he bought it from couldnt even get his sound card working..
This time he told me internet stopped working, music stopped working, he said he was infected with viruses etc... I told him to just pop in the backup cd and start from scratch (i really didnt feel like messing around with the computer again) and he scratched the fcking thing... Its quite sad..
About the 98 serial, i cant give him mine, and I dont have any to "sell" him.. so what do I do?
I've never really dealt with legalities before..
Any way I could get most of the data back from the image file?
Thanks!
Tell him that Win 98 isn't really being supported by MS anymore and that it's time to upgrade (I use that line on EVERYONE nowadays, hehehe, even my mother-in-law.) He can buy a Dell and if he needs help setting it up, $40 an hour, 2 hour minimum for setup, data migration if needed, and tutoring. No freebies beyond that. If he still wants you to fix the old one, tell him it'll cost $40/hr with a 2 hour minimum plus $10 per burned backup cd, and he'll have to go somewhere to buy an operating system for you to install before you come. No freebies beyond that. He can go back to the company he bought the computer from in the first place if he doesn't like your deal.
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
learn for the future, don't do it in the first place
YES. Charge him a big smack upside the head. Sometimes you mean well to help people in need, but sometimes the people you help are just so fvcking ignorant that it's not even worth it to begin with. The worst part is that you helped him for free. TIME IS MONEY.
Originally posted by: hevnsnt
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
learn for the future, don't do it in the first place
Exactly.. I now refuse to fix ANYONES computer. I say.. Sorry I don't do that any more.
I always contemplate if I should help at all. You should just refer him to a computer shop and have them deal with it.
Basically, make the old one more expensive to fix than a new one will cost him (or at least so much that it's not worth it). And hopefully you are smart enough not to offer to build him one. He may still ask if you can fix the old one up for his kids or something, which goes back to pricing, etc... but if he's not in a hurry you can work on it at home as you have time for $x instead of $y that you told him earlier.
mcvickj
Diamond Member
- Dec 13, 2001
- 4,602
- 0
- 76
It is a little late in your case but I keep a copy of the image file on one of my partitions until I have enough to burn to a DVD. In some cases I have two images per machine. One is a base image and the other image is taken after I finished installing all of the software and getting it configured.
Dude, you took the words right out of my mouth. This one guy, I sold him my old CPU/MB/RAM setup and even purchased a case for him. I used his existing hard drive because the computer was for his little sister. I've had the same problem on that computer twice.
"DISK BOOT FAILURE"
It turns out the hard drive was REALLY aged (4-5 years) and it couldn't keep up with supplying the boot information to the motherboard. He had purchased a new hard drive and I even had the courtesy to take his machine back to my place and reinstalled Win XP Pro (which I shouldn't have done, not a legit copy) plus all of the updated security settings (SP2, firewall, etc). So I had to fix someone else's computer (which pays REALLY well and the issues are minor) and I wanted to drop his computer off to his house since it was on the way. Granted it was like 4am in the morning and he was still up. So then we got into this confrontation about how he never wanted to have this computer problem and he expected to get what he paid for. So then I told him you got what you paid for. From what I understand, the parts that he purchased from me (CPU/MB/RAM and case) has never failed since he bought it. All this other crap is on the side. Again MisterJackson, you emphasized that people expect unlimited tech support and that seems to be the case. I'm not helping anyone out with their computers again...unless it's parents, brother's, or significant others. I will however, agree to help again if I got paid for the one time job and had it in writing.
Also, when I scanned the old hard drive with Systemwork 05, it had so many trojan horses and spyware that I completely formatted it. I swear, some people just don't know WTF they're doing. IN fact, I was at Circuit City yesterday looking for some DVDs and this old guy comes in to ask for a new desktop. It turns out his old computer he claims is "screwed up" (probably spyware up the ass) and he was buying a brand new computer. I would have gladly have taken his old computer free of charge...haha.
When I sell computers, I specifically tell people in writing that I won't support them in any way shape or form dealing with a virus, or anything that results from said virus.
It's their problem to protect their system, I'm just the builder. I tell them what software would be good and sometimes I'll install AVG, if they don't use it it's again their problem. I haven't had a problem since I started doing that, and what made me start was someone that had 23 seperate viruses on his machine.
It's their problem to protect their system, I'm just the builder. I tell them what software would be good and sometimes I'll install AVG, if they don't use it it's again their problem. I haven't had a problem since I started doing that, and what made me start was someone that had 23 seperate viruses on his machine.
I helped a computer illiterate Engineer in my department. His 2 daughters (12 and 10) had the thing bogged down with spyware, malware, trojans, and viruses. All the usual suspects were there: CoolWebSearch, Gain, Gator, Webrebates, Wintools, etc.
Instead of trying to manually remove the junk, I decided to format and reinstall. I gave each family member an account. I spent a couple hours fixing everything and getting his devices working properly. The computer was running great. I didn't charge a fee. He and his wife were so happy that they made me a meal and gave me a LOT of baked goods and desserts (they are Iranian). They didn't have to do that, but I appreciated the gesture.
Six months later (last week), the computer was screwed again. The browser appeared to be hijacked. Norton Antivirus would not start. All of the modem-related services were disabled. It was a mess. Instead of reinstalling, I spent the time to remove each item. It took me a while to get it running like new. Once again, I was showered with food.
This was the second time I helped him for free. I told him the next time wouldn't be cheap. He has no problem with that. I suggested he warn his daughters that the repair costs would come from their allowances. They appear to be the culprits.
Sometimes, it's good to do things out of the kindness of your heart. If you are easily agitated and hate being labeled "tech support," then you should never offer to help...
Instead of trying to manually remove the junk, I decided to format and reinstall. I gave each family member an account. I spent a couple hours fixing everything and getting his devices working properly. The computer was running great. I didn't charge a fee. He and his wife were so happy that they made me a meal and gave me a LOT of baked goods and desserts (they are Iranian). They didn't have to do that, but I appreciated the gesture.
Six months later (last week), the computer was screwed again. The browser appeared to be hijacked. Norton Antivirus would not start. All of the modem-related services were disabled. It was a mess. Instead of reinstalling, I spent the time to remove each item. It took me a while to get it running like new. Once again, I was showered with food.
This was the second time I helped him for free. I told him the next time wouldn't be cheap. He has no problem with that. I suggested he warn his daughters that the repair costs would come from their allowances. They appear to be the culprits.
Sometimes, it's good to do things out of the kindness of your heart. If you are easily agitated and hate being labeled "tech support," then you should never offer to help...
Unless they are very close family, I charge them $40/hr, even the first time I am working on their machine.
I don't really mind fixing the computers when I make that kind of money, and through word of mouth my small business has expanded drastically over the last two years.
I mad $5k last year just as a second job. Not bad for a high school senior.
CHARGE THEM, CHARGE THEM, CHARGE THEM. That is my advice. Either they will not call you anymore because they are cheap, or you will make some extra cash.
I don't really mind fixing the computers when I make that kind of money, and through word of mouth my small business has expanded drastically over the last two years.
I mad $5k last year just as a second job. Not bad for a high school senior.
CHARGE THEM, CHARGE THEM, CHARGE THEM. That is my advice. Either they will not call you anymore because they are cheap, or you will make some extra cash.
Originally posted by: Dedpuhl
I helped a computer illiterate Engineer in my department. His 2 daughters (12 and 10) had the thing bogged down with spyware, malware, trojans, and viruses. All the usual suspects were there: CoolWebSearch, Gain, Gator, Webrebates, Wintools, etc.
Instead of trying to manually remove the junk, I decided to format and reinstall. I gave each family member an account. I spent a couple hours fixing everything and getting his devices working properly. The computer was running great. I didn't charge a fee. He and his wife were so happy that they made me a meal and gave me a LOT of baked goods and desserts (they are Iranian). They didn't have to do that, but I appreciated the gesture.
Six months later (last week), the computer was screwed again. The browser appeared to be hijacked. Norton Antivirus would not start. All of the modem-related services were disabled. It was a mess. Instead of reinstalling, I spent the time to remove each item. It took me a while to get it running like new. Once again, I was showered with food.
This was the second time I helped him for free. I told him the next time wouldn't be cheap. He has no problem with that. I suggested he warn his daughters that the repair costs would come from their allowances. They appear to be the culprits.
Sometimes, it's good to do things out of the kindness of your heart. If you are easily agitated and hate being labeled "tech support," then you should never offer to help...
For that friend's little sister, I opted to give her a limited access account on Windows XP. That way, she can't install anything without the approval of the administrator (her brother).
It's also amazing you mentioned an engineer. One time, this software engineer for IBM took his computer to CompUSA to have his power supply installed. I asked him what was the problem as I was walking out and he need the PSU installed. He had all the tools too. I installed it in like 2 mins. When I found out he was working for IBM, I even questioned why he didn't know how to do this. It's amazing how they work for a big computer company like IBM and don't jack on how to fix their computers.
$50/hr portal-to-portal... and make sure you are conveniently 2 hours away from himwhen you quote him.
RichieZ
Diamond Member
- Jun 1, 2000
- 6,551
- 40
- 91
probalby b/c he makes enough money to not care about this sort of stuff, "it should just work"
I used to work at IBM and there where some brillinat ppl who would help me with algorithm design and all that stuff, but I had to help them change their printer cartridges and I once installed a scanner b/c they coudln't find the drivers
midwestfisherman
Diamond Member
- Dec 6, 2003
- 3,564
- 8
- 81
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