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Average people seem to think we're geniuses

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Pretty much anything beyond turning the machine on. Most people are completely and utterly clueless, for all they know the thing runs half on nuclear power and half on a hamster running in a wheel. I swapped out a power supply in about 3 minutes for my cousins machine and she was totally amazed. All those wires looked like a jigsaw puzzle to her, but it's one of the most idiot-proof tasks possible.
 
I used have a unique "skill" at my old employment. Someone would have trouble with their computer, and all I would have to do is lay hands on it and it would work properly :^D I have no idea where the original problem came from, but I got credit for fixing it :^D

I also did more real repairs, and since our IT was outsourced, I could get to it quicker(and cheaper) than they could.
 
Just yesterday I held the power button down for about four seconds and then pushed it again. My coworker was in awe that the PC came back to life.
 
The worst is fixing the computer, getting all the crap off of it, giving the person a x minute lecture about not installing crap on the computer and how the computer will run much better if you don't just click yes.. then 2 months later getting a phone call "The computer is broken, i don't think you fixed it last time."

People are idiots, sometimes, even when I know the solution to whatever problem they have, if I know it is a user error I will just say "Oh, I don't know, I've never seen that before" That usually stops them from coming for more help.
 
Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Pretty much anything beyond turning the machine on. Most people are completely and utterly clueless, for all they know the thing runs half on nuclear power and half on a hamster running in a wheel. I swapped out a power supply in about 3 minutes for my cousins machine and she was totally amazed. All those wires looked like a jigsaw puzzle to her, but it's one of the most idiot-proof tasks possible.
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The computers at my work do run on hamster power (at least it seems that way). Unfortunately, most of the original batch must have died through malnourishment.
 
Originally posted by: bloodugly
Originally posted by: OILFIELDTRASH
"people think we're geniuses"
no they don't
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I've had a few that used that actual word. I'm not, by any means 🙂
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Same here. Usually computer illiterate co-workers (when I did desktop support) or family.
I've been called a genius many times, but I'm also far from it. If I was, I wouldn't be doing call center tech support.
 
Uninstall Symantec/McAffee and install MS Security Essentials, run ccCleaner and msconfig to shut off all the shit that runs at boot, uninstall crapware -- saved a lot of people from buying a new PC/notebook.
 
I helped a coworker log in by looking behind the computer and seeing no network cable.

Oh, and I copied the PIP/Exchange server name to setup my mail on a different computer.
 
Originally posted by: daw123
Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Pretty much anything beyond turning the machine on. Most people are completely and utterly clueless, for all they know the thing runs half on nuclear power and half on a hamster running in a wheel. I swapped out a power supply in about 3 minutes for my cousins machine and she was totally amazed. All those wires looked like a jigsaw puzzle to her, but it's one of the most idiot-proof tasks possible.
Click to expand...

The computers at my work do run on hamster power (at least it seems that way). Unfortunately, most of the original batch must have died through malnourishment.
Click to expand...

My first IBM compatible was a Packard Bell. Getting a hamster was a $500 upgrade, the off the rack models had a garden snail.
 
People think "building" a PC is hard.

It's easy. What's difficult (or more annoying and frustrating, really) is troubleshooting problems.
And that just requires more patience than intelligence, usually.
 
Did a system restore the other week. Was amazed it worked and it seems to have impressed her more than anything.
 
I often get that treatment. It's funny tbh. Like when I'm hooking up a computer or something "how do you even know where everything goes! You're such a genius!" It's not that hard. If it does not fit, it does not go there. With that alone, not much else can go wrong. 😛
 
Originally posted by: Crono
People think "building" a PC is hard.

It's easy. What's difficult (or more annoying and frustrating, really) is troubleshooting problems.
And that just requires more patience than intelligence, usually.
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Haha that was me back when I was new to PCs. I figured it involved soldering everything together. 😛 It's funny now that I think of it.
 
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I often get that treatment. It's funny tbh. Like when I'm hooking up a computer or something "how do you even know where everything goes! You're such a genius!" It's not that hard. If it does not fit, it does not go there. With that alone, not much else can go wrong. 😛
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Not only hardware, but on the software side as well.

Generally, when someone has a problem with a program, our solution is "check for menu-bar that seems related" then 'try each button" then "move onto next menu-bar"

It's like people never learned problem solving.
 
Fixing computers is one of the things I do for my job and I can't count the number of times it was just something stupid that was a quick fix and people were amazed. Some people just don't want to understand their computers it seems.
 
Originally posted by: videogames101
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I often get that treatment. It's funny tbh. Like when I'm hooking up a computer or something "how do you even know where everything goes! You're such a genius!" It's not that hard. If it does not fit, it does not go there. With that alone, not much else can go wrong. 😛
Click to expand...

Not only hardware, but on the software side as well.

Generally, when someone has a problem with a program, our solution is "check for menu-bar that seems related" then 'try each button" then "move onto next menu-bar"

It's like people never learned problem solving.
Click to expand...

LOL yeah I don't get why people don't just try basic troubleshooting first. Every day I hear of some program I have no clue what it does and we don't have documentation for it. So I remote the PC and start trying to figure it out, then the person thinks I'm an expert at the program.

Then you get people who are confused as to why it's taking so long to fix some obscure problem with some obscure program. They think we can just press a button and fix it or something. Sadly my IT manager is like that. A raid 0 array crapped out with medical data on it (not my idea to do a raid 0...) and he expected me to have it up and running within 15 minutes.
 
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel

Then you get people who are confused as to why it's taking so long to fix some obscure problem with some obscure program. They think we can just press a button and fix it or something. Sadly my IT manager is like that. A raid 0 array crapped out with medical data on it (not my idea to do a raid 0...) and he expected me to have it up and running within 15 minutes.
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Shadow copies...hmmm. 😉
 
Using Dual View at home and at work. Everyone who sees says, "What? you've got 2 computers!?" And then I drag a window from one monitor to the next, and they're amazed!!
 
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