• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Do you do family support?

Do you do family support?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Family?

Results are only viewable after voting.
bradly1101

bradly1101

Diamond Member
Thankfully no one in my family would come here, so I just have to mention that a family member of mine has a dangerous amount of computer knowledge, and getting a call in the middle of a movie to help with something I showed her twice (this is no senior citizen), was not fun.

It was just bluetooth pairing, but she always has her device manager open, and it's acting like someone has been deleting the device and its drivers (which I think she does in order to remove the dongle because it doesn't show up as ejectable from the tray), so there's some basic 101 that needs to happen, but I'm just not up to it anymore, are you?
 
I still do because I enjoy it and thankfully I am not bombarded with their issues plus I get free food. If I was in IT family hell, I'd probably curb it. My dad for some odd reason prefers the geek squad because he likes chatting up those guys even though they don't really know what they're doing. Fine by me 😀
 
Only immediate family. My mother and my girlfriend's parents. But they don't ask 100 questions like some folks. I would probably cut them off if they did that.
 
MustISO said:
All the time for family and friends. It's gotten WAY easier with applications like TeamViewer.
Click to expand...

Amen. I actually take care of a computer I built (for my wife's parents) all the way out in Nevada, via TeamViewer. I also service 2 others (co-worker, my mom) that I didn't build (Dells that I recommended) but do upgrades and stuff (Christmas gifts! SSD, RAM, portable HDD, backup software) and in that manner, I DON'T get the midnight calls because I've been proactive and solved some problems (like the W10 GWX problem) before they became an issue.

Just two weeks ago, a friend from TaeKwon-Do had her computer crash... she brought it to me to recover (or whatever) her data... That was fun, and I didn't mind. I got to get on my soapbox and preach the virtues of Acronis and external backups... 😱
 
The way I kind of see it is if they find their own help they're much more likely to remember it.
 
Last edited:
bradly1101 said:
The way I kind of see it is if they find their own help they're much more likely to remember it.
Click to expand...

Think about it, though... everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. If you are able to help in some way with their PC problems, certainly there is some benefit there. I'll agree, digging for the Answer yourself has it's benefits, too, but I'm willing to admit when I'm over my head.
 
Charlie98 said:
Think about it, though... everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. If you are able to help in some way with their PC problems, certainly there is some benefit there. I'll agree, digging for the Answer yourself has it's benefits, too, but I'm willing to admit when I'm over my head.
Click to expand...

I should have mentioned that there is a another dynamic which makes the whole process of demonstrating how to use their new thing really challenging.

I know that they know that everything they're trying to figure out is written down somewhere on this gigantic resource we have at hand. I'll help add hardware (including providing altered drivers for a scanner that had none written greater than XP), but when it comes to the showing how, I just point them to the manufacturers website.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top