How to deal with negligent/install happy computer user

[PistachioByAzul]

You know the kind, they have Bonzi Buddy/Gatorware/Comet Cursor/all kinds of likewise crap that loads on startup (being that they are again, "negligent and install happy" as I like to say), they can't seem to mentally draw the connection between all of that junk and their computer being unstable? It's a tough issue, I've tried explaining it in a number of ways (including scolding and cursing, never fails to fail). The problem is that the cause & effect is very vague, you can't really point to specific reasons, since it's more of a way of thinking that fails to grasp how fragile operating systems really are. So, particularly I'm looking for a good choice of words to outline to him what it is he is doing, and why the frick it is detrimental to health of his PC.

 

[Czar]

I'd use the way how a friend of mine used to explain this to a Doctor.

"Operating Systems are like the human body, over time and use they slow down and become fragile and in the end they die."

It was something like that

 

[KokomoGST]

Easy, apply a nice user profile for them that doesn't allow installation of new programs and have it auto-load on startup...

 

[Geekbabe]

<< You know the kind, they have Bonzi Buddy/Gatorware/Comet Cursor/all kinds of likewise crap that loads on startup (being that they are again, "negligent and install happy" as I like to say), they can't seem to mentally draw the connection between all of that junk and their computer being unstable? It's a tough issue, I've tried explaining it in a number of ways (including scolding and cursing, never fails to fail). The problem is that the cause & effect is very vague, you can't really point to specific reasons, since it's more of a way of thinking that fails to grasp how fragile operating systems really are. So, particularly I'm looking for a good choice of words to outline to him what it is he is doing, and why the frick it is detrimental to health of his PC. >>




Bill him till he bleeds from his ears. Until yiu make them value your time they won't listen and will be all too happy wasting yours.

 

[ScoobMaster]

Heh!

You just described half of the faculty and administrators that I support at the school district where I work

 

[PistachioByAzul]

I don't do this for a living, if I were making money I wouldn't care. Sometimes I rely on him for car mechanical advice, so it's a sensitive position to be in, I can't just slap him upside the head (which is about the extent of my technical support capabilities) like I do people whom I have no obligation to.

 

[Czar]

OK, then tell him that operating systems are like cars, if you dont take good care of it and treat it badly it will break down.

 

[PistachioByAzul]

Tried it, blank stare.

 

[yellowplastic]

Have him run Ad-Aware once a week.

 

[Czar]

<< Tried it, blank stare. >>


hehehe dohh

then the next time you have to install the os again for him then sit with him for some time, play with it for like 10-20 minutes and have him watch, then install every pos program you can find (and uninstall some because of those bad uninstallers) and then play with it for 10-20 minutes. Hopefully that will give him some idea.


You could always cheat and crash the computer intentionaly too, just to make a point ofcorse

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Tell him all those programs track & record his porn surfing habits.

 

[PistachioByAzul]

I'm just thinking that there's a succint way of explaining this.

 

[yellowplastic]

<< I'm just thinking that there's a succint way of explaining this. >>



Some people don't care about explanations. They don't have analytical minds and they have no interest in understanding why things work, or why things happen the way they do.

You have to tell him exactly what to do, and say something like, if you don't do this, your computer will break.

Have him run Ad-Aware and antivirus once a week. He should learn to clean up his own sh!t.

 

[freebee]

For many people, the "junk" that loads at startup is part of the user experience. I do tech support for old women (the most install-happy people in existense). They like that stuff.

I would instead try to re-educate them (however incorrectly) that instabilty is part of everyday computing. (actually we use win 98, so there is some truth to that.) Then they quit calling so much and just restart when problems come up. Got me by many hours of work and allowed me to develop into quite a good counter strike player by playing during work hours.

 

[DAWeinG]

More programs = slower pr0n... Get it? Got it? Good...

 

[digme]

<< Tell him all those programs track & record his porn surfing habits. >>




LOL!

 

[heartsurgeon]

if he's a mechanic, he'll understand this..

tell him he needs to "change the oil" of the computer every 3 months, and give him a step by step typewritten set of instructions on how to reload windows from the distribution disks he has. have him put a little sticker on the computer telling him when he is due for his next "oil change" - this way he can download all that crap, and and hopefully his calls for help will decrease by 90%.

 

[Mitzi]

Forget explainations, a better solution is....

Norton Ghost

 

[SWScorch]

Hmm I'd like to find out a good way to deal with these types of people as well. My father and I help an old lady with her computer every now and then, and she has so many things on it it's not funny. And its a P120! She bought a burner, of course didnt know what the heck it was so had us install it, then when it was done, we asked what she wanted to burn. She gave us a blank stare. So we had to educate her as to what a CD Burner is. She was like "oh.... well, I guess I could burn all my Billy Graham CDs so I can listen to them in the car" (Billy Graham? I forget his name. Some 8-year-old country "singer")

She calls us almost every week with a new problem. A few weeks ago she had downloaded Kazaa and wanted to know how to burn those to a CD. Turns out she was searching, then clicking on a song, without even having downloaded it yet, and trying to add that to a CD collection, and then she wondered why the CDs never had anything on them....

And of course she just *loves* themes and stuff like that. The computer is so slow because of all thecrap she has, and the custom themes and sounds and happy effects... It makes me sick!

 

[Mookow]

<< Hmm I'd like to find out a good way to deal with these types of people as well. My father and I help an old lady with her computer every now and then, and she has so many things on it it's not funny. And its a P120! She bought a burner, of course didnt know what the heck it was so had us install it, then when it was done, we asked what she wanted to burn. She gave us a blank stare. So we had to educate her as to what a CD Burner is. She was like "oh.... well, I guess I could burn all my Billy Graham CDs so I can listen to them in the car" (Billy Graham? I forget his name. Some 8-year-old country "singer")

She calls us almost every week with a new problem. A few weeks ago she had downloaded Kazaa and wanted to know how to burn those to a CD. Turns out she was searching, then clicking on a song, without even having downloaded it yet, and trying to add that to a CD collection, and then she wondered why the CDs never had anything on them....

And of course she just *loves* themes and stuff like that. The computer is so slow because of all thecrap she has, and the custom themes and sounds and happy effects... It makes me sick! >>



Yes! We have found the target market for WinXP and the dumb effects!

 

[yakko]

Just tell him that all these autorun crap programs are like adding 100 pounds of weight to the car and that the weight is not always evenly distibuted. Sometimes it is place centrally but most times it is placed on top of one strut tower or replaces a wheel balancing weight.