I just had the worlds fastest service call!

[mcveigh]

So I get a call at 8:15 this AM saying this computer was down with the error "ntloader missing" I tell them I can't get there till 10AM, OK
I walk in sit down...........................eject the floppy disk! then reboot problem solved.

OK so I don't know why she didn't get the "invalid boot disk message", so I can't blame her completely.

so the question is how much do I charge?

 

[Linflas]

Doesn't your company (or you if self employed) have a minimum? Floppies formatted on an NT machine will give that error rather than the no disk loaded error. You can actually copy the boot files to a floppy and boot an NT machine that way. If it was not a big out of the way thing you may want to write it off as a courtesy call and file away that question to ask the next time you get a similar call.

 

[skyking]

I had one like that not long ago. People had moved computer, then called with intermittent monitor problems. It died completely while I was on the way over. I reinserted the cable into the vidcard, and tightened the screws!

 

[mcveigh]

Originally posted by: Linflas
Doesn't your company (or you if self employed) have a minimum? Floppies formatted on an NT machine will give that error rather than the no disk loaded error. You can actually copy the boot files to a floppy and boot an NT machine that way. If it was not a big out of the way thing you may want to write it off as a courtesy call and file away that question to ask the next time you get a similar call.

I'm not going to charge them (self employed) they've been good to me. The weird thing was the floppy disk in question had photoshop files on it

 

[KnickNut3]

What? NT refuses to boot from pictures of the cute little grandchildren? Stupid OS.

Yeah, one time my screen went blue for 10 seconds, then went out with no signal. This was right after I OCd my brand new GF4 Ti4400. I was so scared I fried it (even though I was in safe temps). Ends up the cable had gotten loose into my monitor . What a relief, though.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: mcveigh

Originally posted by: Linflas
Doesn't your company (or you if self employed) have a minimum? Floppies formatted on an NT machine will give that error rather than the no disk loaded error. You can actually copy the boot files to a floppy and boot an NT machine that way. If it was not a big out of the way thing you may want to write it off as a courtesy call and file away that question to ask the next time you get a similar call.

I'm not going to charge them (self employed) they've been good to me. The weird thing was the floppy disk in question had photoshop files on it

Good they probably will give you some nice references. The files on the disk don't matter. You could take that same disk with the existing files and copy over ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini (doing this from memory so don't quote me ) and boot the machine from that floppy. I assume the mbr is a tad different for NT vs DOS/Win9x so it knows to look for the ntldr file instead of io.sys and msdos.sys.

 

[mcveigh]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: mcveigh

Originally posted by: Linflas
Doesn't your company (or you if self employed) have a minimum? Floppies formatted on an NT machine will give that error rather than the no disk loaded error. You can actually copy the boot files to a floppy and boot an NT machine that way. If it was not a big out of the way thing you may want to write it off as a courtesy call and file away that question to ask the next time you get a similar call.

I'm not going to charge them (self employed) they've been good to me. The weird thing was the floppy disk in question had photoshop files on it

Good they probably will give you some nice references. The files on the disk don't matter. You could take that same disk with the existing files and copy over ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini (doing this from memory so don't quote me ) and boot the machine from that floppy. I assume the mbr is a tad different for NT vs DOS/Win9x so it knows to look for the ntldr file instead of io.sys and msdos.sys.

cool i didn't know that!

 

[SagaLore]

I just had the worlds fastest service call!

Sorry to hear that. Ya know they have creams that will numb you to prevent it.

 

[no0b]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

I just had the worlds fastest service call!

Sorry to hear that. Ya know they have creams that will numb you to prevent it.

hehe

 

[mcveigh]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

I just had the worlds fastest service call!

Sorry to hear that. Ya know they have creams that will numb you to prevent it.

LMAO!!



got a link?

 

[y2kc]

I'm not going to charge them (self employed) they've been good to me

good call.

 

[AnimeKnight]

I had a similiar service call before as well...

a family called me saying that they can't turn on the computer andh they have check the outlets and everything. I went in look at the back of the computer and flip the switch from the back... and viola

I didn't charge them as well.. even though it was a little bit out of my way.. I just don't feel comfortable charging people for turning on the switch..

 

[djheater]

Actually i have seen that specific message with no disk in the drive... after a user was cleaning out unnecessary files

I've also seen it happen on a CD-ROM where the bios have been set to boot from CD....

While you're in the comfort of your chair do not hesitate to ask all the stupid question's before moving your ass....

Is it plugged in
Is it turned on
Are there disk's in the drives