Stupidest Tech Questions You've Ever Been Asked

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

 

[thejunglegod]

People who insist on having their monitor resolution set to 800x600, when the monitor native resolution in higher, annoy me to no end.

That may be because certain people have difficulty reading "smaller sized" text. 800 x 600 res gives them better readability cos obviously the text size is bigger. Aesthetics don't matter to some.

 

[Demo24]

That may be because certain people have difficulty reading "smaller sized" text. 800 x 600 res gives them better readability cos obviously the text size is bigger. Aesthetics don't matter to some.

I have to do this all the time because most of the people I work with are older. Thankfully windows 7 seems better about this, and its easier to adjust the DPI.

 

[Jeff7]

That may be because certain people have difficulty reading "smaller sized" text. 800 x 600 res gives them better readability cos obviously the text size is bigger. Aesthetics don't matter to some.

Though modifying the default text size in Windows tends to screw up the appearance in quite a few applications, to the point of rendering some sections unreadable because the window won't scale itself properly.
One interesting bug is in Excel 2007: The Custom Sort window will grow a bit each time it's opened, and will only stop growing after it fills the entire screen. There seems to be no fix in the works, besides getting me a new set of eyes so that I can run Windows at its default DPI setting.

Back in WinXP, I ran my 21" CRT at 1024x768, as the text size setting in WinXP was even less useful than it is in Win7 - most programs I used didn't seem to follow it very well, and it wasn't at all consistent.
Now with LCDs, I'm stuck with whatever resolution they're made for.

 

[slicksilver]

My friend's brother who made it very big when young and was a big bully once asked us that he wants to learn how to play winzip. He didn't know what winzip was but heard about it when we were taking about unzipping warez. This was around year 2000. God knows how we didn't controlled ourselves and burst out into laughter. We literally died inside.

 

[Schfifty Five]

My friend's brother who made it very big when young and was a big bully once asked us that he wants to learn how to play winzip. He didn't know what winzip was but heard about it when we were taking about unzipping warez. This was around year 2000. God knows how we didn't controlled ourselves and burst out into laughter. We literally died inside.

Do you know what literally means?

 

[MotionMan]

Do you know what literally means?

:thumbsup:

MotionMan

 

[MedicBob]

User: What is your password?
Me: Why?
User I need to log in.
Me: User your own.
User: I can't, it doesn't work.
Me: Ummm, not sure how giving my password is going to help you.
User:It will, your name is in the name field.

 

[Tweak155]

This older guy I know decided to finally get a computer. He bought this computer using a time machine, however it managed to run Windows XP.

Well he calls me and asks why his computer won't boot into windows. I said I wasn't sure and base on his description it might be a hardware issue, since he says it is on but it just doesn't boot into windows. So I head to his place...

I get there and the laptop is sitting there plugged in, ready to be turned on. So I turn it on and it boots to the login screen. I'm like ok so far so good - "are you just not sure what the password is?" - he tells me he isn't aware of a password. So I just hit enter and it logs right in.

The desktop finishes loading I'm like well... here you go not sure what your issue was. He tells me it still hasn't booted into windows. I'm like this is windows, i'm not sure what you mean. I started internet explorer by doing start -> run -> iexplore and while it is trying to load he goes "THERE IT IS!".

EDIT:

The laptop was old enough to not have an internal wireless adapter (back when they weren't standard). I actually had to recommend a PCMCIA card.

 

[mikeymikec]

My friend's brother who made it very big when young and was a big bully once asked us that he wants to learn how to play winzip. He didn't know what winzip was but heard about it when we were taking about unzipping warez. This was around year 2000. God knows how we didn't controlled ourselves and burst out into laughter. We literally died inside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilvy7Ob6fZ0

 

[bigi]

Where is the any key....

"I see cotorol and pigup" there is no any key.

 

[StrangerGuy]

That may be because certain people have difficulty reading "smaller sized" text. 800 x 600 res gives them better readability cos obviously the text size is bigger. Aesthetics don't matter to some.

This reminds me of those people who said CRTs suck because everything was so big and grainy at 640x480 and flickers like hell at 60 Hz when almost all CRTs can do a lot better.

 

[Ns1]

The desktop finishes loading I'm like well... here you go not sure what your issue was. He tells me it still hasn't booted into windows. I'm like this is windows, i'm not sure what you mean. I started internet explorer by doing start -> run -> iexplore and while it is trying to load he goes "THERE IT IS!".

head explodes.

 

[Wyndru]

We have a few users that consistently use applications as file explorers. They will call up asking why certain files won't open, and I always have to verify that they aren't trying to open something other than a word file from Word's open menu.

 

[mizzou]

"Hey, this new laptop isn't connecting to the internet."

Really? Are you using a line to connect to the internet or are you trying to use wifi?

"Wifi, it said it came with an aircard."

OK, well who is your internet service provider?

"I don't have one, thats why I bought a laptop with an aircard."

 

[Puddle Jumper]

We have a few users that consistently use applications as file explorers. They will call up asking why certain files won't open, and I always have to verify that they aren't trying to open something other than a word file from Word's open menu.

I've noticed a quite a few of those people also seem to think Windows isn't capable of multitasking so they will open a file in word and then need to access another file in the same folder so they will close out of word and browse for that other file in some other application.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Some lady once put a sticker under her optical mouse sensor and asked me why it doesnt work.

This is a really good gag/prank to pull. Take some scotch tape, a small piece of paper, and cover up the sensor. Did it to a coworker on the other side of the wall from me, she spent about 45 minutes trying to figure it out. After she couldn't and calls tech support to try and figure it out I told her what I did. We were in training at the time and didn't really have much to do so it didn't hurt her.

At my company it's policy to have end users replace toner cartridges. We had a user, who is now a manager, sends a ticket to us requesting us to change it:

Them: Printer blah needs toner replaced
Us: The toner is located (here), it's the end users job to replace toner.
Them: 1) Changing toner is an inherently risky job and 2) without proper training can be hazardous.
Us: /facepalm

 

[Raduque]

That's not really a stupid question for folks who don't know about laptops. Those things recharge in the car just fine when the car is turned off.

I guess I should've explained that I've told her, several times, the laptop has to be TURNED ON to charge things.

She has also freaked out about losing her cell, to the point where she will start searching for it through the house, while she's using the damn thing.

She's also good for calling me up and going "My computer's not working/acting weird" and when I ask her what it's doing, she says "I don't know".
/headdesk
Getting more details out of her about the problem is like pulling teeth from a pissed off barracuda.


Edit:

I just came into the thread, started reading at the beginning and responded to the posts in order.

Is that really a problem for you?

Should I just post once and wait until someone else posts before I post again?

MotionMan

We've got a multi-quote button now. Just click the button on each post you want to reply to, and when you get to the last post, click quote.

 

[vshah]

Here's one I still think about on occasion... I was showing a guy in the office my serial trackball(this is early 90s), and telling him how I preferred it to a mouse. It said it was alright, but it didn't work well for him, as he slid it across the desk to demonstrate. I still wonder if he was trolling me, or if he thought that was how a trackball was used :^/

haha excellent idea to troll an officemate

 

[Jeff7]

This is a really good gag/prank to pull. Take some scotch tape, a small piece of paper, and cover up the sensor. Did it to a coworker on the other side of the wall from me, she spent about 45 minutes trying to figure it out. After she couldn't and calls tech support to try and figure it out I told her what I did. We were in training at the time and didn't really have much to do so it didn't hurt her.

At my company it's policy to have end users replace toner cartridges. We had a user, who is now a manager, sends a ticket to us requesting us to change it:

Them: Printer blah needs toner replaced
Us: The toner is located (here), it's the end users job to replace toner.
Them: 1) Changing toner is an inherently risky job and 2) without proper training can be hazardous.
Us: /facepalm

Someone did that to me once.
Somehow the mouse was able to continue functioning normally.
I don't know if it was clear tape, or if its IR laser thing could see through the tape. He was disappointed.

 

[MotionMan]

At a swim party at my house this past weekend someone asked if you have to let a CD or DVD "dry" for any period of time after it is written to before using it.

MotionMan

 

[ch33zw1z]

MotionMan, maybe the person meant after "writing" on it with a sharpie?!

 

[MotionMan]

MotionMan, maybe the person meant after "writing" on it with a sharpie?!

Sadly, no.

MotionMan

 

[Minerva]

 

[ch33zw1z]

^ LOL. he went through those 50 cd's quick, one of those is on the bottom!