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BBC Writer Tries PC Repair, Finds Poor Software
twitter writes "BBC author Paul Rubens tried out amateur computer repair and wrote about it. All of the software was for Windows, and he finds what most of us do: "Most of the problems I've been called to look at have been caused by viruses and spyware, some by strange software [conflicts], and only one by faulty hardware." He then flames the whole world of computer repairmen as 'a bunch of unqualified amateurs.'"
...he didn't try to become a pilot!
-Valiss
If they knew what they were doing, they wouldn't be wasting their time cleaning spyware off grandma's machine for $12/hr.
You're right, I charge $40/hr
Seriously though, what can you expect from an article written by PeeWee Herman?
Fortunately, the hardware problem ended up being a temporary issue.
"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold." -- Joseph Chilton Pearce
Computer!? You said the secret word!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
In my experience when people try to fix their own computers my billable hours go UP!
Heh. Lightweight. I break their computer and then they have to pay me to get an all-new one. And if they're too cheap to get one, problem solved.
I haven't done too many home computers, because the owners are just too uninformed about the things, and once I touch it, they figure anything that goes wrong with it after that is somehow my fault.
One home user I went to had something like 26 viruses and over 100 malware/spyware-related objects on the machine. After spending three hours fixing everything, I looked at they guy's history, and there were hundreds of porn and gambling sites. This guy's wife is extremely religious, and supposedly he is too, so I kept my mouth shut so as not to embarrass him, but I wanted to say, "If you'd stay off the ****ing porn and gambling sites, you'd have no problems.
That was five months ago. Last week he called me back with the same problems. Same viruses; same malware; same history list.
Good grief!
Proverbs 21:19