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Dealing With The Always-Breaking Family PC?
Corby Ziesman asks: "I am sure many on Slashdot are entrusted to maintain computers for their family members. I've built a few computers for my sister over the years; however she constantly complains to me that 'something's wrong' with the computer, and claims that it 'just stopped working' all by itself. She blames the computer I built, calling it 'a piece of crap', yet it works flawlessly once I start using her old computer after she has upgraded. I've considered revoking her access to Windows, and giving her Ubuntu Linux or something, however she has a lot of games and art applications like Corel Painter that require Windows. How do I get her up and running, so that I don't have to keep fixing the computer every month? I'm tired of digging in the registry, checking the processes for spyware, and all that. I have also tried to educate her about how to use a computer intelligently, but she seems to lack common sense when it comes to what software is suspicious and bloated, and what is trustworthy. So I ask the Slashdot community: how do you cope with your family members who have a talent for torturing computers?"
Don't give her admin rights...
Set it to automatically scan for spyware, etc, at a time when she isn't on but the computer is.
And make her use Firefox if she isn't.
I take family that refuses to learn, and leave them to their own devices. They were smart enough to get into this mess, they can figure their way out. At most I would give them URL's to self-help websites and the like. It's given me a lot of peace of mind, and a few relatives that now "get it".
If a family member or friend of mine called a bunch of work I had done for them (for free) 'crap', I would take the hint and not do stuff for them anymore. Seriously, why are you maintaining your sisters computer? Is your time less valuable than her money or something?
If she calls a computer you built for her "a piece of crap", then forget it. She obviously doesn't respect you, or the work you're doing for her. Let her buy her own PC, and when it fails, let her take it to Best Buy and see how much they charge.
That should change her tune quickly. The only reason she's not learning how to manage a PC is that there are no consequences when she breaks it. She'll just get you to fix it. If she has to PAY for it, however, she'll learn quickly enough.
Make her run as a dumb user - now she can't install stupid shit.
Test each of her apps to make sure they still work without admin access.
If an app breaks, you can troubleshoot with regmon and filemon, i.e. many apps need r/w perms in their own directory for some retarded reason.
If she has a fast internet connection, set things up so you can RDP or VNC into her machine for the few times she'll legitimately need to install new software.
First, stop making her computers. Make her get a Dell or something and use their support. I guarantee you - if you persist and make her a computer and put Linux on it - every user error she encounters will be your fault, not hers - and this is based on what she's already doing. Get out of it now before it stresses your relationship too far...
Second, if she uses your support - charge her appropriately. I've found that if a client has to pay because they clicked some spyware into the system, they learn and don't do it again. Or... I make a regular income from them...
Charge her your standard rate, as if she were calling a business to fix it. You spend two hours cleaning Bonzi Buddy and 180solutions out of her machine....charge her for two hours labour.
Once it starts hurting her pocketbook, maybe she'll realize it's easier to learn it herself.
That's what I do with my relatives, and it works quite nicely. The only ones who get free support are my parents, and my wife's parents. And they're both on dialup, so they don't get a lot of crap to begin with.
Next time she foobars it, fix it, but tell her you're going to start charging her $40/hr or so, starting with your next visit. Make it $10-15 less than the going rate for most techs in your area.
She'll probably get pissed, and call around to a few other places, only to find out they're all more expensive. But she'll learn something in the end.
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
"She blames the computer I built, calling it 'a piece of crap', yet it works flawlessly once I start using her old computer after she has upgraded. "
I'm guessing your sister is a preteen or teenager, but this isn't a bad idea even if she's an adult.
Stop building her computers if that's her attitude, and explain to your her and your parents why. Chances are, she's doing something that's causing the problems or she just wants a newer computer. Let her spend some cash and wrestle with Dell tech support.
she seems to lack common sense when it comes to what software is suspicious and bloated, and what is trustworthy
Nothing about a computer is common sense. Nothing about a computer is intuitive. It is entirely learned, and much of it is complicated and esoteric.
I suggest at least part of the problem is your unrealistic expectation that everyone have complete knowledge of computers.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Don't make a computer for anyone who insults your handiwork.
Sit them down in front of you, look them in the eye and say:
"This is not working. I try to do my best helping you with your computer problems in any way I can; I even built your last computer to save you some money. I have been at your beck and call, day and night, for years. What I get from you is a constant stream of complaints."
"Clearly, what I can offer you in help is not good enough by far. I do not know the reason - it could be incompetence on my part, it could be you inadvertently doing things you should not, or it could be that Windows, and the programs you want to run on it, just aren't very good quality. Quite possibly it is a combination of these. It doesn't matter, though - you are miserable, and that makes me miserable too."
"So from now on I will not interfere. No longer will my bungled attempts at fixing things just make everythng worse. I suggest you buy your next computer from a real vendor, with a service contract, and contact their professionals if you ever experience a problem with your new machine. You will be a lot happier knowing you can rely on people who help users for a living, and I can be free of the guilt of trying to do things that are perhaps over my head."
"I am truly sorry I have inconvenienced you like this for years. I wanted to help but of course I whould have known better."
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.