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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...
Tell him/her to buy a Mac.
Problem solved.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
Because PC's are marketed as appliances, and appliances (as we all know) "just work" for years without our having to think about, most users are incapable of grasping the facts that any geek takes for granted (and which I won't recap here).
Your path is clear, unless you *want* to be a Windows support specialist, or have a secret masochistic streak; the next time your sister's box goes on the fritz give her the 800 number to Dell...and let them deal with her.
At the very least, after a Bangalore call center experience she *should* come back to you with a better attitude.
Some days it's just not worth
chewing through my restraints.
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.
I say do what the professionals do. Use XP Professional, and set family up with User level access, and tight security settings, that will stop her from doing stupid stuff. Giving them Linux or a Mac usually works best but if you family is going to need windows only apps and give a fuss if they don't have it. Then spend the extra cash and get XP Professional.
When setting up permissions make sure they cannot install software without access. And don't give them Administrator access and not the admin password. But make sure these is enough for their apps to work.
The next step is removing as many traces of Internet Explorer as possible and get them to use Firefox or Opera as the default browser. Also make sure they have a Virus Protection software and anti-Spyware tools. If they are not freeware make sure they are registed and will keep themselves updated automatically.
Finally explain to you family about the last system they said was broken and state you noticed no problems with it. Let them know their actions can damage the Software, and there is nothing that you can do, or Dell or Compact, to stop that. You need to tell them that it is not worth it to overly cutify your PC, while some are reputable most will damage the software, and for most cases there is no good way to know if it bad or good from observations, or guessing by the quality of the website, or the terms in the legalese.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
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 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.
The basic thing I do is lay some ground rules for whether I will fix a computer.
For instance: If there is enough space to backup an image of the OS, I create that backup, and lay Ground Rules of:
Yes, that's a pain, so do it once every couple of months. But have a schedule, and stick to it.
Now, if these instructions didn't work, or if you didn't follow them, here's the rules for when I swing by to help out:
These are not intended to be as oppressive as they are. I'm actually fairly nice, cheerful, helpful, knowledgeable, and understanding.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
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.
I know people modded that funny, but that isn't a bad idea. However, since the poster mentioned Linux, why not set Linux up on a dual boot, disable all internet access on MS Windows, then set up internet access on Linux only. That way, the sister will still be able to run the "holy" Windows programs, but will not easily be able to download and install malware. No XP Professional required.
I don't understand why they wouldn't supply the basic security features in the Home version. In fact, they should have put it in Windows 95. Linux and FreeBSD both had file permissions from the beginning--okay I haven't been using them that long, but I know it was before '95. I wonder why that is...oh yeah, MS doesn't care about their customers, they just want to fleece them.
Nice to see you put computers and operating systems before your own family.
As for your actual comment, this is exactly what I did: someone in family bought a Mac and ever since the only questions are about how to use the computer/which software to use. I haven't had to "repair/fix" his computer since he bought it almost a year ago (Mac mini G4/1.25GHz, 512MB).
To be honest, with OS X and all the software it comes with (iLife, etc), the Mac really is the computer for the average user.
The problem with purchasing his sister a brain is the installation process. Most users don't want to open the cases on their bodies, or have the requisite expertise. I'm sure that his sister could be sent back to the factory, they'll refurbish her put in the brain if necessary, and sell her at a discount, and he'll get a nice new sister.
Once again I'll suggest the easiest solution I have come across. And it really does work. Visit http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm and download the hosts file. Set it up (takes about 2 minutes) and then make it read only. Once a month or so - whenever you visit, update the hosts file. The file on this site is updated regularly. The last update is from yesterday. This file is released under the Creative Commons license and prevents 'bad' pages or sites from loading. Obviously, spyware from unknown sites is not stopped by this but it prevents such a high percentage of unwanted crap that it has resulted in NO calls from friends or family members to fix spyware related problems on their pc's.