I earned my tech stripes supporting windows 95, and got a computer and networking AA by the middle of 99 (This included an MCSE and A+) My practical tech experience got me more than the schooling, but I was one of the sharper tools in the technical shed, compared to both schoolmates and coworkers. Still, with years of tech support, QA testing, and practical networking support (NT/2000, Unix, and 9x support, I still have a hell of a time getting interviews for a work-a-day job. I get a fair amount of freelance work, mainly because I am a damn good tech that gets the job done for my customers. Over 2/3 the people I worked with on tech support can't do what I can. I am supporting the folks that need a good tech but can't afford a full time tech.
I would love to find a job doing support, but I have a low curry tolerance. I know personally that over 50 people I know lost their jobs to India. I will not buy any Netgear hardware due to their moving tech support to india. That and living in Oregon, the worst state for unemployment in the country, it's a small wonder I can find work to keep busy at all. 4 years ago, it was not like this at all. The only chance for real money is to upgrade, and specialize. I have gone to small business apps, and audio processing software/hardware.
I built 2 systems with 40 gig deathstars, one failed within 3 months, and it's replacement failed last week. The other made about 8 months before a failure caused a reload, then a replacement of the disk, I put Western Digital special editions, and have had no problems, and have had performance increases.
As for warranty replacement? They don't give you drop shipped replacements any more via Hitachi's support. That's a pisser. I would definitely avoid any purchase of Hitachi drives, the cost is not worth the headache.
A company I work for has had their hosting ISP's mail server blocked. They just don't get it that when people use email to communicate, that they are supposed to send the email to the proper boxes.
And mapped a drive on the machines, so media player can do the work. a file server, the computers do the actual browsing and playing, and nobody has to listen to the same thing the others are listening to.
I can play over an 802.11 connection, or via the 100base network at home.
I have an old NEC that could support a processor twice it's original speed, and all but the hard drive could be removed in seconds. CPU is plug in, only a screw to hold the RAM cover, and the CPU can be yanked right after removing the cover.
10 minutes? In 10 the whole thing could be "up on blocks" with 6 minutes to spare, If you know the laptop. With a locked up system, those are about the only useful parts.
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I earned my tech stripes supporting windows 95, and got a computer and networking AA by the middle of 99 (This included an MCSE and A+) My practical tech experience got me more than the schooling, but I was one of the sharper tools in the technical shed, compared to both schoolmates and coworkers. Still, with years of tech support, QA testing, and practical networking support (NT/2000, Unix, and 9x support, I still have a hell of a time getting interviews for a work-a-day job. I get a fair amount of freelance work, mainly because I am a damn good tech that gets the job done for my customers. Over 2/3 the people I worked with on tech support can't do what I can. I am supporting the folks that need a good tech but can't afford a full time tech. I would love to find a job doing support, but I have a low curry tolerance. I know personally that over 50 people I know lost their jobs to India. I will not buy any Netgear hardware due to their moving tech support to india. That and living in Oregon, the worst state for unemployment in the country, it's a small wonder I can find work to keep busy at all. 4 years ago, it was not like this at all. The only chance for real money is to upgrade, and specialize. I have gone to small business apps, and audio processing software/hardware.
I built 2 systems with 40 gig deathstars, one failed within 3 months, and it's replacement failed last week. The other made about 8 months before a failure caused a reload, then a replacement of the disk, I put Western Digital special editions, and have had no problems, and have had performance increases. As for warranty replacement? They don't give you drop shipped replacements any more via Hitachi's support. That's a pisser. I would definitely avoid any purchase of Hitachi drives, the cost is not worth the headache.
A company I work for has had their hosting ISP's mail server blocked. They just don't get it that when people use email to communicate, that they are supposed to send the email to the proper boxes.
And mapped a drive on the machines, so media player can do the work. a file server, the computers do the actual browsing and playing, and nobody has to listen to the same thing the others are listening to. I can play over an 802.11 connection, or via the 100base network at home.
I have an old NEC that could support a processor twice it's original speed, and all but the hard drive could be removed in seconds. CPU is plug in, only a screw to hold the RAM cover, and the CPU can be yanked right after removing the cover. 10 minutes? In 10 the whole thing could be "up on blocks" with 6 minutes to spare, If you know the laptop. With a locked up system, those are about the only useful parts.