Curse

EchoSex · Jan 19, 2006, 11:54 PM // 23:54

It's true - a computer is just like a pet. You need to pay for it's food (electricity, software), you gotta buy it toys (printers, scanners, optical mice, flat panel monitors), you gotta give it attention (email, forums, updates, patches..), you gotta clean it (unistal old applications) and you gotta make sure it's healthy (smite viruses, spam bots, spybots, malware..). And, just like how some people shouldn't have pets, some people shouldn't have computers.

A computer is an OBLIGATION. In order for it to continue to work, it must be taken care of - much like what it takes for a pet to live. Let me give you an example... I've been making a few extra bucks on the side by working on other people's computers under my old Burmoda Computer Co. name. Almost 80% of the people claiming their computer is "messed up" have never run one virus scan, one spybot sweep and has never bothered to see what backround tasks are running. If these people didn't come to someone like me, they'd spend $500 to $2000 getting an entirely new system just because they couldn't save the old one, which would've been right as rain with just a proper probing.

Here's a more in depth example of how stupid some people are with computers: I fixed this woman's old ass Emachines PC that was causing her trouble. The power supply was clogged with crap and it was looooooaded with spybots (my three different programs picked up a combined total of 522 bots, trojans and mals). I cleaned it up, put some nice computer managing freeware in a "Burmoda Computer Co. Computer Management" folder on the desktop AND on the start menu AND deleted uneeded applications. Well, she seemed pleased enough. Guess what? She comes back in two weeks, blaming me for her own dumbass fault. She claims I "messed up her email." Turns out she downloaded Thunderbird and was too stupid to realize she'd have to redo her address book, and the idiot caught that new strain of AIM virus (since stupid people tend to localize into an over the net network). The virus was a pain - took a long time to shut down. Saved her restore files and even set up her address book. I got my appology and sent her on her way with her computer, knowing I'd hear from the nut job again. If she has cats, I'm sure they're dieing.

So, what do you guys think? Think they're like pets? Know some stupid people who should have their computers taken from them?

TheEPIC · Jan 20, 2006, 12:03 AM // 00:03

I definately think a computer is like a pet in that it requires a large commitment. After having a mess of issues with spyware and the like due to downloading Gunbound on my last computer, I have learned what to avoid to maintain my current one. Not only is it a matter of maintenance but also user smarts as to what to keep away from the computer. Some people are just too haphazard with their machines to be allowed to own them. You are entirely right.

I pwnd U · Jan 20, 2006, 01:17 PM // 13:17

Yes you are defiently right. You can't just set up a computer and except to not have to do anything to it. It requires constant attetion and you must keep it clean. Yet some people are to stupid and they set up their computer in the dirtiest work enviroments then wonder why something gets clogged up. Some people defiently should be banned from having a computer.

fiery · Jan 20, 2006, 02:29 PM // 14:29

i feed my pet kibbles and megabites.. what about you pet takers?

now im trying to breed my laptop with the desktop...and i think it might happen!

install spybot,get someones account of nortons.

xxSilhouette · Jan 20, 2006, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiery

i feed my pet kibbles and megabites.. what about you pet takers?

now im trying to breed my laptop with the desktop...and i think it might happen!

Lmao!!! No, seriously i agree that they are. Some people always say that there computer is thier 'baby', and some poeple call their pets baby so...there ya go

Omega Complex · Jan 20, 2006, 07:43 PM // 19:43

My machine is my baby, other than the fact that her lights are going out shes raring to go. SHE WILL EAT YOUR SOULS (but only on weekends)

Lou · Jan 20, 2006, 10:26 PM // 22:26

My old computer had a total of 712 different spyware bots and trojans and what not. I don't give a dam because unlike my cat my computer isn't alive. So the only thing I'm hurting is my wallet when I let it rot in a pool of viruses.

Storm Crow · Jan 20, 2006, 11:11 PM // 23:11

my 'puter's fresh as a daisy! recently cleaned of dust-mite intruders and is virus checked every friday night starting at 8:00pm sharp. she's still got some issues..but she loves playing with her DSL connection and is shaking with anticipation of a new vid card.

^^ yes. my computer is my baby, and I love her..and I couldn't live without her. *shnuggles monitor* I wuv you <3

SOT · Jan 20, 2006, 11:26 PM // 23:26

Here's one I picked up in the computer store I worked in for 4 years (a local thing):

Someone brings in a desktop PC for maintenance (where I lived at the time, 9 times out of 10 it was an HP machine). They begin by trying to sound techincally inclined, to appease their perception that you truly believe they know what the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO they are doing, they just cannot be bothered, and want you, the peon, to service their lordly needs.

In this example, the simian RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOtard explained in as much "cyberspace" as possible that the computer had the winx os, and the machines refused to reboot.

Naturally, as I am from West Texas, we are taught (some of us) to be polite, and listen to the idiot, keep a smile, and pretend to be emotionally moved to writing sonnets, all in the name of "happy customer".

I wrote all that to make a point that it was ME, not them, that got pissed off.

You see, whoever that person was in daily exchanges, they apparently lived in an instanced dungeon from World of Warcraft, namely, Wailing Caverns. The inside of the case was TATTOOED with fungus, mold, and creeping slime molds.

And this person wanted to know, with a straight face, innocence et al, what was WRONG with their machine.

Sometimes, the roles reverse, and the urge to murder is strong in this one...

Old Dood · Jan 20, 2006, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Not a Pet....A Child! They piss & moan & whine. They demand...they're expensive...

Then there are moments of pure joy....

EchoSex · Jan 20, 2006, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dood

Not a Pet....A Child! They piss & moan & whine. They demand...they're expensive...

Then there are moments of pure joy....

Heh, I think you're on to something. So true. They get sick, they're needy, they're filthy.. but at times you're just so damn proud..

COunt it If it GoEs · Jan 21, 2006, 12:32 AM // 00:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by EchoSex

Heh, I think you're on to something. So true. They get sick, they're needy, they're filthy.. but at times you're just so damn proud..

very true

Kaguya · Jan 21, 2006, 09:18 AM // 09:18

Pff. Taking care of the computer is overrated.

Haven't run a single ad-aware proggy, nor even have a virus scanner up and running.

And my system is still perfectly clean. How is that possible? By not starting up the computer at all? Nonono.

a) Firewall. Hardware or software. I'm sitting behind a NAT (hardware), keeps everything I don't want outside.

b) Something else than Internet Explorer. Seriously. IE is almost always the source of malware, junk, trash etc. Use Firefox or Opera. Or even Netscape. First thing I do when installing computers for friends etc, is changing their default browser to Firefox. Even my little brother's computer isn't that quickly infested with dirt ever since I stuffed Firefox onto his comp.

c) Avoid fishy links, files etc. Thinking is allowed in the internets. Don't click every link you see, nor install every file you see, nor automatically press 'Yes, yes yes!' when the programs ask you something. 2nd most common source of trash.

There we go, way to keep the computer safe&sound without having to clean it up every day and spent hours scanning it for trash.

At work there's a lot of amusing stuff.

-A guy brings a 200GB hard drive, saying that he had upgraded to WinXP without any service packs, and played around with the drive. Problem: unpatched WinXP DOESN'T support a drive larger than 137GB, and writing above this limit results in lost data. Well, I give it a try anyways (he said he had tried all kinds of data restorers etc already), I poke it open with RecoverPro (it spent ~30 hours scanning the drive /yawn). It's supposed to have some improtant music videos that are rare to get. What I find, is lots of FILExxxxx.CHK/MPG whatever, doings of windows checkdisk, and only recoverable stuff is... porn. Just said him that the videofiles he was looking for couldn't be recovered.

-People bring computers because they work slow. Usual stuff, ad-aware etc through, find a few thousand infections and spend few hours cleaning it up. Found a lot of MP3s etc, which were downloaded with Kazaa (think it was that, anyways it comes bundled with spyware as is) plus favorites links were more than fishy. Got the trash out atleast, prolly won't take long till the comp is back for cleaning.

Omega_2005 · Jan 21, 2006, 12:09 PM // 12:09

I've got a laptop called "laggy" because it has got an extremely ancient graphics card and it always drones when WoW and GW is being played, but at least it works most of the time.

I have done a few mistakes while building my XP on it, but I'm learning from my mistakes and I'll make sure that I don't do it again.

"Practice Makes Perfect, my friend"

counciler132 · Jan 23, 2006, 10:48 AM // 10:48

Well, I have an old Compaq Presario SR1110NX. Its got a GeForce FX 5200 and a nice approx. 2 GHz Processor. Unfortunately, as much as I scan and clean her, she is still as slow as molasses. I know the problem however.

I let some idiot work on her a while back. He partitioned the 180GB hard drive into a bunch of little ones, leaving me with a 33.1GB hard drive left over. He claimed that if one broke, I could use another. A-Hole. It also has WAY too many background tasks running, many of which I've no idea what they are.But I'll let a pro sort them out; I don't want to end up saying, "What is 'rundll32.exe'? Oh well, END TASK." *shudders*

Eventually, I will bring it to a very friendly professional who is very good at what he does. Albiet, expensive.

I will admit, I was reckless with my first few PC's. Used IE for browsing, downloaded tons of stuff from obscure sites, and never scanned. That PC never lasted long. Poor thing. It is still alive, but is almost totally catatonic. Eventually, I will perform a hard drive wipe on it and give it to my girlfreind for GW playing.

But at least I will honestly admit that I messed it up. When I walk into the guy's shop, I dont' say, "This stupid thing is broken again.", I usually say, "Yup, I managed to screw the poor thing up again." And proceed to pay up the $30 an hour for my idiocy.

Old Dood · Jan 23, 2006, 12:24 PM // 12:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by counciler132

"What is 'rundll32.exe'? Oh well, END TASK." *shudders*

Ahh...you need that one. Do not end task on DLL files unless you know what you are doing.

If you have a restore disk that came with your computer you can reformat it and get it back to it's original state...hard drive back to a full sized drive. You will lose all your data so if you need to burn it (your data) to a CD or DVD then run your set-up disk.

EDIT: I should also add that there is a Tech Forum here to post these kind of questions.

TheEPIC · Jan 31, 2006, 05:46 AM // 05:46

Well, pet (a.k.a. the computer) just crapped out on me. Apparently, the "chip fan" (a.k.a. the processor heatsink) has failed. And I'm not very happy as I was just starting to get interested in playing GW again.

My computer must also think I'm stupid too, because when the error message comes up during startup, it tells me that I may still continue start up on my machine if I hit f1. Yeah, like I'm going to let my relatively new processor keep running with its crippled heatsink.

Oh well, now I get to deal with Alienware tech support, which will probably have me send my machine to them so that they can replace the heatsink, because if I do I void my warranty. All I can say is that this better be fast and free since my computer is still under warranty.

EchoSex · Jan 31, 2006, 03:42 PM // 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEPIC

Well, pet (a.k.a. the computer) just crapped out on me. Apparently, the "chip fan" (a.k.a. the processor heatsink) has failed. And I'm not very happy as I was just starting to get interested in playing GW again.

My computer must also think I'm stupid too, because when the error message comes up during startup, it tells me that I may still continue start up on my machine if I hit f1. Yeah, like I'm going to let my relatively new processor keep running with its crippled heatsink.

Oh well, now I get to deal with Alienware tech support, which will probably have me send my machine to them so that they can replace the heatsink, because if I do I void my warranty. All I can say is that this better be fast and free since my computer is still under warranty.

Comp USA - $20 for the biggest damn fan you can buy with a copper heat sink (pre skinned with liquid silver). Just unplug it, detach it, put the new one and replug in the fan contorl/power cable. Rather easy than having to send your entire damn computer out to those asshats at Alienware. (We make the best computers! ...For $4,000 than what it costs to build it...)

TheEPIC · Jan 31, 2006, 09:24 PM // 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by EchoSex

Comp USA - $20 for the biggest damn fan you can buy with a copper heat sink (pre skinned with liquid silver). Just unplug it, detach it, put the new one and replug in the fan contorl/power cable. Rather easy than having to send your entire damn computer out to those asshats at Alienware. (We make the best computers! ...For $4,000 than what it costs to build it...)

Well, I would do that, except if I do I void my warranty on my computer. And I just don't want to void the warranty on the machine with the possibility that something far worse than the processor's heat sink failing could happen. If it were a machine that I built myself I would definately have it fixed already, but now I'm going to have to wait. I think from now on I'm just going to build my computers from scratch like I did with my old pentium 3.

SOT · Jan 31, 2006, 10:04 PM // 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dood

Ahh...you need that one. Do not end task on DLL files unless you know what you are doing.

Uh. Erm. Hehe. Um.

That file is used by COUNTLESS prcesses, not all of them are noble

The trick is, knowing what process is calling to that file. I do not recommend DELETING said file, but if you see it running in your task listing, it sometimes means that dr. watson (a really annoying debug thing that windows tries to buttforce you in the background when it shits itself) is running. Virtual memory could be low, you could just have a hiccup. The list truly is staggering.

Close rundll all you want, but do NOT delete it. Windows will have a coronary.