pouët.net

Computer Stupidities

category: offtopic [glöplog]
I remembered this site http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/
And I coppied this from dbf because I found it hilarious

I work at an ISP in the United Kingdom. The most shocking call I received came from a student at a local college here. He had received a CD for an ISP from an American friend.

Customer: "Hi there. I got this CD from an American, and he says that his ISP is better than mine because the calls are free. So can I install it?"
Me: "Yes sir, that's your choice completely. But is this an American ISP? Because if so, I don't think it will work with your computer."
Customer: "Listen, I happen to be a computer student. I know exactly what I'm doing, so don't insult my intelligence!" (click)
Ten minutes later, he called back, humbled.

Customer: "My computer exploded."
Me: "What!? How did that happen?"
Customer: "Well, the CD didn't work. I couldn't get through to the ISP. So, I changed the computer to American power."
He'd changed the voltage switch while the computer was on, causing the power supply to explode.
added on the 2011-04-08 13:18:08 by Optimus Optimus
that's obviously his ISPs fault!
Those guys at the ISP are dicks. Poor guy.
added on the 2011-04-08 13:59:20 by ferris ferris
F*cking AOL cds!!?!1!!
added on the 2011-04-08 14:20:26 by ringofyre ringofyre
Where's the "any" key?

And also:

a: Click on my computer.

b: But I don't know where your computer is.
I used to work in computer retail and a woman asked me if the ream of A4 paper she bought was compatible with Windows XP.
added on the 2011-04-08 14:56:26 by rc55 rc55
Also from a computer engineering student: "Can't have OpenGL and DirectX on the same program."
added on the 2011-04-08 15:00:15 by xernobyl xernobyl
Quote:
Around 2001, our family got a new desktop computer from a popular computer company. We also got an inkjet printer in a sort of bundle deal. After a few weeks of flawless operation, the printer ceased working and made an odd clicking sound whenever a document was sent to it. We called customer support for help.

The customer support associate went through an idiotic troubleshooting checklist ("Is the printer plugged into the wall?" and so forth) and then had us check the device manager and reinstall the printer drivers. I told him it did not appear to be a software problem, because the printer was making odd noises, which indicated a mechanical failure of some kind. After an hour long session of troubleshooting, we were advised to box up the computer and printer and send it to their repair center. Yes, not just the printer but the computer as well.

They asked if we had any files on the hard drive that we'd like to save. We told them which files and folders to save for us. Finally we got the computer back and a new printer. The computer had been wiped and the operating system reinstalled, and we got our data files on a CD.

The problem? A cheeto had fallen into the printer and jammed it. They sent the cheeto back in a small plastic bag. The printer was covered by the warranty, but the CD backup was not, so they charged us $100 for it.


I'd say it was pretty stupid of them to send in the computer in the first place.
added on the 2011-04-08 15:08:01 by Deus Deus
I work for Iomega tech support. One day, when I was answering the AOL message board questions, I ran across a letter complaining that this person's zip drive had ejected a zip disk clear across the room and hit her dog in the eye. The dog supposedly lost vision in that eye and wanted Iomega to pay for the vet bill. I wrote back asking for a picture of the injury. I got back a picture of a dog wearing a pirate patch.
added on the 2011-04-08 15:11:25 by Optimus Optimus
Not really amazing/amusing, but one of my friends asked me long time ago to make icons on her desktop as big as it's possible. Not really understanding what she means, I started fiddling with some explorer.exe enhancements, until she said she would like to have everything bigger on the screen. A little switch turned in my head, and I changed the desktop resolution to 800x600, on 21' display. She was delighted with the result.
added on the 2011-04-08 15:16:43 by wrthlss wrthlss
This happened over 10 years ago, my sister wanted to download mIrc so she screamed at me....

"What am i suppose todo here?" showing me explorers "download file" window.

"well, isnt it obvious, you must select save to disk"

"BUT I DON'T WANT TO SAVE IT ON A DISKETTE"!

I laughed right in her face...which..might have been cruel considering the mixup isnt THAT unusual...but...she was my older sister and really obnoxious.
added on the 2011-04-08 15:22:03 by Deus Deus
My aboves should be quoted, it wasn't my experience but copied from teh site.

I am wondering if I ever made my own personal computer stupidity. I must have since everyone start from somewhere but I don't remember much. I think I fell for a screensaver once that showing some disney characters on a lab, I thought someone was working or watching a multimedia cd-rom then in 1999, and asked the girl next if someone was working on this computer, oh it's a screensaver, duh :P
added on the 2011-04-08 16:06:31 by Optimus Optimus
I guess we all have at some point. A while back we persuaded a PC technician here that you can speed up network connections by polishing the ends of the cables.. he's been doing this job for 10 years or so :)
added on the 2011-04-08 16:50:19 by psonice psonice
not really a computer stupidity thingie but still annoying - my personal experience this week:

Quote:
Got my brand new laptop at the office thursday. first thing that happens when I logon is an error popup saying that my disk isn't encrypted and that I should contact helpdesk. I placed a ticket to helpdesk regarding the problem. Helpdesk called up saying they had to reinstall the encryption software - I said that they could do it when I left the office. Friday morning when I got back into the office the software reinstall had failed and my soundcard was broken. I called them back up and explained the problem. Their only answer was that I should return the PC and receive a new one. The return process at my office is to return the PC and wait for a new one - so Friday afternoon I turned the PC in and now I'm waiting for a new one to arrive "sometime next week".


ffs :)
working in tech support for 7 years now all this "dumb user experiences" are really not funny anymore.
added on the 2011-04-08 19:03:54 by wysiwtf wysiwtf
During my brief unemployed phase 8 years ago I did tech support for 6 months...

I walked 14 professional accountants through the process of finding the right mouse button.
added on the 2011-04-09 00:43:13 by GbND GbND
Done my own - about 1997 I downloaded a piece of sw to lock the screen (LockIt I think - couldn't find it & the cjb.net site is long gone). It had hash/crc for the password, autostart and was a nifty little proggy for what it did - prying eyes and all that. I wrote my alphanumeric (with punctuation) password down then promptly lost my little black book of passwords!
Ended up having to get my mum to go to the site, get the guys email, email him to get the master password.
Then I sussed out that win98se could do exactly the same thing on the screensaver!
added on the 2011-04-09 03:59:42 by ringofyre ringofyre
kinda lousy to have a master password on a piece of security software.
Mmmm.
added on the 2011-04-09 10:18:24 by ringofyre ringofyre
Having said that it was freeware & you didn't have to register or anything like that so no real way the dev. to trace to the user.
added on the 2011-04-09 10:25:23 by ringofyre ringofyre
Well my personal tech experience was when i bought "LEGO Creator" game… it didnt work on my computer so i returned it back to the store, but they didnt want to give money, but a 2nd copy. Well so i tried that one and it still didnt work. So i filled out the support mail thingy that was in the pack and send it to LEGO. Than i returned the game again to the store and now they gave the money back.

After a week or something LEGO send a free updated copy via mail + a lego keychain :D
I tried a couple of them (Rock Raiders, Lego Racers & Lego Island) on my daughters xp box - all f*cked! Even the disks wouldn't mount and run properly.
added on the 2011-04-09 10:41:41 by ringofyre ringofyre
maybe they don't run with australian power.
when i assembled a coumputer and tried to turn it on, i believed the power supply was broken. in fact, i forgot to plug in the cable, wich i realized a minute later or so.

ok, the stupidity is not _that_ spectacular. :P
added on the 2011-04-09 12:37:54 by rac rac
Wait - I'll just switch it ove...
added on the 2011-04-09 12:38:43 by ringofyre ringofyre

login