Computer Stupidities - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Ydde · 11-02-2004, 01:06 AM

These are from a website http://rinkworks.com/stupid/
It's a website where tech support guys post their funniest incidents at work.

Here are some of them:

I had a job at my local school board doing on-site technical support. We had just recently replaced all the Macintosh machines with Windows NT machines. While showing one of the secretaries the Windows environment, she asked where all of her icons were. I pointed to the two columns of icons on the left side of her screen.

* Her: "Yes, but on my Mac they were all over here on the right."
* Me: "Well, by default, Windows arranges the columns on the left side."
* Her: "But I'm right handed!"

I had a colleague who was very messy. Half of his cubicle was a pile of junk that reached to the top of the cubicle. Whenever he wanted something, he would rummage through all the stuff, throwing things aside until he found it. One day I asked him to find a computer file for me that I'd erased by mistake. It was taking him a while, so I went to look over his shoulder. His desktop was an exact duplicate of his cubicle. It had a massive pile of icons in one corner, and he was furiously rummaging through them to uncover the right file.

A while ago I was received a call from a woman who said that Eudora Pro was showing her password. I found this to be strange, because when you type it in your password in Eudora, it displays asterisks. So when I went over to her office and looked at her desktop. She had renamed the Eudora Pro icon with her password.

* A Friend: "There's an icon on my desktop that won't go away."
* Me: "Did you click on the icon once and hit 'delete'?"
* A Friend: "I haven't tried that yet."

* My Brother: "I tried to save the document, but I think I did something wrong. All my computer did was put an icon on the desktop."
* Me: "That's the document. Just double-click it and it will open in Word."
* My Brother: "But it's an icon! I wanted to save it as a file."

* Tech Support: "Now click on the icon that--"
* Customer: "Oh, I know what an icon is! That's that thing that Sandra Bullock clicked on in The Net!"

* Tech Support: "All right...now double-click on the File Manager icon."
* Customer: "That's why I hate this Windows -- because of the icons -- I'm a Protestant, and I don't believe in icons."
* Tech Support: "Well, that's just an industry term sir. I don't believe it was meant to --"
* Customer: "I don't care about any 'Industry Terms'. I don't believe in icons."
* Tech Support: "Well...why don't you click on the 'little picture' of a file cabinet...is 'little picture' ok?"
* Customer: [click]

Before moving into network support, I did PC support for a large multinational utility company. We had bases all over the country and personnel moves were frequent. There was an software model in use consisting of applications delivered to the desktop using Novell Application Launcher. A user's ability to run or even see applications depended on membership of Netware groups.

One user had moved sites and had his account moved to a different container. The next Monday, he logged a call to the help desk, saying that he couldn't see one of his applications any more. Obviously someone had just forgotten to add him to a group in his new location.

My colleague received the following email from a help desk employee:

Simon,
This user has moved from Motherwell to Wrexham and has lost his Landmaster icon. Could it have fallen out of his PC when it was being moved?

Seething · 11-02-2004, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Simon,
This user has moved from Motherwell to Wrexham and has lost his Landmaster icon. Could it have fallen out of his PC when it was being moved?

This one had me laughing the most. To think anyone could believe that tickles me.

All of them are funny, because they're true. Retarded people are all over the place.

Lizzy · 11-02-2004, 07:50 AM

I work in a college computer lab. I get questions some really stupid questions.

~ from people in 7000 level english classes asking how to make attachments
~ I deleted my paper can you find it for me?
~ I reset my email account password (for the university) and it wont work in yahoo what do i do?

ohhhh and so many more...

Charlatan · 11-02-2004, 08:42 AM

I do the tech support in my small office (among other things) and it never ceases to amaze me how little people know about something they use everyday...

In the end, I suppose it is a lot like cars. Most people drive but couldn't tell the difference between an alternator and a gasket...

avhg1 · 11-02-2004, 11:02 AM

My favorite is about converting file formats

"If I change it from .jpg to .pdf that works right?"

I've just started telling them that's correct and watching them try to open it.

NegativeNine · 11-02-2004, 03:57 PM

Thats the site! YAY! ... I formatted a while back and forgot to backup my favorites

... couldnt remember the name. my favorite one is:

Quote:

For a computer programming class, I sat directly across from someone, and our computers were facing away from each other. A few minutes into the class, she got up to leave the room. I reached between our computers and switched the inputs for the keyboards. She came back and started typing and immediately got a distressed look on her face. She called the teacher over and explained that no matter what she typed, nothing would happen. The teacher tried everything. By this time I was hiding behind my monitor and quaking red-faced. I started to type, "Leave me alone!"

They both jumped back, silenced. "What the..." the teacher said. I typed, "I said leave me alone!" The kid got real upset. "I didn't do anything to it, I swear!" It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. The conversation between them and HAL 2000 went on for an amazing five minutes.

Me: "Don't touch me!"
Her: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit your keys that hard."
Me: "Who do you think you are anyway?!"
Etc. Finally, I couldn't contain myself any longer and fell out of my chair laughing. After they had realized what I had done, they both turned beet red. Funny, I never got more than a C- in that class.

Thanks!

KinkyKiwi · 11-02-2004, 06:10 PM

lololol nice...i dont know much about computers but this made me feel much smarter

Gortexfogg · 11-03-2004, 06:22 AM

Hilarious stuff!

carrot glace · 11-03-2004, 08:36 AM

thats pretty good *grins*

WarriorBuddha · 11-04-2004, 08:01 AM

wow...and I thought I was computer dumn

snakedr · 11-05-2004, 08:21 AM

I am the tech support for three networks at different locations, one of the programs used at times will prompt the users to "hit any key to continue". One of my users called me one morning to ask where the "any key" was. Suppressing the urge to laugh out loud I told him to just hit the space bar when ever he is prompted to hit any key........but wait it gets better.......later that week as I was in his area loading patches I noticed he had used white out to write "Any Key" on his space bar.

FngKestrel · 11-08-2004, 02:17 AM

My favorite comes from when 5 1/4 disks were around and you needed to close the door on the drive so they could be read.

User: "My computer won't read the disk."
Tech Support: "Okay, put the disk in the drive."
User: "Okay."
Tech Support: "Now close the door."
*sounds of getting up, walking, SLAM!, walking*
User: "Okay, the door's closed, now what?"
Tech Support:"..."

alibaba · 11-09-2004, 10:37 AM

Good stuff.

We have a very annoying "on hold" message on our company's phone system. I recorded it as a .wav file and put in on a co-worker's computer for just about every system sound on his W2K PC.

I had forgotten about it, until one day he called me over to watch a funny video file and had his speakers turned up loud. At the end of the video clip he minimized the window and the message/wav came out of his speakers. He got all pissed off and turned his speakers off. He started yelling about how somehow his ethernet was crossed into the phone system and he couldn't fix it.

Paradise Lost · 11-09-2004, 11:51 AM

I've always loved that site, thanks for reminding me of its existance again... I have a feeling
I'm going to be the Tech Support guy answers some of these inane questions in the near
future.

11-02-2004, 01:06 AM	#1 (permalink)
Ydde Tilted Location: Singapore	Computer Stupidities These are from a website http://rinkworks.com/stupid/ It's a website where tech support guys post their funniest incidents at work. Here are some of them: I had a job at my local school board doing on-site technical support. We had just recently replaced all the Macintosh machines with Windows NT machines. While showing one of the secretaries the Windows environment, she asked where all of her icons were. I pointed to the two columns of icons on the left side of her screen. * Her: "Yes, but on my Mac they were all over here on the right." * Me: "Well, by default, Windows arranges the columns on the left side." * Her: "But I'm right handed!" I had a colleague who was very messy. Half of his cubicle was a pile of junk that reached to the top of the cubicle. Whenever he wanted something, he would rummage through all the stuff, throwing things aside until he found it. One day I asked him to find a computer file for me that I'd erased by mistake. It was taking him a while, so I went to look over his shoulder. His desktop was an exact duplicate of his cubicle. It had a massive pile of icons in one corner, and he was furiously rummaging through them to uncover the right file. A while ago I was received a call from a woman who said that Eudora Pro was showing her password. I found this to be strange, because when you type it in your password in Eudora, it displays asterisks. So when I went over to her office and looked at her desktop. She had renamed the Eudora Pro icon with her password. * A Friend: "There's an icon on my desktop that won't go away." * Me: "Did you click on the icon once and hit 'delete'?" * A Friend: "I haven't tried that yet." * My Brother: "I tried to save the document, but I think I did something wrong. All my computer did was put an icon on the desktop." * Me: "That's the document. Just double-click it and it will open in Word." * My Brother: "But it's an icon! I wanted to save it as a file." * Tech Support: "Now click on the icon that--" * Customer: "Oh, I know what an icon is! That's that thing that Sandra Bullock clicked on in The Net!" * Tech Support: "All right...now double-click on the File Manager icon." * Customer: "That's why I hate this Windows -- because of the icons -- I'm a Protestant, and I don't believe in icons." * Tech Support: "Well, that's just an industry term sir. I don't believe it was meant to --" * Customer: "I don't care about any 'Industry Terms'. I don't believe in icons." * Tech Support: "Well...why don't you click on the 'little picture' of a file cabinet...is 'little picture' ok?" * Customer: [click] Before moving into network support, I did PC support for a large multinational utility company. We had bases all over the country and personnel moves were frequent. There was an software model in use consisting of applications delivered to the desktop using Novell Application Launcher. A user's ability to run or even see applications depended on membership of Netware groups. One user had moved sites and had his account moved to a different container. The next Monday, he logged a call to the help desk, saying that he couldn't see one of his applications any more. Obviously someone had just forgotten to add him to a group in his new location. My colleague received the following email from a help desk employee: Simon, This user has moved from Motherwell to Wrexham and has lost his Landmaster icon. Could it have fallen out of his PC when it was being moved?

11-02-2004, 08:42 AM	#4 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	I do the tech support in my small office (among other things) and it never ceases to amaze me how little people know about something they use everyday... In the end, I suppose it is a lot like cars. Most people drive but couldn't tell the difference between an alternator and a gasket... __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

11-02-2004, 06:10 PM	#7 (permalink)
KinkyKiwi "Without the fuzz" Location: ..too close for comfort..	lololol nice...i dont know much about computers but this made me feel much smarter __________________ Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps. Play with each other. Play with yourselves. Just don't play with the squirrels, they bite.

11-03-2004, 08:36 AM	#9 (permalink)
carrot glace Crazy Location: orange county	thats pretty good grins __________________ "blaine is a pain and that is the truth"

11-04-2004, 08:01 AM	#10 (permalink)
WarriorBuddha Crazy Location: Japan	wow...and I thought I was computer dumn __________________ Thockmorton knew if he were ever to break wind in the echo chamber, he would never hear the end of it.

11-02-2004, 07:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
Lizzy Upright Location: Memphis, TN	I work in a college computer lab. I get questions some really stupid questions. ~ from people in 7000 level english classes asking how to make attachments ~ I deleted my paper can you find it for me? ~ I reset my email account password (for the university) and it wont work in yahoo what do i do? ohhhh and so many more...

11-02-2004, 11:02 AM	#5 (permalink)
avhg1 Insane Location: MD	My favorite is about converting file formats "If I change it from .jpg to .pdf that works right?" I've just started telling them that's correct and watching them try to open it.

11-03-2004, 06:22 AM	#8 (permalink)
Gortexfogg I and I Location: Stillwater, OK	Hilarious stuff!

11-05-2004, 08:21 AM	#11 (permalink)
snakedr Upright	I am the tech support for three networks at different locations, one of the programs used at times will prompt the users to "hit any key to continue". One of my users called me one morning to ask where the "any key" was. Suppressing the urge to laugh out loud I told him to just hit the space bar when ever he is prompted to hit any key........but wait it gets better.......later that week as I was in his area loading patches I noticed he had used white out to write "Any Key" on his space bar. __________________ It's not how big your motor is.....it's how well you shift it!!

11-08-2004, 02:17 AM	#12 (permalink)
FngKestrel Junkie	My favorite comes from when 5 1/4 disks were around and you needed to close the door on the drive so they could be read. User: "My computer won't read the disk." Tech Support: "Okay, put the disk in the drive." User: "Okay." Tech Support: "Now close the door." sounds of getting up, walking, SLAM!, walking User: "Okay, the door's closed, now what?" Tech Support:"..."

11-09-2004, 10:37 AM	#13 (permalink)
alibaba Upright	Good stuff. We have a very annoying "on hold" message on our company's phone system. I recorded it as a .wav file and put in on a co-worker's computer for just about every system sound on his W2K PC. I had forgotten about it, until one day he called me over to watch a funny video file and had his speakers turned up loud. At the end of the video clip he minimized the window and the message/wav came out of his speakers. He got all pissed off and turned his speakers off. He started yelling about how somehow his ethernet was crossed into the phone system and he couldn't fix it.

11-09-2004, 11:51 AM	#14 (permalink)
Paradise Lost "Afternoon everybody." "NORM!" Location: Poland, Ohio // Clarion University of PA.	I've always loved that site, thanks for reminding me of its existance again... I have a feeling I'm going to be the Tech Support guy answers some of these inane questions in the near future. __________________ "Marino could do it."