× The internal search function is temporarily non-functional. The current search engine is no longer viable and we are researching alternatives.
As a stop gap measure, we are using Google's custom search engine service.
If you know of an easy to use, open source, search engine ... please contact support@midrange.com.



OH boy, do I have one for you, Scott.

I received a support call one day from a "remote" user who said that
whenever she clicked to open MS Word, the internet browser would open.
(SURE I THOUGHT). Since she is in another city from me, I ask if I could
remote into her system and take a look. (we use DAMEWARE, wonderful
tool). So, I did and I see her desktop and I click on MS Word and
everything is great. Keep in mind I am on the phone with her this whole
time. She is flabbergasted that I can magically make it work. THIS IS
WHERE IS GETS FUNNY. I tell her, look it works for me....WHY does it not
work for you!?!?! She proceeds to tell me that all she does is click on
the SAME place on the screen and has since she started there many moons
ago and NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN word does not work! I said, you take control
and show me where on the screen you click on "word". Come to find out,
she had been given a new machine over the weekend and the desktop layout
was different. That was the problem. Needless to say, her supervisor was
very embarrassed by such a situation. I laughed for days about it.

Bentley Pearson
Vice President - Information Services
Southland National Insurance Corporation
1812 University Blvd
Tuscaloosa, Al
35403
205 345 7410
bpearson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Scott Klement
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:32 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Dumb Things People Do

Hi Folks... I'm looking to compile a list of (hopefully humorous)
"Dumb Things People Do" to be published in System iNEWS magazine.

For example...

---

One day, several years ago, I was sitting at my desk at work when I
received a call from one of our computer users who works in the same
building that I do, but one floor down. She told me that Microsoft Word

was not working, and asked me if I could come down and take a look.

Call me lazy, but I wanted to try a few simple things over the phone
before going down. So I asked her what problem she was having, and she
told me that the screen was blank. Now, usually when a user says that,
the whole screen isn't actually blank, just the window they want to use.

So I asked her if the mouse worked when she moved it, she said no. I
asked her if she had tried turning the computer off and back on again to

see if that would clear up the problem. She said she hadn't tried, but
would try it while I was on the phone. A minute later, she said it
wouldn't work. She pressed the power button, but nothing happened.
Naturally, I thought the computer was locked up, and she just needed to
hold the button in longer to make it power off. So I explained that,
and she tried again, to no avail. Then, I suggested unplugging it, and
that didn't work either!

At that point, I said I'd be right down to look at it. I walked down
the stairs to find that the floor was dark. The power was out, and
that's why her computer's screen was blank.

--

So that's the sort of thing I'm looking for (it doesn't have to be as
wordy as my description -- in fact, mine might be too wordy!) I'm
looking for stories of dumb things that come up on the job. These *do*

need to be IT related things, but it can be either a "dumb user" or just

a "duh!" mistake made by an IT person. Any sort of amusing story about

IT would be useful.

Thanks!

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This thread ...

Replies:

Follow On AppleNews
Return to Archive home page | Return to MIDRANGE.COM home page

This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].

Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.