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Thread ID: 55681	2005-03-16 23:16:00	Unbelievable advice No 78	Biggles (121)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
334857	2005-03-16 23:16:00	Just spoke to a reader, who having just had a notebook fixed up by his dealer following a problem (complete re-install) was advised by said dealer NOT to re-install his Norton firewall because Windows XP's was "better". He was also advised NOT to install Firefox because IE was "better". Not even MS claims the XP firewall is "better" than thrid party products ...	Biggles (121)
334858	2005-03-16 23:26:00	the only reason its "better" is it saves the shop tring to fix a program they know little about. they are just looking after there own interests rather than looking after a customer. techs like that should be dragged out and ******* !	tweak'e (69)
334859	2005-03-16 23:26:00	hmmm....I just went to "repair" a comp yesterday that had just been delivered from a service at a major retail chain, They had removed all of Office XP apart from Word as it bogged down the machine,deleted the only copy of a photo taken with a digiatal camera as it "sucked up all the computers energy"....and told the confused client that these non-Microsoft programs that so called "techs" like to install are really trojan horses,malicious code designed to cripple the computer so they get constant business,and they all should be locked up. They had aslo managed to remove half the required entries from the start menu, and created a toolbar (an empty,locked toolbar) across the top of the screen,when queried they stated that was the default setting and it had to be there...... It went on and on, The comp was set up so badly as to be bizarre,and the advice given was criminal. And the guy who done it was parter in a comp shop for quite a few years before pulling out to be manager of the local outlet of a major NZ chain.	Metla (12)
334860	2005-03-16 23:29:00	Stage a sting operation ala "Target". Hidden cam footage on next months Coverdisk :)	Sam I Am (1679)
334861	2005-03-17 00:04:00	that would be cool Install spyware & viri (Hello KaZaA), and see how long it takes to repair it... if they get it right ;)	Edward (31)
334862	2005-03-17 00:10:00	Maybe we could start a new thread on crappy "techs". Here are 2 of my sob stories: Sob Story 1: User had a machine for about 6 months before it crapped out. Viruses. spyware, spontaneous reboots, pop-ups... the usual crap. Sent back to Farmers (or their agent or whoever). When it was returned to them after *5 weeks* it would bluescreen after about 5 minutes. When I was given the machine, I disabled the reboot on Startup & Recovery to see what was going on. Bluescreen indicated memory error. Ran Memtest & found all sorts of problems. Ran PowerMax just to make sure it wasn’t a dodgy hard drive. Opened the case to see if the RAM had become unseated & although the memory was present & correct, there was a nice little sticker on the bottom of the case, which read “No RAM”. So they either “borrowed” the memory for another machine & put back someone else’s faulty RAM, or they took the memory stick for a nice slide along the carpet & ESD’d it to death. Sob Story 2: (different user) Machine sent in for repair. Spyware etc. Usual stuff. $1,000 bucks later (including a new hard drive) the machine was returned with a nice little folder called Old PC. Very nice of them to back everything up & put it back onto the new drive, but the viruses & spyware were also backed up & subsequently restored. After 12 hours of troubleshooting, I discovered that the user's 12-year-old was surfing for porn & all sorts of crap had been downloaded, including a little delight called SearchMiracle, along with Netsky & his mates. Rebuilding it tonight. Nothing on TV these days anyway…	Peterj116 (6762)
334863	2005-03-17 00:13:00	I once helped a customer at work who called up after she had taken her computer to a local computer store for repair (not really repair, all she had was spyware and a browser hijack)... Anyways to cut a long story short, the tech at the store had obviously decided to pull a fast one, because she ended up with new ram and an ADSL router... When queried by her at my insistence, they said (and I quote honestly) "Spyware gets stuck in ram and not flushed out" and "having a router protects you from spyware".... She ended up getting a full refund but it just goes to show there are some dodgy operators out there.	Ash M (46)
334864	2005-03-17 00:26:00	check out some of these techs www.rinkworks.com	robinm (7292)
334865	2005-03-17 00:49:00	the only reason its "better" is it saves the shop tring to fix a program they know little about. they are just looking after there own interests rather than looking after a customer. techs like that should be dragged out and ******* ! In true Basil Fawlty style .... are you expecting service with it as well? Advice is not given for the benefit of the customer .... it is given so as to ease the burdon of the seller having to deal with the complainant. Am sure these types of dealers are attempting to encourage a somewhat classier clientele .... and you dont want complaints from the low life interfering with that, do you?	Cptn Hotshot (3904)
334866	2005-03-17 00:49:00	i'm sure the likes of metla can post a thousand or so horror storries :( some of the bueties i've seen... a mates pc kept crashing. went back under warranty and they replaced the cpu as the old one was "cracked" but he had to pay as the cpu was the next speed up. it kept crashing until i relaised it had the wrong side panels on. the case had no air inlet! i have seen a few of these since then :( also the pc had someone elses details and files still in it, the OS was different to the cd he had been given with it and the key was the incorrect one. a mate of a mate pc came back from being repaired with $3000-$4000 worth of software installed on it for free. it ran at a crawl (win98 on a p90) so the orginal win95 was put back on. another had a pirate Xp pro installed (which was faulty) to replace its XP home (which was working perfectly) because "pro is better". the person(s) never new what the difference was between em (which is nothing for a home pc). had a few cases of "can you reinstall xyz program as the last tech didn't give me any disks for that program" ie tech installed pirated vers. found an internet cafe that was running windows fileshareing open to the net (with full hardrive shared fully). a proxy that was open to the net. no restrictions on the pc's and they all had there own cd/floppy drives.(i hope no-one checked their bank accounts on those) an infected pc that the customer sent in to get cleaned but they said it wasn't infected so they sent it back even tho it showed all classic sighns and the antivirus that was installed was finding it (but not removing it). seen plenty of fixed pc's that had reinstalled OS's but no patches applied or sicurity software installed (or drivers), hence the big clean out needed a few weeks later..... still quite comman is seeing custom built pc's with stock windows installed useing windows drivers (ie no correct drivers installed for anything). all i can say is ignorance is bliss ;)	tweak'e (69)
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