(no subject)

[red-scully.livejournal.com]

Me:  Hi, it's Red from IT Helpdesk here, was just wondering if you'd had any more problems with your computer this week?

Home user whose machine will not let me remote in to look at it, and who has a sporadic 'problem' which she is having trouble actually explaining to me at all: Yes, it happened again yesterday!

Me:  Ok great, so did you note down the error message like I asked you to?

Home User:  Well, no, see I called you, but no-one was there (NOT TRUE: we have a stupid recorded message that welcomes you to the Helpdesk before you can actually get put through to us.  99% of our staff think it's just a VM and hang up, not realising they could have reached us quite easily if they'd hung on for ten seconds).

Me:  So... did you make a note of it so you could tell me later?

Home user:  Well, no, because I couldn't speak to you.  But it was something to do with a driver!

Me:  O_o


WHUT.  I've told her she'll have to send me her PC and do without IT for a week whilst I fix it.  I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

Comments

[preserver3.livejournal.com]

Hello, here is a gotomeeting link...
Click on the link in the email
No, the one that has the number in it
There we go, now I'm making you the presenter. Please press the play button
Excellent, not click on the Mouse button and give me (my name as displayed) control of your keyboard and mouse. Great, now stop touching the machine, go have a sandwich, do something else.


Then go to the EventViewer and see what's what.

Life is better when you remove the other human being from the problem.

[jecook]

THIS.

We do that with several of our vendors frequently for some stuff.

[vulpisfoxfire.livejournal.com]

At which point they scream, 'My machine's doing things without me touching it! It's haunted/posesseed/been hacked/got a virus!', pull the plug, and then hide the parts in separate sections of the building....

[featheredfrog.livejournal.com]

Is it still your problem if the machine (parts) can't be found?

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

we have a AWESOME recorded message that welcomes you to the Helpdesk before you can actually get put through to us. 99% of our staff think it's just a VM and hang up, not realising they could have reached us quite easily if they'd hung on for ten seconds

I fixed it for you :D

[meitemark.livejournal.com]

AFAIK the usual times to see a missing driver error is either at startup, running a program or BSOD. Stop asking what the error is, get to know how to reproduce it. Then get her computer, find the error, fix it, and let it stand on the shelf for a week or so, so the magic faeries can get some rest from this luser. They need it.

[red-scully.livejournal.com]

LOL. This woman doesn't know what the hell she's doing with her machine at all so there's no way of figuring out what's causing it. When I asked her what she was doing when it happened she claimed "nothing!" which is worrying...