Christmas Tech Support

midwintermidwinter
Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
Like many folks around here (I assume), I've been wrangled into doing tech support for my family while I'm on holiday. And GOOD LORD I'm remembering why I switched to a Mac about 10 years ago.



I have spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to figure out two things:



1) Why does my mother-in-law's BRAND NEW Gateway run slower than her 7 year old computer?



2) How the hell do you burn a usable DVD slideshow on Windows?! I burned a VCD slideshow with music and menus and background music, which loads up on her DVD players but won't allow me to select any of the menus.



Harumph. Using this thing is like poking myself in the eyes with a fork several times a day.



The only thing that's gone right is getting her set up with Picasa, which kicks much ass.



So...what kind of Christmas tech support horrors do you have to share?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    kmok1kmok1 Posts: 63member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by midwinter

    <snip>



    1) Why does my mother-in-law's BRAND NEW Gateway run slower than her 7 year old computer?



    <snip>



    Dude, even though she is your mother-in-law, you should have got her a Mac mini. :-)



    I have two PCs from my cousins. They complained that they are very slow. My initial guess is rootkits. I told them I'll look at them in January.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kmok1

    Dude, even though she is your mother-in-law, you should have got her a Mac mini. :-)



    I TRIED! I TRIED! But my wife insisted that anything "new" or "different" would "freak her out."



    Harumph.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    My brother and sister-in-law want to replace their largely useless PC (presumably it is infested but I won't even go there).



    I've been waging a campaign for them to get a Mini, which would perfectly suit their needs.



    But, oh God my own flesh and blood, it burns, they go to Walmart and see they can buy a PC with a 17" LCD and a printer for like $300 after rebates and I can see that I may have no chance. Surely the $300 dollar system with rebates at Walmart is the lynch-pin of PC dominance.



    All I can do is darkly insinuate that the new computer will also be useless within a few months and encourage them to imagine the prodigies of service that I could perform and the cost of the software that they wouldn't have to buy if they went with the Mac.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    aries 1baries 1b Posts: 1,009member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by addabox

    My brother and sister-in-law want to replace their largely useless PC (presumably it is infested but I won't even go there).



    I've been waging a campaign for them to get a Mini, which would perfectly suit their needs.



    But, oh God my own flesh and blood, it burns, they go to Walmart and see they can buy a PC with a 17" LCD and a printer for like $300 after rebates and I can see that I may have no chance. Surely the $300 dollar system with rebates at Walmart is the lynch-pin of PC dominance.



    All I can do is darkly insinuate that the new computer will also be useless within a few months and encourage them to imagine the prodigies of service that I could perform and the cost of the software that they wouldn't have to buy if they went with the Mac.



    Make a bet with them. Offer to pay the difference between the Mini and the crap they're contemplating if the Mini becomes as virus-infested and useless as their current crap in a year.



    Plus, you'll be able to do remote upkeep to protect your bet. How can you lose?



    V/R & Happy New Year!



    Aries 1B
  • Reply 5 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    My family visited my grandparents for Christmas and I got to fly down a day early to help with computer problems. (He has a Mac so it is cool) Anyways, it sure beats a 8 hour car drive!
  • Reply 6 of 9
    kmok1kmok1 Posts: 63member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by midwinter

    I TRIED! I TRIED! But my wife insisted that anything "new" or "different" would "freak her out."



    Harumph.



    Oh goodness, another wife-veto. I am sure viruses and malwares do not freak her out... Probably they freak you out more since you have to repair her PC.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kmok1

    Oh goodness, another wife-veto. I am sure viruses and malwares do not freak her out... Probably they freak you out more since you have to repair her PC.



    All experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed....
  • Reply 8 of 9
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by midwinter

    All experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed....



    Heh. PC market share in a nutshell.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    I got roped into replacing a hard drive in my almost-brother-in-law's iBook. My first foray into the guts of an iBook, and a task definitely not for the faint of heart. All hail PB FixIt. That site saved my ass.
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