 TECH-SUPPORT  |
| TECH-SUPPORT |
| TECH-CALLS 1. Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of the flood of calls asking where the "Any" key is. 2. AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the mouse was packaged in. 3. Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes. After trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then rolled them into the typewriter to type the labels. 4. Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes. A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed copies of the floppies. 5. A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and was heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to close the door to his room. 6. Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen and hitting the "send" key. 7. Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell tech suggested he go to the local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of friends, "the customer replied. When told Egghead was a software store, the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks." 8. Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing them individually. 9. A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because his computer had told him he was "bad and an invalid". The tech explained that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses shouldn't be taken personally. 10. An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn't get her new Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring the computer was plugged in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her response, "I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." The "foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's mouse. 11. Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new computer wouldn't work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked "What power switch?" 12. True story from a Novell NetWire SysOp: Caller: "Hello, is this Tech Support?" Tech: "Yes, it is. How may I help you?" Caller: "The cup holder on my PC is broken and I am within my warranty period. How do I go about getting that fixed?" Tech:
"I'm sorry, but did you say a cup holder?" ======= Unleash the Power
of Shift! Q. My shift keys have little arrows on them. Does that mean the *real* shift keys are located above them, and these keys are just little signs to point them out? A. Nope, they're the Real McCoy. The little arrows mean "up", as in "look up at the screen". Your keyboard is telling you to learn to touch type and quit staring at your fingers. Q. What happens if I press both shift keys? A. Even bigger letters may show up on your screen. You should not use this feature, however, because these letters are also brighter, and may cause Screen Burn-In, which would be particularly embarrassing if you were typing something naughty at the time. You might consider obtaining the author's Shift Key Burn-In Protector program for only $139.95. Or you might not, it's your computer, but don't say I didn't warn you. Q. My religion prohibits the use of shift keys. how can i type capital letters and punctuation A. Discuss alternatives to the shift key with your spiritual advisor. Perhaps your deity would not be angered by repeated use of the Caps Lock key, or maybe you can retain a consultant to depress the shift for you. You might also consider replacing punctuation marks that require the use of shift keys with lower case expressions; replace ? with "huh" and ! with "zowie". Q. I pressed shift and its stuck down now A. Do small children with a fondness for peanut butter use your keyboard frequently? If so, you may want to clean it off for more reliable operation. First, disconnect your keyboard by grippingeach of its ends firmly and pulling as hard as you can. Next, immerse the keyboard in warm water and scrub thoroughly with your favorite lemon-scented detergent and lots of steel wool. Finally, you need to dry the keyboard. Either dry it to touch with a handheld blowdryer, or place it it the dryer for not less than 60 minutes. Be sure to clean the lint screen when you are finished. Q. Why are there are no "shift" keys on my keyboard, but there are two keys labelled "hif"? A. Again, you may want to consider cleaning your keyboard, and washing your hands more frequently for that matter. Q. Are there shift keys on my Macintosh? A. Yes, although instead of the notation "shift", the key may be labelled with an excited Mac face, something like :O . Press this key to use shift, and be thankful you're using a friendly Mac instead of a mean old PC with all them confusin' words 'n stuff on it. Q. I'm sick of pushing the shift key every single time I want big letters. Is there any other way to do this? A. This is the Modern Age of Convenience, and you may be able to activate the shift key merely with the power of your voice! Check to see whether your computer is equipped with speech-recognition equipment by saying the word "shift" very clearly and slowly into its speaker. Then watch the keyboard closely to see if the Shift key moves down. Note that you may have to repeat this action several times to "train" the computer to recognize your voice before the feature works reliably. Q. There are two shift keys, which should I use? A. Avoid unnecessary wear on either shift key by alternating between the two. Keep track of your usage of each key so that you press them in equal amounts. Your keyboard may be equipped with a small notepad; you should use this to make little tally marks in two columns for each time you shift. Remember, it's better to go to a little trouble than wind up with a broken shift key. Q. Why are the shift keys bigger than the other keys? A. They aren't. This is simply an optical illusion. Just as the moon appears much larger when it is close to the horizon, your shift keys look larger because of their proximity to other keys. To verify this, go out in a large field at night with your keyboard, place it in an upright position, and view it from a distance of 200 yards. Sure enough, the keys all look the same size! Q. If I press the shift key at the wrong time, or too many times, will my computer explode? A. No. Well, generally no. Not unless you are using a NEC laptop. Or vt100 terminal emulation. But even then, hardly ever. Really, don't worry about it. Forget I mentioned it. Just type softly. Move along, next question. Q. No matter what I do, the shift key just doesn't seem to work. What's wrong? A. Have you ever considered that the problem may not be your keyboard, the problem may be YOU? Perhaps God Himself has suspended the operation of these keys to send you a Message that you have strayed from the path of righteousness. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your life. Before rushing blindly ahead with a lot of shifting, consult the spiritual advisor of your choice for help in dealing with any unresolved issues in your relationship with the Almighty. ============================= SYSTEM PROBLEM REPORT This is a form to make the reporting of problems consistent, allow records of problems to be kept, and a method of discouraging users from reporting faults in the first place. •Your name? __________________________________ $ Your Companies' name?________________________ •Your login name? ______________________________ •Todays' date? __/__/__ •The date the problem first occured if different? __/__/__ •Problem Severity: Minor__ Minor__ Minor__ Minor__ •Which machine? ____________________ •Which area appears to be at fault?
•Is it plugged in? Yes__ No__ •Is it switched on? Yes__ No__ •Has it been stolen? Yes__ No__ •Have you tried to fix it yourself? Yes__ No__ •Have you made it worse? Yes__ •Have you read the manual? Yes__ No__ •Are you sure you've read the manual? Yes__ No__ •Are you absolutely certain you've read the manual? Yes__ No__ •Did you understand it? Yes__ No__ •If `Yes' then why can't you fix it yourself? •Is the equipment unexpectedly noisy? Yes__ No__ •If `Yes' what sort of noise?
•Is there a smell of burning? Yes__ No__ •If `Yes' is the equipment on fire? Yes__ No__ •Is the fault repeatable? Yes__ No__ •What were you doing (with the equipment) at the time the fault occurred? •If `nothing' explain why you were logged in. •Are you sure you aren't imagining the problem? Yes__ No__ •Do you have any independent witnesses of the problem? Yes__ No__ •Describe the problem. ______________________________________ ________________________________________________________ •Now, describe the problem accurately. ________________________________________________________ •Speculate wildly about the cause of the problem. ________________________________________________________ •Can't you do something else, rather than bothering me? Yes__ No__ ________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =======
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