Common frustrations with using computers

[Medessec]

Hello everyone. I wanted to share some dilemmas I've had recently with my use of the computer that have just left me whipping backwards into my chair with my arms in the air, going "...really?"

You're free to share your own as well if you've had any worth sharing.

-Finding Sony Vegas won't start because of a corrupted .dll, then going to uninstall Vegas so I can reinstall it, but the uninstaller finds a "problem with the package", then quits. On trying to reinstall without uninstalling, the installer doesn't want to run because you need to "uninstall it first."

-Windows Aero stops working, and a DirectX file is to blame. however, Windows File Protection disallows tampering with System32 .dlls, even in Safe Mode. Same with reading the HD with other Windows PCs, even XP. You need a Live Linux OS to solve the problem.

-Programs nowadays absolutely abuse updating over the internet. I liked it in the old days when you installed your software of choice from a CD, that way the programmers had to actually get it right the first time, if they wanted their product to sell.

-Laptops nowadays not having an exterior skip-track function. I used it all the time on my Toshiba A305, and I recall numerous HPs and Dells made at the same time had exterior skip-buttons. Even Thinkpads had skip-track functions b using Fn+Left and Fn+Right. But now... nothing. My past two new laptops haven't had skip-track buttons. Just a Play/Pause button.

-HDD Read/Power LED tends to be in very illogical locations on modern laptops. HP DV7 has the HDD and Power LED on the left side by the front, where you... can't see it.

-Sometimes, CAD programs and games just don't acknowledge the existence of "Laptop power users" and "Laptop Gamers". I remember trying a CAD program and the default controls sometimes required you to hold the left-clicker and right-clicker down at the same time. Although they let you change the controls, some PC video games just plain DON'T allow you to disable that requirement. Discrimination.

-Anyone have a piece of software that could use a ton of CPU power, but only can use one core? Some of my games don't play any better between a Pentium 4 3.4 GHz, and a Core 2 Quad 2.83GHz.

-Playing LAN Video Games or sending files back and forth between Thinkpads is always a treat, because Intel Wireless 4965/5100/5300=absolutely awesome and reliable. However, whenever a friend comes over with his Acer Aspire, or HP DV6, or Lenovo IdeaPad, then we get cheapo Broadcoms, Realteks, Atheros, and even really cruddy cheap Chinese chips. They have troubles copying files or cause our strategy LAN games to lag, and then blame it on our router or my laptops being slow.

-Why does the new Windows Server have Metro...? The only people who use Windows Server are people who KNOW what they're doing!

-I, and all of us could whine on and on about 4:3, but I'm also PO'd that 16:10 has kicked the bucket. 16:10 is an awesome compromise between having the widescreen capabilities of 16:9, and not having to look at what you're doing through a squinty sliver of nothing that you call a display.

-That 21:9 is even being marketed. And worse... people are BUYING it. God... can my life and everything get any worse.

[Saucey]

When I was using Open Office it is a pain to figure out its Autocorrect
Under Calc/Excel, hell even Google Chrome's version of that I couldn't type 2/3 as it would automatically input 02/03/2013 and so forth...

Those random flash/videos where you see a big scary face and scary sound.

Windows is odd when it comes to copying files...
Then when it came to Bootable Linux USB I couldn't toss those files (they were just images and music) onto a DVD, but I had to get a flashdrive and then burn a DVD for em.

Uninstalling McAfee for the first time.

Installing a driver that asks if you want to look it up online.


Last and definately the most problematic
Inkjet printers

Though I get a kick when I hear people step upon laptops, but really wish they didn't throw away the laptop afterwards.

But most of the computer problems make great drinkings stories.
Specially when it comes to CD/DVD trays automatically opening after you close them.

[joester]

Slight play off the OP, but I hate it when you fire up the computer and go make a sandwich, and when you come back to the now idle PC and try to use the internet, all of a sudden Java, Adobe, Windows, and your anti-virus decide it's time to scan the HDD for updates and issues.

Part two..

ON EVERY PC EVER MADE - - - Why is it they don't offer a any indication of HDD bandwidth usage? You can use Device mangler to see that you have 97% resources free and that you are nowhere near maxxing out your RAM, but no indication that the HDD is runniing a solid 100% bandwidth usage and that's what's rendering your PC completely useless? Take a look at the gadgets in W7. The gauges for PC monitoring are a perfect example.

~sigh~

[A31]

The biggest thing that has been annoying me lately is not anything to do with my PC, but rather what people do with my advice regarding to computers.

I'm a member on another forum, and people ask on there all the time what kind of hardware they should buy with their budget, and I recommend parts to them and for the most part, they'll go out and buy the parts I recommended and they'll be happy.

But lately, what has been annoying me is people have been posting threads asking what hardware to buy, I recommend some stuff, and then they ignore it and go and buy other stuff. Usually worse stuff.

I'll give you an example: somebody wanted a gaming PC for $1200 (looking to self-build). I recommend an i5 4670K and the new Radeon R9 280X to him/her since we all know that for gaming you should spend the most money on the graphics card, right? I also had a 1TB HDD in my list of recommend parts and a Samsung 840 Pro SSD (probably 120GB). This would have been pretty much the best system you could get for $1200, and does the person follow my advice and buy these parts?

No, he/she goes and buys an outdated i7 3770K (not a big deal, it's a good processor even if it's from the previous generation and overkill for gaming), a 500GB HDD, and a GTX 660 Ti which is both outdated and mid-range. When it came out in August last year, I didn't recommend them because they were limited by their low memory bus, let alone over a year later! The R9 280X with an i5 would have performed so much better, and of course he/she could have had an SSD too. But no, he/she got this outdated system for the same kind of money.

You just kind of think: 'what is the point? We are both wasting our time.'

Turns out he/she bought the parts from the local computer shop rather than online (which I recommended) and the sales rep in the shop had recommended buying the outdated hardware. -.-

So currently, I would say that is the most frustrating thing I have to deal with relating to computers. I think I am right in saying that I am one of the few lucky ones who found the upgrade to 8 to 8.1 almost a breeze on all of my computers running 8!

[Medessec]

You just kind of think: 'what is the point? We are both wasting our time.'

I completely feel your pain... people are really arrogant sometimes when it comes to spending(er... wasting) their money.

Well, some people get more than one parts list when asking around, and might be more convinced on one rather than another, especially if it's a closer friend.

[A31]

You just kind of think: 'what is the point? We are both wasting our time.'

I completely feel your pain... people are really arrogant sometimes when it comes to spending(er... wasting) their money.

Well, some people get more than one parts list when asking around, and might be more convinced on one rather than another, especially if it's a closer friend.

The most annoying bit is that they asked you for your advice in the first place. If they then go and follow none of it, you just kind of think: 'well, why did you ask?'

Ah well, not my loss. He/she ended up with a relatively outdated and poorly balanced system, but if he/she is happy with it, so be it.

[Temetka]

I hate when people ask me to take a "quick look" at their PC and they are not a client. Then they get upset when I give them a quote. Then even more upset when I ask if they would work for free.

I do love that this policy has reduced my family asking for help to zero requests per year.

[joester]

You want pain?
Check this out (true story)

A lady I work with had a computer that stopped working and asked me to look at it. On powerup, I got RAM codes, so I started swapping things around and sure enough, when one of them was removed it started up. Not the first time I've seen RAM go bad. I found her a deal online with free shipping and 2 day service and told her she should order it and I would help her by installing it for her.
WELL...
She told me the next day that she went to the local electronics hobby store instead and purchased RAM (for an exorbitant price) and with the help of one of the people she rents a house to, installed it.... BACKWARDS. Her words -"I knew it was supposed to go in there, but it didn't want to so we REALLY pushed on it". I guess so.

When she hit the power button it took out the RAM (all of it), the mother board, the processor, and the logic board on the HDD. I suspect most of the MOBO failure of from the decimated holder for the RAM, but I did take the time to test all of the other components and none of them work except for the power supply. I was able to swap logic boards from a similar HDD and recover the data for her.

[pianowizard]

-I, and all of us could whine on and on about 4:3, but I'm also PO'd that 16:10 has kicked the bucket. 16:10 is an awesome compromise between having the widescreen capabilities of 16:9, and not having to look at what you're doing through a squinty sliver of nothing that you call a display.

An even better compromise is 15:10, which is what Apple used on its first (i.e. the industry's first) widescreen laptops, the G4 PowerBooks. The only other 15:10 laptop that I am aware of is Google's Chromebook Pixel, which came out in February and I was hoping this rediscovered aspect ratio would catch on -- too bad that hasn't happened yet.

When she hit the power button it took out the RAM (all of it), the mother board, the processor, and the logic board on the HDD. I suspect most of the MOBO failure of from the decimated holder for the RAM, but I did take the time to test all of the other components and none of them work except for the power supply.

OMG! What was her excuse for "getting a second opinion" from that electronics store? Was it an expensive laptop?

[Medessec]

Wow. That's a pretty extreme example... albeit, still true.

I don't think I have any sob stories... but most of my builds have been builds of $500 or cheaper... I've only been appointed to one very expensive build, and it really wasn't that they needed my advice as much as it was how much money they needed to waste into limitless power. To give you an idea: It's an X79 chipset mobo, i7-3960X CPU and at the moment, a GTX 690. I insisted constantly that all they really needed was an i7-3770k and you could save the money left over... well hey. It's their money. But I'm not complaining.

It's just traditional consumer arrogance. People think they can accomplish something because they've done it once before and it's worked for them. I've recommended different laptops to people based on their hardware, battery life, and build quality, and people go and buy an HP DV7 because it's cheaper, or *shiny*. And now I'm constantly stuck with my friend who has an HP DV7, that his parents bought for him against my wishes, and it suffers from constant problems, to name a few:

-The HP software/bloatware causes problems with the Windows installation and bogs it down
-The fingerprint reader's driver isn't very stable, or just chooses not to work sometimes.
-The computer is an absolute pain to take apart.
-The back panel apparently can't support a decent weight. My friend had a physics book on top of his laptop, and he opened it and turned it on to find the screen has lines on it from flexing.
-The metal holding the left hinge tensioner to the bottom plastic of the laptop comes off the plastic, leaving the metal to free-roam and exert force on what's above it when my friend opens the laptop screen. No big deal... except that the thing above it is the heatsink copper pipe. It got bent and pulled off the plate on the CPU, so his machine overheated 2 minutes after starting up.

I've had to "fix" it up to 5 times now. I don't want to cut off my friend and leave him laptopless, but at the same time, I hate his parents for not listening to me. He would've had a Lenovo Z585... why. WHY?!

An even better compromise is 15:10, which is what Apple used on its first (i.e. the industry's first) widescreen laptops, the G4 PowerBooks. The only other 15:10 laptop that I am aware of is Google's Chromebook Pixel, which came out in February and I was hoping this rediscovered aspect ratio would catch on -- too bad that hasn't happened yet.

Well... only time will tell. But I've never had the chance to experience 15:10... I've never been an Apple fan, and the Chrome Pixel is too expensive for me. But most people don't have that much of a preference in aspect ratio, except that many people I know who don't know much about laptops and computers disagree that 4:3 was a useful resolution. My friend in video game development says that 16:9 works best for games anyways... to which I strongly disagree, but whatever.

[joester]

It was a desktop Dell 3000 so nothing of value lost.
The funny thing is that SHE HAD THE CORRECT RAM. Just installed it backwards.

Oh well.

My dad used to say that you can't outsmart stupid. Kinda proved itself.

[Medessec]

It was a desktop Dell 3000 so nothing of value lost.
The funny thing is that SHE HAD THE CORRECT RAM. Just installed it backwards.

Yeah-I've had my share of prying apart Dimension 3000s, they're a dime a dozen from education surplus. But still-it's a waste. And it was her computer. Ah well, live and learn, really.

[joester]

Her computer, but MY PROBLEM....after all, it was ME who told her to get new RAM.
She's a little upset with me that I will not fund a replacement PC for her. She had little to argue when I reminded her to let me know when the RAM came in and that I was going to help her install it. As it stands now, I will provide recovered data for her. She's not getting the logic board I removed from an otherwise good 80GB HDD.

[emeraldgirl08]

You want pain?
Check this out (true story)

A lady I work with had a computer that stopped working and asked me to look at it. On powerup, I got RAM codes, so I started swapping things around and sure enough, when one of them was removed it started up. Not the first time I've seen RAM go bad. I found her a deal online with free shipping and 2 day service and told her she should order it and I would help her by installing it for her.
WELL...
She told me the next day that she went to the local electronics hobby store instead and purchased RAM (for an exorbitant price) and with the help of one of the people she rents a house to, installed it.... BACKWARDS. Her words -"I knew it was supposed to go in there, but it didn't want to so we REALLY pushed on it". I guess so.

When she hit the power button it took out the RAM (all of it), the mother board, the processor, and the logic board on the HDD. I suspect most of the MOBO failure of from the decimated holder for the RAM, but I did take the time to test all of the other components and none of them work except for the power supply. I was able to swap logic boards from a similar HDD and recover the data for her.

......

Before I knew anything about the basics of laptop or computer components I probably might have done the same thing

[Medessec]

But... forcing RAM into a slot, not realizing there is an offset groove in the middle to prevent it from being inserted that way, is kinda... brainless. That's the whole point of that groove too-so it's idiot-proof.

Not that I want to insult or offend anyone... but really, I'd picture it as two sides for those on their own with a task like this, one side being people who have sense and would install the RAM correctly regardless, and the other side being people who can't install the RAM, but still have sense and would ask someone else to do it. In between you've got those people who lack the patience to do either side.

As long as you have the patience, self-sufficiency and good logic, you should be fine. Of course you'll make the occasional mistake(putting a CD in the tray upside down, pulling a Flash drive out while data's copying, Leaving Windows Update on automatic so it shuts down your computer while you're in the middle of something) but putting RAM in the wrong way...? Come on now.

[Temetka]

At a shop I used to work at we had a client do that.

This guy smoked. A LOT. I smoke, but he would wait outside the shop for us to open as he was a repeat customer. While sitting in his car he would chain smoke. We couldn't see his face through the windows, his car was that full of smoke. SO he brings his PC in we sold him a few months before. It left the shop pristine and white. Came back brown and yellow. Ugh. It was rank. We set it outside for the day to air out and still reeked badly.

Anyway he wanted a RAM upgrade and he didn't like our price for the RAM but was willing to go to Fry's Electronics, buy the RAM himself, then have us install it. Weird, but ok. So he goes and get's the RAM. Get's back to the shop and decides he'll install his RAM himself to save the $25 install fee. Whatever, I was glad to get the smell 'box out of the shop. So we tell him how to install it, make sure he lines up the notches and send him on his way.

He comes back a few hours later and said he installed it, but when he did it sparked and the computer shut off.

WHAT?!?!

Yes, not only did he put it in with power on, but he put it in backwards. Fried 2 of his four RAM slots, a SATA cable and his video card. He wanted us to cover the repairs because we did not tell him to turn the machine off before he installed it. Obviously that wasn't going to fly. We told him it would have been cheaper to pay the $25 install fee. He argued back saying that we shouldn't be keeping all the computer secrets, took his tower and left. Never saw him again. Thank God. We had to air the shop out.

[ajkula66]

Leaving Windows Update on automatic so it shuts down your computer while you're in the middle of something) but putting RAM in the wrong way...? Come on now.

Years ago, I bumped into a nice looking T43 during a local garage sale.

"Won't recognize the hard drive." the owner said. "Even took it to Best Buy".

Back in those dim dead days, a working hi-end 14" unit was $300 or thereabouts. Got it for $25. Heck, the DVD RW was worth more...

Came home, pulled the drive out and saw that the morons shoved it in "label up" bending and/or breaking every single pin.

Put in my test hard drive and was greeted with a well-known "2010 error"...

The laptop is still alive and well, being used by a friend of mine who fell on hard times and never quite recovered, so I never bothered asking for the machine back. He definitely needs it more than we do...but yes, just about everything can be inserted the wrong way, and with consequences on most occasions...

[Temetka]

I got a T61 from Craigslist for $100. The guy said it would power on then right back off. I verified this and figured whatever parts I could salvage would make up the cost. I got home and pulled the keyboard and RAM out. I noticed the RAM was off kilter. So I reseated it.

XP booted.

That was 3 years ago. One of my good friends who works with me in our consulting business still uses it to this very day.

[Medessec]

I had an ebay purchase very recently where the seller thought the laptop was no good because of a similar issue:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=112173

And it turned out to just be the RAM not in all the way.

RAM, dude. That stuff needs to be installed.