Archive for January, 2007

Tech Support Woes

Wednesday, January 31st, 2007

Dumb users are dumb:

User: I decided to clean up my hard drive a little bit. Is there any stuff I can safely delete to make more room?
Me: Well, any of your old files that you don’t use - I would back them up and then delete them…
User: Yeah, but other hand that, is there anything I can delete?
Me: Yes, clean out the browser cache and temp files… You can use the free tool at ccleaner.com to do that for you. It’s pretty good at freeing up space this way…
User: Oh, my Norton System Works already has something like that…
Me: Well, then there is not much else you can really do other than uninstalling software you do not use.
User: Well… I noticed I have this folder here and it’s pretty big… It’s almost 15 GB…
Me: Yes?
User: Well, it doesn’t seem to be used for anything. I was wondering if it can be deleted…
Me: What is the folder called?
User: Documents… No, wait… Documents and Settings
Me: [panic mode] Please tell me you didn’t delete that folder!
User: Uh? No, I wanted to ask you first.
Me: Oh, good! Don’t delete it. That is where all your user information is stored, your application settings, your Outlook emails. Also, your My Documents folder is stored in there…
User: Oh, no.. I have the My Documents folder elsewhere.
Me: No, trust me - when you click on the My Documents icon on the desktop it simply takes you to a folder inside Documents and Settings.
User:
Me: It’s like a shortcut.
User: Um… Ok, if you say so…
Me: So don’t delete anything in that folder.
User: Ok, thanks.
Me: Anything else?
User: No, I think this is all I wanted to ask you about. Bye.

Granted, I don’t think Windows would actually let you delete all of the stuff in Documents and Settings. But with this guy, I’d rather not risk it. It’s the same dude that tried to clean up his HD in the past, by deleting NTLDR.

This is where a two partition scheme would probably work better. Just make C: the system drive, and tell users not to touch it, and set up D: or whatever as their data drive. Relocate My Documents to D: and you are all set. Tell users to install to C but save to D. This might be a worthwhile approach.

But then again, most of my users are smart enough not to delete system files.

CNN Readers have no love for Vista

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

I’m totally loving this poll:

Vista CNN Poll
source - cnn.com; click to enlarge

It seems that few people are rushing to get Vista. In fact, there are more CNN readers who do don’t care about the new OS at all, than those who are installing it as we speak.

Ultimate DRM Buster 2000

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

I present to you, the Ultimate DRM Buster 2000:

DRM Buster 2000
photo © me

This nifty cable should allow you to copy all the protected music you want. You simply plug in one end to the earphone jack, you plug in the other to a microphone jack and you are set. There is some loss in quality, but hey - it works. It’s that easy. ;)

Here is what I think - it is not possible to plug the “analog hole”. Sure you can try to make analog copying difficult, degrade quality and etc… But it is not possible to ever eliminate low tech analog solutions.

Btw, I found that cable in the “assorted junk and cables” drawer at work. No idea what did it originally come with or what was it originally for.

Update 01/30/2007 02:20:02 PM

Btw - this is intended as a joke. There are better ways to strip DRM from your media. I’m just trying to illustrate a point here: you don’t have to be a security expert, or a skillful cracker to break the DRM. Anyone can do it, with very simple tools - and there is no way to change it. Because as long as you can watch or hear the media, you can copy them.

Bizarre Windows Installation Issue

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

I’m trying to reinstall windows on an Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop. There is just no point in rescuing the current installation because it was running for several months without patching or an anti-virus installed. I actually ran it through the Dell diagnostics and it passed all the extended tests with flying colors - which suggests that at least according to Dell standards, the hardware is working just fine.

And yet, when I boot it off the Windows CD, the system just powers down when I get to the disk partitioning screen. WTF?

I booted it into safe mode and it’s been running for the last 20 minutes without any problems. What the hell is going on here? I just don’t get it. Normally I would suspect that there is a problem with the mobo or memory, or perhaps the fan (ie system craps out when the temperature spikes). But this behavior should be consistent and the system ought to shut down both in windows, while running the dell diagnostic just the same.

Could it be something with my windows CD? This is bugging the shit out of me! I have been trying this for like an hour now. Sometimes I get a little bit further - for example, I was able to delete the primary partition, but the thing powered down as I was trying to create new partitions…

Anyone ever experienced anything like that before?

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