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Off topic: What is a "technical guy"?
Thread poster: Tom in London
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jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
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I turned to those Non-English speaking Chinese guys for computer problems Sep 4, 2015

There are a lot of them within the radius of 10 miles of my place and they came over to get anything fixed with a minimum charge of $30.

For $30 they could work 2 or 3 hours in your place. If it takes a longer time than I thought I tend to tip them $10.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
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What Sep 4, 2015

jyuan_us wrote:

There are a lot of them within the radius of 10 miles of my place and they came over to get anything fixed with a minimum charge of $30.

For $30 they could work 2 or 3 hours in your place. If it takes a longer time than I thought I tend to tip them $10.



What, exactly, do they do? Why does it take them 2-3 hours? !!!!!


 
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Samuel Murray
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@Tom Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:
But is that plug and play? I've heard that if you buy a PC that's only the beginning of the story - that you need to install a whole load of extra things before you can actually use it.


You can use a Windows 10 computer without installing anything else (except for the specialist programs such as CAT tools and office suites), but why would you want to do that? The fun is in shopping around for programs that do the things that Windows also does, but better.


 
Rolf Keller
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Germany
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Independent software for bitwise cloning Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

Is there an application (e.g. like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner for the Mac OS) that will clone my entire hard drive to an external drive that I can boot from if need be?


THE solution is a software that works independently on any harddisk content. Such a software includes a bootable CD/DVD that contains a complete OS that boots on any PC and then automatically starts its own Backup/Restore software where you can select the drives to be backuped/restored. So you can create a bitwise clone on an external drive and restore it later, regardless of what is on your (confused or empty) harddisk.

Drawback: While that software is running under its own OS, Windows is not running, so you have to go for a stroll or ...

Advantage: During Backup/Restore no Windows problems can arise. Booting from CD/DVD works on any PC.

http://www.acronis.com/en-gb/ (I've used this for 10+ years)

BTW: Preferably one does not use use an external USB drive for important backups. It is better to transfer the data via LAN to a different PC or to a NAS. USB connections are designed for keyboards, mice and similar gadgets, and an USB port is not a good power source.

You use FOUR av programmes together? How does that work - do they interact with one another in some way?


Some time ago a desparate lady called me because her PC didn't boot any more. What I found: Her son had kindly installed an AV software. Actually that wannabe guru hadn't noticed that there was already an AV software installed. Upon boot, both AVs tried to check each other so the PC got in a deadlock and the desktop appeared after 30 minutes.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
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Damn Sep 4, 2015

Samuel Murray wrote:

Tom in London wrote:
But is that plug and play? I've heard that if you buy a PC that's only the beginning of the story - that you need to install a whole load of extra things before you can actually use it.


You can use a Windows 10 computer without installing anything else (except for the specialist programs such as CAT tools and office suites), but why would you want to do that? The fun is in shopping around for programs that do the things that Windows also does, but better.


Damn - of course I've just realised I would need Word for Windows.

What software comes with Windows out of the box?


 
jyuan_us
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You don't want too know Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

jyuan_us wrote:

There are a lot of them within the radius of 10 miles of my place and they came over to get anything fixed with a minimum charge of $30.

For $30 they could work 2 or 3 hours in your place. If it takes a longer time than I thought I tend to tip them $10.



What, exactly, do they do? Why does it take them 2-3 hours? !!!!!


The point is their are cheap. In my current, temporary place (Milwaukee, WI, USA), for a "diagnosis" of a PC, a technical would charge more than $30. For that money, basically he will just tell you what the problem is and what he can do about it, without providing any actual repair.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
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Pony Sep 4, 2015

jyuan_us wrote:

a technical would charge more than $30. For that money, basically he will just tell you what the problem is and what he can do about it, without providing any actual repair.


Most importantly: does he have a pony tail and not wash?

My key criterion for Windows is that I must never need to call anyone to fix anything. I think that's the most importan thing. This being 2015, there should never be anything about a computer that would need to be fixed.

[Edited at 2015-09-04 08:43 GMT]


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
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King Canute by any other name Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

I've been told by a PC "technical guy" that when he "repairs" a computer he inserts new problems that will activate at a future date, requiring the user to call him again....


[Edited at 2015-09-03 20:34 GMT]


That's not a tech guy, Tom, that's a sneaky, thieving four letter word rhyming with Jeremy, which I'm unable to use here...


 
Samuel Murray
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@Tom Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:
Damn - of course I've just realised I would need Word for Windows.


Well, the Word Viewer is freeware (can't edit anything) and both OpenOffice and LibreOffice are free (but they're only 95% compatible with MS Office). Also, if you use CAT tools (which you don't, but if you did) you can translate many MS Office files without having MS Office installed.

What software comes with Windows out of the box?


Erm... well... there is a file explorer, an image viewer, a media player, one or two disk optimisation tools, and a very basic text editor. There's no e-mail client. Oh and there's a firewall and a kind of anti-virus. And a calculator.

Tom in London wrote:
My key criterion for Windows is that I must never need to call anyone to fix anything. I think that's the most important thing. This being 2015, there should never be anything about a computer that would need to be fixed.


Well, if you never install any additional programs (knowingly or unknowingly), then I think you're good. I think you'll achieve your goal if you buy a new computer every year or two. Windows computers typically don't need a technical guy for the first year or so, unless you install stuff on it that break it.



[Edited at 2015-09-04 09:20 GMT]


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
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Sadly true Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

...

I've also heard that the first time you run Windows it will install a whole load of commercial stuff you didn't ask for and didn't want, which will annoy you.

True or false?


Largely true. It's even worse if you get your PC from a big store, as they will usually have loads of free SW bundled in them which is largely useless, especially if you want the computer for work rather than leisure pursuits. And the cheaper ones on offer are usually the most obsolete, or about to become so.

One the of the things I get my tech guy to do is take all the pre-installed crap out. He charges 30 euros/h, which is less than my own hourly fee, or my mechanic's. Fair dos.


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 01:12
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Pigs in a poke.. Sep 4, 2015

Tom in London wrote:



Damn - of course I've just realised I would need Word for Windows.

What software comes with Windows out of the box? [/quote]

Not a lot. AFAIK you usually need to install Microsoft Office separately.

PS: I seem to recall that one of my cat tools or some other software that I like using doesn't work with Windows 10, which is why recently had to get W7 reinstalled.

[Edited at 2015-09-04 09:07 GMT]


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
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Avoid Sep 4, 2015

neilmac wrote:

.....
One the of the things I get my tech guy to do is take all the pre-installed crap out. He charges 30 euros/h, which is less than my own hourly fee, or my mechanic's. Fair dos.


I would like to avoid it getting put in in the first place. If, for example, I bought Windows from Amazon or somewhere like that, would that pre-installed crap still be installed?


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:12
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Jeremy Sep 4, 2015

neilmac wrote:

Tom in London wrote:

I've been told by a PC "technical guy" that when he "repairs" a computer he inserts new problems that will activate at a future date, requiring the user to call him again....


[Edited at 2015-09-03 20:34 GMT]


That's not a tech guy, Tom, that's a sneaky, thieving four letter word rhyming with Jeremy, which I'm unable to use here...


Ah - you mean "see you next Tuesday" but in text-speak.



[Edited at 2015-09-04 10:13 GMT]


 
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What is a "technical guy"?






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