tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18923040541411696442011-07-07T18:28:23.259-05:00Even if it was not real it would still be funny.Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.comBlogger2001100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-35126201012354629882009-01-22T20:06:00.002-06:002009-01-22T20:16:26.124-06:00

So a user calls wanting help restoring a database file. That's an easy one and I'm always eager to help people that help protect themselves with diligent backups. The database file is really corrupted so there is no hope of recovering it. We track down the backup files and I restore the first one that was taken about 3 days earlier. The restore process finishes and I notice the restored file

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-22177667646217320062009-01-20T18:27:00.002-06:002009-01-20T18:30:45.216-06:00

It's going to be a long day when the conversation goes like this:GTG> OK, your new password starts with a capital "B".User> A capital "B"?GTG> Yes, a capital "B", like in "Bob".User> Capital "B"? Like in "Bob"?GTG> Yes. Capital "B".User> Uh.GTG> Yes?User> That's the one with the two loops right?Needless to say, the rest of the day was uphill.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-54474259746244159972009-01-08T09:45:00.003-06:002009-01-08T09:52:56.787-06:00

It is much quieter around the office than it used to be. The powers that be decided they were sick of hearing all of the various people paged over the intercom as well as the daily weather reports or traffic reports or school closings. You know, frivolous stuff. The decision was made to create a section on the company intranet where this vital information could be posted.I popped over to the

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-69529184587322263542009-01-07T19:25:00.003-06:002009-01-07T19:43:34.199-06:00

Happy New Year!Most times the holidays are slow for tech support. Mainly because a majority of the office takes so much time off. I walked into the exception. Right off the bat, the phone rings and it's someone with a virus infected PC. I connect and start the scans when the phone rings again. Now it's someone having trouble in Excel. No sooner do I get connected to that user when my email

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-16257107915384457262008-12-10T08:20:00.002-06:002008-12-10T08:23:40.220-06:00

Even cats are joining the technical support battle.This poor cat needs to go back to printer school.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-50289501378274427532008-12-04T10:39:00.000-06:002008-12-04T10:40:36.551-06:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!That's it. Just Pay Day Eve. Nothing remotely funny to put here this time.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-37252645552154589342008-11-25T12:35:00.001-06:002008-11-25T12:36:24.582-06:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 6691 minutes in 30 days with 1852 text messages.It seems that Mr. On-The-Phone-5-Days-Straight is only pulling four and a half days.He must have been sick or something.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-36328468156098698512008-11-22T08:51:00.004-06:002008-11-22T09:43:06.269-06:00

Ok, I said I would tell you about it later, so here I am.I got an email Thursday morning from a user that went like this:Would you scan my PC for viruses? Jane changed my mouse key because I liked the dragon.Now I wouldn't expect you to understand this cryptic message, but you are probably reading the message exactly the same way I did. Several questions immediately popped into my head and I

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-11585033139129635332008-11-20T07:57:00.001-06:002008-11-20T07:58:20.702-06:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Have you changed your mouse key because you like the dragon?I'll tell you about it later.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-48541487544961702232008-11-06T07:49:00.000-06:002008-11-06T07:50:14.506-06:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Not only is it Pay Day Eve, but the election is finally over as well! YAY!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-40327578355522469802008-11-03T08:45:00.004-06:002008-11-03T08:56:04.756-06:00

Back in May I griped about this. This morning I get a call from a brand new user that goes something like this:GTG> Ok, so I have you setup on the new VPN. Your username is "JSmith" and your password is "password". The system will force you to change it.User> So I put JSmith in the username field?GTG> Yes.User> And my password is "password"?GTG> Yes.User> Ok, it's wanting me to change my

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-77354538222523834572008-10-31T08:00:00.000-05:002008-10-31T08:00:02.941-05:00

TechSup: Hello, undead technical support. May I please have your name and the date of your death? Customer: Ummmm, yes. I am Vlad the Impaler and I am a GREAT AND MIGHTY VAMPIRE!!! TS: Can I please have your date of death, sir? We have currently around 120 Vlad the Impalers on file, it's a fairly common name among the undead. Cust: Ummm, yeah... uhhh, well you see, I haven't actually died yet

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-83155151904943714742008-10-28T13:03:00.003-05:002008-10-28T13:12:16.230-05:00

I have an older PC lying around the house and I was thinking about different things to do with it. Then I saw this and actually considered it... for about 2 seconds.Every time I see this, a part of my brain screams "Are you insane?!"Check out more information about these types of PCs here: www.pugetsystems.com

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-9009262112957254782008-10-23T09:44:00.001-05:002008-10-23T09:47:10.233-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!The blog won't let me post comments. There's nothing like a new feature to ruin things.What's this world coming to?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-91084672828274936992008-10-22T08:00:00.002-05:002008-10-22T08:00:03.635-05:00

Dear Powers That Be,I just want you to be aware of some basic Laws of Physics that also apply to technology:1. Please do not call us three weeks after you hire someone griping about how the new guy does not have everything he needs. Especially if you never told us about him.2. Please remember it takes time to order a laptop. There is no company on Earth that will ship a laptop three weeks

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-25013893688857177682008-10-21T11:14:00.004-05:002008-10-22T09:00:52.732-05:00

Help me find a lost laptop! It was right here with me when I turned my head for just a second and then it was gone! Please help me!Ok, it really isn't that bad, but the tech support team was asked to locate a laptop that's missing from the network of one of the remote offices. We sent out an email plea for help and the replies are priceless.Hello All,Please confirm the service tag # on your

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-89266995817355249332008-10-15T08:00:00.001-05:002008-10-15T08:00:00.826-05:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 7456 minutes in 30 days with 2859 text messages.I shall give him a new name! How does Mr. On-The-Phone-5-Days-Straight sound?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-91114882334487262862008-10-14T09:01:00.002-05:002008-10-14T09:14:43.047-05:00

So after that last email, I was pretty grumpy. Well this isn't Fluffy Bunny Tech Support, so what do you expect?Moments ago I received this gem via email:I accidentally turned off my printer while trying to fix a paper jam and when I try to print any information, it acts as though the printer is no longer there. It is not printing at my desk.Let's use a radical new method to solve this user's

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-14786994940370080832008-10-13T10:52:00.002-05:002008-10-13T10:54:35.102-05:00

If I'm lying, I'm dying.I just received the following email message:Hi, I'm having trouble with my email. How do I send email messages?Read it again. Yes. You read that correctly. That's an EMAIL pleading for help sending email.Can you wrap your brain around that? I can't.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-70747394244250148532008-09-25T07:20:00.001-05:002008-09-25T07:22:31.944-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Is your computer slow?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-69749724006170496562008-09-23T21:08:00.002-05:002008-09-23T21:20:53.826-05:00

So this user calls me today with a problem opening PDF files. It's not really a big deal, but I need to verify exactly what the problem is. It might just be something else completely. The conversation goes like this:User> When I click the link it just wants me to download something or save it.GTG> You are sure the link you are clicking on is a PDF?User> Yes. It just wants me to save or

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-65004513476774829442008-09-20T13:56:00.004-05:002008-09-20T14:12:06.567-05:00

So the call comes in about an infected PC and I step up and go to work on it. This PC is so polluted with spyware, malware, downloaders, and other viruses it's not funny. To top it off, about every three seconds another pop-up warning manages to get in the way. I manage to get SuperAntiSpyware installed and start the scanning. Luckily it kills the easy stuff, but it leaves behind a couple of

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-53045228575816440232008-09-20T13:44:00.004-05:002008-09-22T10:27:32.929-05:00

Lately it seems I've been getting these types of calls: User> Hello? I need help with my email. It doesn't appear to be working right.GTG> No problem. Can you be more specific about how it is not working?User> Yeah. Well. Whenever I send an email the recipient never receives it.GTG> Hmm. Would you send me an email?User> I'll try.A simple test email arrives.GTG> I received it, so it appears

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-43481956544353667332008-09-11T07:00:00.000-05:002008-09-11T07:00:01.136-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!A very special 9/11 edition of Pay Day Eve.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-67516111794138146342008-09-08T19:47:00.002-05:002008-09-08T19:50:20.280-05:00

While surfing the various tubes of the Internet, I happened across this entry at Gizmodo.Can you imagine arguing with the astronauts about this? Or becoming so flabbergasted that NASA has to send a tech up to fix it? I'd go in a heartbeat.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-48366801834705608012008-09-03T18:59:00.003-05:002008-09-03T19:01:28.708-05:00

Tech support is an art. But some companies seem to be hiring computers to handle their "live chat support".The Consumerist has the details.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-90289040802405291062008-08-28T07:37:00.002-05:002008-08-28T07:39:04.419-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!A guy bursts into a doctor's office."Doctor, I have a terrible problem! I can never remember what I just said.""How long have you had this problem?""What problem?"

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-2462863051033784212008-08-20T15:31:00.001-05:002008-08-20T15:35:05.645-05:00

Would someone please translate this for me?I will sent another to the # one you specified earlier just now.Personally, I think a cat jumped onto the keyboard and managed to send me an email.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-1667299570407960392008-08-14T07:31:00.001-05:002008-08-14T07:32:55.125-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Another day defending the hordes from technological terrors.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-10619904745774952642008-08-09T21:48:00.001-05:002008-08-09T21:49:51.156-05:00

So I sat down for an evening of Internet surfing and I came across this gem.Aromatherapy? You have GOT to be kidding me.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-86607118686625725452008-08-04T19:04:00.003-05:002008-08-04T19:11:30.971-05:00

Folks, do me a favor and try to compose emails as if you were actually mailing a letter. It's bad enough when people try to use email as a chat session.This particular message was not part of a chain of replies, so I was caught a little bit off guard when I opened it.Broke cost down and yes they should have diff retail no has bean the other none always more $That's a direct reproduction with

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-82695934153060096072008-08-02T11:48:00.002-05:002008-08-02T11:51:57.146-05:00

Whack! There, that fixed it. Oh wait, it's broke again. Whack! There, that's better.No matter how frustrated you might be, you have to resist that natural human urge to use physical violence to solve your technological problems.The people at Gizmodo know what I'm talking about.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-55743618190470193762008-08-01T09:12:00.002-05:002008-08-01T09:15:43.288-05:00

A computer was something on TVFrom a science fiction show of noteA window was something you hated to cleanAnd ram was the cousin of a goat.Meg was the name of my girlfriendAnd gig was a job for the nightsNow they all mean different thingsAnd that really mega bites.An application was for employmentA program was a TV showA curser used profanityA keyboard was a piano.Memory was something

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-11473712667124745692008-07-31T08:18:00.000-05:002008-07-31T08:19:06.109-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Prepare for the triple Pay Days of August!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-19343535069314714032008-07-22T09:30:00.006-05:002008-07-26T12:06:57.897-05:00

So this recently hired user gets a laptop. It's not brand new, but it still works just fine after all the junk the last user that owned it is cleaned up. Anyway, the user has the laptop about a week and has to call in for help. For some reason, Outlook 2003 will not work anymore.Several voicemails and phone calls later I finally get in touch with the user to setup a remote session. I get

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-27225031685988041732008-07-17T08:58:00.001-05:002008-07-17T08:59:51.910-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!I'm taking tomorrow off and going to the movies.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-42939166636610568172008-07-09T08:09:00.004-05:002008-07-10T16:34:05.634-05:00

This has got to be the funniest tech support thing I've seen in a very long time.It's R-Rated, so don't blame me if your boss fires you for watching it at work.Sales Guy vs Web Dude

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-53270489483215384032008-07-08T20:29:00.005-05:002008-07-08T20:43:39.589-05:00

Microsoft just doesn't get it do they?The site Gizmodo gives us the low-down.Microsoft could give their cash monies directly to me to try and convince me that Vista doesn't suck pond scum. It kind of reminds me of a Star Trek episode.How many lights?Speaking of Microsoft and Star Trek, try this.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-10157904596029002072008-07-02T23:00:00.003-05:002008-07-02T23:09:08.890-05:00

Tech support people have a bad enough reputation as light-weight glasses-wearing technobabble-spewing nerds but Geek Squad seems to be giving us good apples an even harder time. Take for example Mike's story. He had some spyware slowing his PC down and took it to the Geeks at Best Buy.Should you trust some guy with a VW and a badge that makes $8 per hour?Mike could have taken me to see Ironman,

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-43388104818871435632008-07-02T22:40:00.001-05:002008-07-02T22:42:20.957-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Since tomorrow is a holiday it's actually Pay Day instead of the usual Pay Day Eve!Not that I'm complaining or anything.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-50732968487366293192008-06-30T10:37:00.004-05:002008-06-30T10:44:48.954-05:00

Well, now that Bill Gates is gone, Microsoft can start making some really big mistakes.They have decided to stop selling Windows XP.Windows Vista is a pretty good operating system, as long as you have a brand new computer printing to a brand new printer and a brand new display. If you have any old components, like say, one to five years old, count on crashing, being down for several days and

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-41367989671191714912008-06-27T10:35:00.003-05:002008-06-27T10:39:05.349-05:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Today's installment of How Many Minutes is different from the usual presentation of the top employee's cell phone and text message usage.This comes from one of Grumpy Tech Support's long time lurkers who sent this link.All I can say is "Wow."

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-81971789328127949052008-06-26T18:06:00.011-05:002008-08-27T21:11:49.570-05:00

Logic is a tech support person's greatest weapon. Used correctly it can cut troubleshooting time dramatically. This time logic just did not work right.Warning: This is going to be a long one so forgive me if it becomes too technical. I'll try to keep it in English.Ok, picture this: A tape library unit with two tape drives inside. Drive A is on the left, Drive B is on the right. You load

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-60783383165774726162008-06-23T10:26:00.004-05:002008-06-23T11:37:38.175-05:00

You have to love consulting computer experts. They come in with all their expertise and tell you what a moron you are and treat you thusly. Every once in a while you catch one of these "experts" and it makes you wonder where they received their fountain of knowledge.Case in point --Consultant> So where are the files located?GTG> The EXE is out there in the Install folder on the Raleigh server.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-78409241676124786872008-06-19T09:05:00.002-05:002008-06-19T09:09:10.589-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Everyone go to your local Wal-Mart and buy a single box of Tic-tacs so it will mess with their inventory systems.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-43645432134838136052008-06-16T08:56:00.003-05:002008-06-16T08:58:38.615-05:00

A blonde user calls her husband at work one day and asks him, "Can you help me when you get home?""Sure," he replies. "What's the problem?""Well, I started a really hard puzzle and I can't even find the edge pieces.""Look on the box," he said. "There's always a picture of what the puzzle is.""It's a big rooster," she said.The husband arrives home and tells his blonde wife, "Okay, Honey, put the

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-20827624341372345922008-06-13T11:24:00.002-05:002008-06-13T11:25:44.627-05:00

Ok, if the $20,000 PC wasn't enough, Gizmodo shows me this.Any more and I'll have to call the church group to start picketing these people!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-77377334130380823902008-06-10T21:57:00.001-05:002008-06-10T21:59:56.576-05:00

First a supercomputer is created that can perform a petaflop and now I find this.I'm getting goose-bumps. I figure it will only take me 18 years to save up for one.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-40772803148976987262008-06-09T14:10:00.004-05:002008-06-09T16:42:35.452-05:00

No, not a bunny hop, a petaflop. IBM and a group of scientists have created a supercomputer that has performed a petaflop. That's 1000 trillion operations in a single second!I wonder how long it takes to reboot...

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-34186067968968908062008-06-06T07:57:00.001-05:002008-06-06T07:59:11.125-05:00

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, "Who's on First?" might have turned out something like this: COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you? COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer. ABBOTT: Mac? COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou. ABBOTT: Your computer?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-76796531571186384172008-06-05T08:00:00.002-05:002008-06-05T08:00:04.190-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Tomorrow I can buy some gas.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-36143826552206277492008-06-04T19:19:00.003-05:002008-06-05T07:46:13.721-05:00

Remember this post? Can you hear me now? Well guess who has been calling me? Yeah, it's him. He has called every day this month because he is in a hotel trying to connect to their network.The concept is easy. Painfully easy. Although I can understand some people have a hard time with it. Let's see if I can explain it to you -- There are a vast number of servers on the Internet. So many

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-58278914305102311482008-05-29T13:57:00.002-05:002008-05-29T14:00:54.918-05:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 5488 minutes in 30 days with 3352 text messages.The scary thing is this employee doesn't have the most text messages! 3439 text messages beats out Mr. 91-Hours!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-84664831975860503322008-05-26T09:00:00.000-05:002008-05-26T09:00:03.304-05:00

Some people just have no concept of how big that email with the picture attachment really is.Just once I'd like to ask them, "Hey! Want to see a picture of my buddy?" and show them this:My buddyMaybe that will get the point across.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-68849118937210035132008-05-23T09:54:00.007-05:002008-05-23T13:47:03.209-05:00

Being from a family with generations of woodworkers and carpenters, I have always found the adage "The right tool for the job" to be true. The correct tool can make a task so much easier. Take, for example, the user that emailed in wanting more memory for his laptop.The memory arrived at my home and I will plan to install it later today. Anything special I need to know about removing and

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-20088933404510168482008-05-22T08:26:00.003-05:002008-05-22T08:42:42.522-05:00

So there was a hard drive crash in the family. No big deal, even though it took some time to track down a similar sized hard drive to replace it. $40 is not that bad to spend on a brand new 80GB hard drive. During my search, I came across Seagate Recover Services. They say they can recover data from any drive and even have a No Data, No Pay guarantee.I didn't call their toll-free phone number

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-8702179751458480662008-05-22T08:00:00.001-05:002008-05-22T08:00:08.341-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!(insert funny comment here)

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-65688614680712307892008-05-20T08:58:00.005-05:002008-05-20T09:08:29.006-05:00

Our new VPN installation is giving me a plethora of material. Call after call goes by with me basically reading the instructions from the email sent out and making sure the user clicks on the correct things.Today is no exception: A call came in about a user not being able to get email while connected to the new VPN. What good is having a secure link to the network if your email doesn't work?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-89676881642769040832008-05-14T11:46:00.009-05:002008-05-14T12:15:17.286-05:00

A global email goes out to everyone about our new VPN. It's a simple email with simple instructions. From: AdministratorTo: EveryoneSubject: New VPN - Do Not Delete these instructions1) Go to VPN website2) Enter your username (first initial, last name)3) Enter your password (the same one you use for the network)Now let's play a game based on the email with the 3-step instructions above.Question

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-16709752960599208752008-05-13T10:18:00.005-05:002008-05-13T10:53:08.563-05:00

I hate that guy. You know the one. That "Can you hear me now?" guy. He doesn't have to speak. Just the sight of his face brings up that unbridled rage. The reason he gets on my nerves so bad is the entire premise of asking the same thing over and over and over again. It's one of my pet peeves.I'm a patient person. You have to be in this line of work. As a matter of fact if you walked a

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-80606078626207029192008-05-12T09:21:00.004-05:002008-05-12T09:25:59.241-05:00

Tragedy struck the Grumpy Tech Guy household over the weekend when the hard drive crashed on the PC of our youngest family member.To make matters worse, the warranty ran out about two months ago.I ran some diagnostics on the drive only to get a Return Code 7. This points to an imminent drive failure. So now I get to scour the countryside for a new 80GB hard drive. Maybe I'll break down and

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-45332430566226011132008-05-10T14:30:00.002-05:002008-05-10T14:30:01.080-05:00

Why does it have to be so cold in here? I'll tell you why, because someone somewhere else in the office is hot. It doesn't matter if that person is wearing a sweater or has a heater under the desk. They are hot, so you must be cold.It's like Ice Station Zebra in here... In fact it's so cold in here I'm seeing the wings on those little fly bugs ice up and drop them to the floor.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-75248502697079878872008-05-09T13:13:00.003-05:002008-05-09T13:21:52.345-05:00

Got a call today. The user was having trouble logging on through the VPN. We recently changed our VPN, so I can understand how confusing things can be.User> I followed the instructions but I was unable to log in from home.GTG> It appears you have the VPN software installed.User> Yes I do. I'm looking at it right now.GTG> Aren't you here in the office?User> Yes. What does that matter?GTG> Just

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-11069689782912074932008-05-08T08:00:00.000-05:002008-05-08T08:01:40.294-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!It reminds me what keeps me going during these early mornings and late nights.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-1845371595927484782008-05-01T13:54:00.002-05:002008-05-01T13:55:45.278-05:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 5488 minutes in 30 days with 3352 text messages.Not to mention $33 worth of directory assistance.Ah, Spring is in the air.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-6694169728082649332008-04-24T10:03:00.001-05:002008-04-24T10:04:24.541-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!I filled up my gas tank this morning. The gas station attendant didn't even buy me dinner first...

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-40860150013316530262008-04-23T07:38:00.001-05:002008-04-23T07:40:07.627-05:00

How can you tell when a fax has been sent by a blonde user?It has a stamp on it.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-38242900097047035192008-04-14T17:53:00.004-05:002008-05-01T14:16:12.417-05:00

I like my dentist. He is a nice dentist. The thing that most fascinates me about him is the fact that he can understand exactly what you are saying no matter how garbled it is said. Take today for instance. I cracked a tooth several days ago. I knew exactly when it happened too. I was eating a spoonful of cooked rice, bit down, and CRACK! The sound reverberated throughout my skull. It was

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-57254891506703769322008-04-10T07:37:00.001-05:002008-04-24T10:04:38.092-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Things are a bit on auto pilot around here but I promise it will get better.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-2643609830282653382008-04-03T09:19:00.004-05:002008-04-03T09:26:44.741-05:00

Have you ever dropped your cell phone in the sink? Or worse, the toilet?! Yikes!That cell phone sinks to the bottom where all the germs live. I wonder what could be done to prevent something like that.Styrofoam peanuts used as packing material seem to be everywhere. Their static cling is really annoying. What's worse is having to throw them away. I wonder how one could recycle styrofoam

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-79129554259666899332008-04-01T11:12:00.000-05:002008-04-01T11:13:48.248-05:00

Seems that there are a bunch of us tech guys that are going grumpy.Check out The Grumpy Admin's blog.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-11444194707872632812008-04-01T10:02:00.002-05:002008-04-01T10:04:13.827-05:00

The guys at ExtremeTech are asking if loyalty matters anymore?Read the article here.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-8731775193039195692008-04-01T08:16:00.002-05:002008-04-01T08:22:49.872-05:00

Have you heard the saying "No good deed goes unpunished"?I came in late at night Sunday evening and worked through the night to help upgrade over 45 servers with all their latest patches and such. Everything went smoothly and we were done by 4AM. Apparently some of the "upper echelon" didn't appreciate that the email server was down for 4 hours. Even though a notification went out alerting

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-52244365312354907032008-03-30T11:23:00.001-05:002008-03-30T11:24:31.803-05:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 4022 minutes in 30 days with 1783 text messages.Anything below 5000 is just phoning it in.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-77804589839201369542008-03-27T10:33:00.001-05:002008-03-27T10:35:16.250-05:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!I know things have been a bit slow lately,but I never want to miss a Pay Day Eve!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-75310655110969182372008-03-09T14:46:00.003-05:002008-03-09T14:54:29.878-05:00

So I'm at the Not-The-Floor-Mart with a couple of items and decide to use their ultra fact Self Checkout. Aiding my decision is the fact that all the other checkouts are in use with at least 5 people waiting.The kid in front of me has two candy bars so it shouldn't take that long. Boy was I wrong. Beep. Scan the candy. Beep. Scan the other candy. Beep. Pay cash. Beep. Insert cash. BUZZ!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-38333820484249019752008-03-06T15:59:00.004-06:002008-03-07T07:48:46.295-06:00

If one more person forwards me the link to "streaker getting beaned by cricket player" ... I am going to shoot myself. Why is it that people think by sending me viral emails/youtubes/funny pic's is an attempt to win my friendship...???Please just sit back and do your job and NEVER ask me for anything and I'll be your friend. Oh and while you're at it, remember to make some more coffee in the

Grumpy Smokerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00797026792234271865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-38248720363574786332008-03-04T08:16:00.001-06:002008-03-04T08:16:52.094-06:00

Did you hear about the blonde user that was trapped on the escalator for hours during a power outage?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-13435041504516773662008-03-03T08:23:00.003-06:002008-03-03T08:31:43.069-06:00

When you have been in tech support as long as I have you learn to "read between the lines" when a user sends out an email.For instance, this email message came in the other day:From: UserTo: Grumpy Tech GuySubject: ComputerMy computer is broke!!Call me please.Now your fresh out of grade school tech would read that an not be able to determine that the user's child ran through the kitchen, tripped

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-56801675959678129592008-02-28T11:21:00.001-06:002008-02-28T11:25:26.444-06:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!The rarest of the rare: Leap Year Third Pay Day Eve of the Month!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-8450627276760679432008-02-28T09:19:00.002-06:002008-02-28T09:21:50.579-06:00

The tech guys over at ExtremeTech deal with some of the sames things I do.Joel tells some pretty good stories in this article.Check it out!

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-77235887068665615102008-02-26T08:32:00.002-06:002008-02-26T08:34:48.474-06:00

I found this article the other day. There is an included video clip from the old movie Rollerball. Thirty years ago, this is what Hollywood imagined computer tech support would be like.Enjoy Supercomputer has a Meltdown.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-17289067851549759402008-02-25T13:35:00.001-06:002008-02-25T13:36:57.302-06:00

How do you keep a Blonde User from reading your emails?Move them to a folder named "Instructions"

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-65117277867097180382008-02-25T11:35:00.001-06:002008-02-25T11:50:01.215-06:00

Calls come in constantly, but some just draw the life right out a person...GTG> Grumpy Tech Support. How may I help you today?User> Hello. Yeah. I have a vendor here with a laptop that is having a problem connecting to our wireless network.GTG> That's because we don't have a wireless network.User> Well she said she sees one out there, but can't connect to it.GTG> Yes, there are several wireless

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-67953332782334604682008-02-21T11:39:00.004-06:002008-02-21T11:50:50.035-06:00

So you spend some time crafting a concise email message with all the instructions someone could possibly need and you get this in return:From: UserTo: Grumpy Tech GuySubject: RE: Handy ProgramIt's asking me if I want to install the converter. What do I do now? From: Grumpy Tech Guy To: User, User, User, and User Subject: Handy Program Gentlemen, Please run the attachment. Make sure

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-22287982364054602092008-02-20T10:51:00.002-06:002008-02-20T10:54:33.400-06:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 4079 minutes in 30 days with 1101 text messages.Just shy of 68 hours of talking. I wonder how many of those hours were spent driving too.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-50190891480754545972008-02-20T07:55:00.002-06:002008-02-20T08:02:39.880-06:00

Normally I receive anywhere from twenty to fifty junk emails every day. However on this cloudy Wednesday morning there were NO SPAM IN MY FOLDER.I need to hit the grocery store and buy milk and bread before the impending doom arrives.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-82405936273888812232008-02-19T10:37:00.007-06:002008-02-20T08:03:21.422-06:00

So I get this call from this user with an error. Yeah. That's about as much detail as I could get.The screen is blank and the power button doesn't seem to work. Anyways, after chatting with the guy for a few hours, I convince him to ship the dead PC in.Here's why his machine won't boot up: The real problemDude... you got robbed.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-56823611762971205892008-02-15T08:24:00.007-06:002008-02-15T13:44:02.591-06:00

Many years ago I was called in to find out why this one user could never reliably connect to the server with their modem. The user would call for help and tech support would walk the user through resetting the modem. Everything would work fine until the next morning and the cycle would repeat.This cycle went on for months. Every once in a while one of the front-line tech support guys would

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-4803655758239447872008-02-14T19:55:00.000-06:002008-02-15T08:23:52.214-06:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Did you think I would forget?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-68715729307395462782008-02-14T08:08:00.002-06:002008-02-14T08:25:44.825-06:00

Posting has been kind of light this week. Not because nothing funny has happened in the tech support world, though. I had to catch a flight to attend a funeral. Depressing, yes. However, I do want to relay this story.So I'm one of the last passengers to board the plane and I sit in the aisle seat next to this young kid. He couldn't have been 18 or 19, but I notice he is chatting with the guy

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-24276491671532949972008-02-07T19:04:00.000-06:002008-02-07T19:16:09.942-06:00

Wikipedia is pretty cool, but it has one flaw: It's not very reliable as a source. Granted you can find some amazing trivia and information on it, but can you really trust it? The pages can be modified by anyone.I happened across an article by A Very Grumpy Bunny that caught my eye and I tend to agree with Bunny's views. I will admit that Wikipedia is a good place to get you started on

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-78180407116391847402008-02-06T13:05:00.000-06:002008-02-06T13:07:35.222-06:00

It's time for How Many Minutes!Top single employee phone usage: 5481 minutes in 30 days with 1004 text messages.Over 90 hours of gabbing. I'd have sores on my ears.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-15005543968769145322008-02-06T11:00:00.000-06:002008-02-07T10:34:05.518-06:00

So I'm chatting with this guy over the phone yesterday about his email mailbox filling up. He's been getting warning messages for months, but I'm guessing he ignored them.GTG> Dude, you really need to clean up your emails.User> Yeah, I know.GTG> No, I mean it. If you don't do something soon your account will get locked down.User> Ok, ok. I'll do it now.It's been 24 hours now and he's deleted a

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-29746886070563630312008-02-05T08:52:00.000-06:002008-02-05T08:56:47.385-06:00

Sometimes, even tech support people need tech support. Case in point, we are having some trouble with a new application that is supposed to work on the Blackberry PDAs.You know it is going to be a long day when you get this email reply for your tech support request:Dear Grumpy Tech Guy,Thank you for your reply.Our engineering team is investigating your problem. However, most of the engineering

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-76350440434605967222008-02-01T11:04:00.000-06:002008-02-01T11:08:02.231-06:00

StopBadWare.org is a website to provide information about AdWare, MalWare and all those other "wares" out there.They just released a report that lists RealPleayer as a BadWare. I know I have fought RealPlayer and the junk that mysteriously accumulates on a computer once RealPlayer is installed.Check them out.

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-30338528793884328122008-02-01T09:02:00.000-06:002008-02-01T09:11:56.043-06:00

This is a first for me. This morning I received an email from "Hypnosis Center" wanting to know "Can you be hypnotized?"That's easy: Nope.Deleted

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-10403859843350530792008-01-31T12:34:00.001-06:002008-01-31T12:35:30.547-06:00

YAY! It's Pay Day Eve!Can I borrow $5?

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-10342740492513289562008-01-29T09:17:00.000-06:002008-01-29T09:53:28.990-06:00

Sometimes troubleshooting leads nowhere. You try and try, but the problem remains. I've found that going on location can sometime help to track down the cause. Take this incident from about 15 years ago, for example.Like clockwork the phone rings at 9:15AM. The database is corrupted again. Not just corrupted, but completely trashed. It's so bad the software no longer recognizes the database

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1892304054141169644.post-4890733194539880682008-01-28T09:15:00.000-06:002008-01-28T10:37:21.744-06:00

I'm a big Star Trek fan and one of my favorite lines is Dr. "Bones" McCoy's "He's dead, Jim."He has said it so many times in so many ways it's just plain funny.I mention that because my phone died last night. It was a painful death too. The phone rang and I crossed the room, reached down to pick up the receiver and zapped myself with a blast of static electricity.It's dead, Jim.Great! Now I

Grumpy Tech Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10286709592103222989noreply@blogger.com0