Have questions about computers, the internet, leased lines, and networking? They are probably outside of my support boundaries, but I will try to answer them anyway!
Ask away!
I give up. Where exactly do I find a copy of this Fu Can manual y’all always tell me to read before rudely hanging up?
This is probably better suited to General Questions, and I suspect it’ll move pretty shortly.
But while we’re here . . . I just got a brand-spankin-new Dell Poweredge 2400 server (dual PIII 733’s, 256 mb RAM, a couple fast SCSI hard drives, all-around nice box). I accidentally ordered it with a nonredundant power supply, but would prefer to plug the beast into both room power and the new UPS we had installed recently.
Any ideas how much of a pain it would be to swap power suplies? Can I kluge it somehow?
Eek, hardware is one of the things I don’t know too much about, sounds like you might know more than me. I did ask someone who does build their own, and says a lot of it depends on the motherboard you are using.
I was spoofing the multiple ‘Ask the Gay Guy’ threads with these last three topics I created (‘Ask the Drug User’ and ‘Ask the Disorganized Theist’), I’m not saying I won’t answer any questions I can, BUT…I’m going home now and probably won’t be online again tonight. Sorry folks.
Assuming that the mainboard supports multiple powersupplies (which I would imagine that it does … even my dual pentium 100 board supports that) and the case supports two internal power supplies (which I would imagine it does as well given that you listed it as an option) … you could try two things. One - crack the case and see if the power supply is industry standard … 300watt or so ATX I would imagine (but might be propreitary in connection). If it is standard go down and get yourself another generic power unit with the same specs.
If not, call up dell and order the replacement one and be prepared to pay throught the teeth!!!
Anyone know anything about Compuserve?
I have a small account. Maybe use up a few hours (if that) a month. But I like having it, and I want to keep the account. I have Compuserve Classic right now, and was curious about CS2000. I installed CS2000 on my iMac, and I shit you not, it screwed things up so much I had to reinstall my system folder!!! (I know that is a Mac-related thing, but bear with me.) I doubt my Mac OS was screwed up before, or that my settings were unstable. Things were VERY stable before the CS2000 install. And it became toxic after the CD2000 install.
I have CS Classic on my PC, and I am concerned about taking the chance and trying out CS2000 on it. Does anyone have it, does it make their PC freak out? From what I could see of CS2000, it looks a lot (A LOT) like AOL. Which is not surprising, since it is owned by AOL. Is the CS2000 software crappy and buggy now, since it has been AOL-ised? I am pretty sure I am not going to migrate over to CS2000 after my traumatic iMac experience, but I’d be curious to know of other people’s experiences.
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- My computer does this wierd sound thing, and it sometimes looks funny too, it’s all red and other colors and vibrates sometimes like when I go “b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b”. The neighbors are always spying on me when this happens, I’m pretty sure they have some kind of mind-control thing they’re trying to use on me or something. I saw them messing with it one night when they forgot to close the shades. Sometimes their DSL dish is pointed at my house instead of the sky. They must know I know because their teenage girl kid who never talked to me before asked if I wanted to come over and “party”, and I said I ain’t no Chester and left fast. Their dog craps in my yard too. What should I do? - MC
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This one has been confusing more and more people in recent years. The problem is that people are looking for something made of recycled wood chips, but the manufacturer have found recycled electrons to be much cheaper.
The manuals are all hidden inside your monitor. To bring them from the back of the monitor (where you can’t see them) to the front of the monitor (where you can) all you need to do is press the “F1” button on your keyboard.
Thought for a sec the topic line said “Ask the Call Girl.” How disappointing.
Okay, this kind of exceepds the scope of the OP, but I’m interested, and can’t think of anyone more qualified to answer this question.
I’m “good with computers,” and in every job I’ve ever had, I’ve become kind of an unofficial help desk that people consult before calling in the big guns (and, generally, that is the last step they need to take).
Now,given the above information:
- Does it sound to you like I’d be more suited for a job as a help-desk consultant than any schmo off the street? I hear tell that the training process for becoming one of these phone-jockeys is pretty advanced… is some native knowledge still a plus?
- Is the answer to #1 is some variant of “yes,” how do I (as someone with essentially no formal training in this area) go about fooling someone to hire me? Do I start off as a contractor with a help desk company?
- An awful lot of the people whom I know who work a help desk loathe their jobs (and the people who interrupt their IRC sessions). Is this a fool’s errand?
Thanks.
mm
[Moderator Hat ON]
I think this is better suited to MPSIMS. Off it goes.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
Grither,
Do you live a decent sized city? If so, I’d suggest you just start interviewing. Banks and brokerage houses with internal help desks will often hire people that know little or nothing about computers and train them for the job. It’s good to have some “people skills” stuff on your resume, and of course anything you may have done with computers, even if you are only an “advanced user”. You will probably get rejected a lot going in with no formal experience, but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t at least one help desk manager out there that’s willing to take you in.
If you don’t like rejection, you can pay out some bucks and get certified in Windows NT 4.0. That should get you a job somewhere.
Working on a help desk is generally considered horrible. Some people do enjoy it but I think they are in the minority. However, the pay is decent and it is often a window to much better jobs in the technical field.
I never worked on a helpdesk, but I worked closely with some people who did, including my fiancee. She eventually left the helpdesk and now she manages a PC Support group. I don’t work that closely with helpdesk people anymore as I have moved on as well. Few people in the tech sector stay in one job for long.
PeeQueue
You’re nuts, Badtz Maru, for starting this thread.
I’m a computer tech support, and I really like the TMs, but not that much…
Where the heck is that any key?
Yeah, I need help. The cup holder on my computer is broke…
(ducking and running)
Grither, I used to work in a call center as a computer tech for a national ISP, and I had no call center, or even any experience on the phone for that matter. I had only one job before, and that was working at Subway (I was 18 when I landed that tech job, needless to say, I was the youngest one there).
Anyway, the screening process consists of two things:
- A profiency test via a computer. I was asked about 100 questions about various software and hardware. Lots of modem questions, Windows questions, and Netscape/IE questions (as this is the bulk of issues that come up when working end user support for ISPs).
I think the minimum you needed to score was 75%. FWIW, I got an 81%. If you pass this, you’re pretty much a shoe in, unless you bomb the oral interview, which comes next.
- The oral interview. Surprisngly, this was easier than I thought it would be. I wasn’t asked those, “why do you want to work here?” questions. Or, “why do you think you’d make a good employee?” Instead, I was asked questions that weren’t on the profiency test. Pretty easy.
Of course, this process is going to vary from company to company. With a national ISP, I would venture to say that the process would be a little more stringent.
So, once you get hired, you sit in this 3 week paid training class - 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks. We couldn’t miss one day of it (if we did, we’d be dismissed, regardless of circumstances).
The training class teaches you all you need to know about the proprietary information about the company, the software you’ll use to bring up customer records, how to use your phone, and most importantly, how to deal with customers. The first two weeks is spent on that.
At first, I kinda liked the job. After about two months, I dreaded going. Mainly because of the workplace politics, not because of the customers. For the most part, the customers are very polite and obedient, they’re just incompetent. Anyway, I quit after 13 months.
My advice to you? Try it out. Some of my coworkers were quite happy with their job. You could be one of them.
Grither: Get your A+ certification. It’s a kind of general computer knowledge test, and it’ll prove to potential employers that you really do know your stuff. Better yet, it’s supposed to be really easy (I’ll probably read up and take it sometime within the next year, just for the hell of it).
Tech support: Okay, here’s a challenge for you, which means I want more than the standard “Windows does weird stuff” answer that I’ve been getting from my supposedly techgeek friends. I recently installed Windows 2K Professional Edition on my new IBM HD, giving me a Win98/Win2K dual boot system. However, if I try to cold boot into Win2K, it invariably freezes while loading the OS (though after the splash screen), at which point I hit the reset button. After choosing Win2K again, it loads fine and runs without any complications whatsoever. My W98 runs (or at least loads) with nary a complaint no matter what I do to it (within reason).
Some system specs, if it’ll help:
P3 600 (not OCed)
256 MB PC-100 RAM
Abit BE6 (latest BIOS revision), with HPT 366 ATA-66 controller (latest BIOS and driver revisions)
22GB IBM 34GXP Hard Drive (Master on ATA-66 chain, my W98 drive)
60 GB IBM 75 GXP HD (Master on other ATA-66 chain)
/ Partitions 2GB (W2K partition), 28GB, 28 GB 36 GB Maxtor (master on first ATA-33 chain).
Come on guys, impress me. (Please?)
Re: A+ certification.
If you do get your A+ certification, don’t even bother with the tech support job. You’re worth a lot more if you have that certification. When I quit, I was at $10.60 an hour (there were 6% annual raises, and I just happen to slide under that 12 month mark). With the A+, at the minimum, there are jobs that’ll pay $17, $18, up to $22 even, depending on your experience and the company.