What is your most asked question as a Tech?

[Pezzle]

Working out in the open in a retail chain... Probably... I have a few.

1)

Customer: So are you loading the spyware in my computer?
Me: -smacks forehead- (She means the Anti-Spyware Software)

2)

Me: You are getting an inpage error blue screen and there's a bad noise coming from the bottom of your laptop. The hard drive will have to be replaced immediately.
Person: Can you save my pics/porn/important business documents that I don't back up ever?
Me: Ma'am it sounds like a dolphin.

3)...The one I hate the most...

CAN YOU HELP ME PICK OUT AND PURCHASE A DESKTOP COMPUTER?

This one burns me the most. Why? Becuase I have tons of computers to work on. Go find a redshirt.

[MadMike]

Customer: So are you loading the spyware in my computer?
Me: -smacks forehead- (She means the Anti-Spyware Software)

I got one of those once. I fixed a computer for a friend, and apparently she was impressed with my work enough to recommend her to her sister. But the way she asked was weird.

"Can you put the spyware on my sister's computer?"

Took me awhile to figure out she meant she wanted anti-spyware installed, and the actualy spyware removed.

[carlyn]

Ask them to read you settings:

SC: "I'm not a computer person!"

[CancelMyService]

Or even better, when you ask them to turn it on (because it's never on when they call):

"I don't know how to turn it on, this is my child's/friend's/roomate's/etc computer and they're the experts with these things"

I thought I'd escape these with my current job, but I get the same responses to questions about peoples' TVs and cable boxes.

[HawaiianShirts]

SC: Do you carry power supplies for laptops? I have a Dell

Me: *sigh*

Happens here, too. Very often. I always go to look at the universal power adapters, but I need the customer's computer's model number to find one that will work, and they never know that. In fact, most give me a look that says, "Computers have model numbers?"

Today, the customer was nice enough, but the way she told me what she needed...
Customer (on phone): I have a Dell Espeon laptop notebook laptop. My ACD power adapter thing doesn't work.
And later...
Customer: I just don't know why it's not working any more. Could it be because my dog chewed on it?

My most asked question of all? It's a tie between the following:
1 - "Do you have any (amazingly discounted and popular sale item) left?" asked on the last day of the sale twenty minutes before closing.
2 - "My (electronic something-er-other) isn't working. Do you know what's wrong?

[BravoOrig]

I understand alot of people just get all flustered with computers since they don't understand, but please realize most people you talk to in tech support are making it the simplest they can, and know how to walk you, the home user, through doing something on the computer. All you have to do is read what the screen says, and click where and when I tell you to. Some of this is really not that hard. I don't care what little knowledge you have, just read and do what I ask.

And please don't call me with the obvious. If your dog chewed through a cable, yes that could be the problem! Windows XP has one of the most blatantly obvious error messages I've ever seen, "A Network Cable is Unplugged". Gee, what does that mean? And what do you suppose that means after you accidentally disconnected your network cable, plugged it back in 50 different ways than it was originally, and get the same message. Uh, you don't have it connected right?

I heard a fellow rep take a call from someone who got a new Vista PC, hooked it up, turned it on, and wanted to know what to do next. His answer, double-click on the blue E? I get it if you want to call in first before doing something just because you're unsure or think there is more steps necessary, but if alot of people would just try first, it would save alot of calls.