Browser?

[EvilEmpryss]

I've had a few "Start button?? What's that??" but it's fairly easy to get them to the right place.

Ahem.

I have a Mac. No "Start Button". Just a pretty apple with a bite taken out of it.

Then again, I'm one of those pleasant-to-deal-with tech customers that calls up only after I've written down eveything that's going wrong, the steps it took to get the error, my system/OS/software versions/any other settings that might be relevant, and have Googled the problem to see if it's something I can solve on my own. When given directions I can follow them without having to have my hand held through every step.

[protege]

The special ones are the users who only access the documents through the recently opened list in the program, then 'lose' them when they drop off that, or it resets for some reason.

My grandmother is one of those people Every now and then, I'll get a frantic call about how some of her files were "deleted," and she'll insist that something is wrong with the computer. Rather than having to see her get all worked up (and possibly risking a heart attack), I have to head over there. It usually takes about 45 minutes of explaining that the program (usually WordPerfect) only keeps track of 4 or 5 recently opened files...and that nothing went anywhere. That's 45 minutes of my life that I'll never get back

At least I've finally managed to get her to save things into My Documents...rather than having files all over the desktop

[Rapscallion]

Heh - my father insisted I drive over when he was panicking that his computer wouldn' t start.

Got there, used the first rule of IT support, plugged the keyboard back in, told him not to wrench the computer around as usual, went home.

You know, if he could read back the message on the screen without all the hysteria, I'd have been able to sort it out without wasting time and fuel.

Rapscallion

[technical.angel]

Ahem.

I have a Mac. No "Start Button". Just a pretty apple with a bite taken out of it.

I think most people who have a mac know the answer to "What's your operating system?"

[earl colby pottinger]

Not all

I think most people who have a mac know the answer to "What's your operating system?"

Not all of them know which version or when the last update was done. And this applies double if it is the company's machine rather than thier own.

Unless they are Graphic Artists, in which case they have hounded IT Support to put on the latest and greatest of everything.

[technical.angel]

True, but they usually know enough to say, "Uh... I have a mac...." Then it's simply, "Click the apple in the left hand corner, click About this mac, what does it say after version?"

[Barefootgirl]

I'm not tech support but once - one awful, mindbending half hour that I'll never get back - I offered to help one of my mum's elderly lady friends whose computer had "gone all funny". This lady used her computer SOLELY for emails and looking at pictures of her grandchildren in Canada, I don't think she had ever even been on the web. To be fair, this is as much my stupidity as hers!

Mum told me the lady was not very computer-savvy...that turned out to be the understatement of the decade. Her son had bought her the computer and set everything up for her, then told her firmly not to touch ANYTHING (smart man) and vanished. She knew how to turn on her computer, she knew how to open up her email, but that was it. What she didn't know to tell me, and I didn't figure out for quite some time, was that it was a Mac.

My brain hurts just thinking about it. we went back and forth, back and forth, nothing on her screen matched with my mental picture. Eventually, i asked her to hit the windows key on her keyboard and she went very quiet while she hunted for it. it wasn't there (of course). I asked her to read out what was on each key on the bottom row of the keyboard...and then she uttered the immortal words,

"And this one has a little picture of an apple with a bite out of it"

i banged my head on the desk for a bit, as much because I had been thick and not asked the right questions! Turned out that her son had bought her a very nice iMac G3(the blue one) because he wanted his mum to have the best....eventually I was able to fix her problem, and i can't even remember now what it was, but it was a salutary lesson for me to ask the right questions!

[protege]

Unless they are Graphic Artists, in which case they have hounded IT Support to put on the latest and greatest of everything.

...or they're brown-nosing whiners like Sarah...who whine to the boss that they neeeeeeeed a copy of Access to run database queries...and then haven't even opened the program after it's been on their computer for 6 months

[Andara Bledin]

(Btw, if Computer / My Computer isn't in Start Menu, then either a) they're running XP / Server 2003 with the legacy start menu enabled, or b) they're running something older than XP. Either way, it'll say "Windows XP", or "Windows 98 Second Edition" -- god save you -- etc, along the left side of the start menu.)

I'm running XP with legacy menus and my task bar docked on the right side. But, then, I also know how to do DXDIAG to tell you precisely what I'm running. More people should suggest that for Windows machines. No idea if that works for other OSes.

It usually takes about 45 minutes of explaining that the program (usually WordPerfect) only keeps track of 4 or 5 recently opened files...and that nothing went anywhere.

Why don't you just tell the program to remember more programs? I know Office programs let you change it, maybe WP does, too.

^-.-^