November 26, 2005

Home for the holidays

The tech support generation got off easy during this most recent visit. I didn't check Download Squad's list of Top 10 things to do for mom's PC over Thanksgiving, but I did:

  • install an updated version of Java (so that mom can play Yahoo! bridge using Firefox instead of Internet Exploiter)
  • get the sound working on the desktop system again (speakers were plugged into an auxiliary power switch, and the switch wasn't turned on)
  • check the antivirus defs (up-to-date) and update the spyware detection stuff
  • install Quicktime and a newer version of the Palm desktop software

Posted by rv at November 26, 2005 08:29 PM to geek
Comments

Hmmmm...Shannon is probably shuddering at the visions of tech support dancing in his brain...Jim's notebook is winning the War against Jim; the desktop is just a perpetual mess. Welcome home, Shannon!

Posted by: Shelley at November 27, 2005 06:46 PM

Heh. My folks had a 10-year-old desktop system, and the hard drive was on the way out (intermittently refusing to boot up, etc.). So they bought a new Dell with a nice LCD monitor, and a USB hard drive to swap files off of the old system. That was much easier than trying to troubleshoot the old one.

And a few months earlier, my dad had expressed a desire to have a notebook with wireless capability. He got a Dell laptop with a built-in wireless card, and they bought a new Linksys box/ access point. They finally switched from dial-up to DSL about a year ago, so they're (mostly) living in the 21st century. :o)

Posted by: rv at November 28, 2005 10:34 AM

I told Dad that the next major problem with your computer will cause me to buy a new one. They are almost inexpensive enough that it's easier and cheaper for me to just buy you a new one and start from scratch.

Posted by: poz at November 28, 2005 01:10 PM