# Computer illiterate colleagues really annoying me lately



## Jim Davis (7 Dec 2010)

Does anyone else feel that if you show any type of aptitude with computers you then become the go to person for the most inane computer questions?

I’ve been working with a new group of people for approx a year and during that time if someone was having difficulty with their computer/software I would offer my help. With the benefit of hindsight, anyone else reading this should take this advice, don’t offer to help! Let them figure it out or ring up the software provider and go thru the troubleshooting process. Otherwise they will ask you because it’s easier than having to learn how to do it themselves. Most of the time it’s really basic stuff e.g.

Q: Can I scan this and email it?

A: Yes, but you can just print and save it as a pdf.

Q: But the client said they want it scanned.

A: It’s the same thing.

Q: So why did they say they want it scanned?

A: Arrrgggh

Another Example:

Q: Can you have a look at my mouse isn’t working?

A: Is it plugged in?

Q: Oh, it’s working now


The problem for me now is that people get ****y when I tell them to google the answer to their IT questions e.g. how do I turn on read receipts in outlook? Although it’s a genuine answer and they will get the answer to 99% of their silly questions from google, in their mind I’m being a dick.


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## callybags (7 Dec 2010)

How do I respond to this thread?


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## ney001 (7 Dec 2010)

callybags said:


> How do I respond to this thread?



Lol 

Jaysus jim, bad old week for you sitting in the cold answering stupid computer questions!


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## colin79ie (7 Dec 2010)

Jim Davis said:


> Yes, but you can just print and save it as a pdf.



How do I do that?


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## NOAH (7 Dec 2010)

Jim

You are lumbered and I am surprised you did not realise the outcome from the start.  You are now seen as the easy option and as you did help in the past you will be expected to continue doing so.  You are now the epitonomy of the AA AD, ""  I dont know but ... I know a man who does"

Just think of all the kudos you have earned and as you look around at all the people you have helped and noticed that no one else gets asked questions as they have you.

You may get lovely presents at xmas.

naoh


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## truthseeker (7 Dec 2010)

Jim Davis said:


> Yes, but you can just print and save it as a pdf.


 
But I havent got a printer?

Seriously though - try working in IT - I got a call one day to fix a photocopier because 'thats a technical thing isnt it?'. Or another memorable one was 'youre in IT, youd know about radiators - why is this one cold?'.


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## Jim Davis (7 Dec 2010)

ney001 said:


> Lol
> 
> Jaysus jim, bad old week for you sitting in the cold answering stupid computer questions!


 
My feet get affected by the cold the most. I actually have to take my shoes off to get some heat into them.


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## Jim Davis (7 Dec 2010)

Seriously though, I don't work in IT but have an average level of IT knowledge and I mean average. The print and save pdf function is so annoying because I explained it so many times, I even emailed around the instructions. Now when I'm asked I say "did you look at the email I sent you" and the response is along the lines of "I havent opened my email in two days"

I could go on about this all day, somebody would ask for contact details of a supplier, I would forward them the outlook contact to their email which they would receive and open. They would then ask me for the contact details the next day!!!

When someone has a problem with particluar software they start asking me to come and fix it for them, and the funny thing is they don't think they've done anything wrong and when I have to say "you'll have to call support to help you with that" in their mind I'm being awkward.


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## Ciaraella (7 Dec 2010)

truthseeker said:


> Or another memorable one was 'youre in IT, youd know about radiators - why is this one cold?'.


 

Love this!

I work on an IT helpdesk and a typical phone conversation can go like this:

User: i can't log on 
Me:   Are you getting an error message?
User: yes
Me:   what does it say???
User: it says my passsword has expired and to choose a new one
Me:   and have you done that?
User:  no.....will i do it?
Me:   Yes!!!!!
User;  oh it's working now thanks
Me:   for f%*& sake!!!

Seriously in some cases technical ability means nothing, a command of the English language and basic competence will suffice.


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## Sunny (7 Dec 2010)

Ciaraella said:


> Love this!
> 
> I work on an IT helpdesk and a typical phone conversation can go like this:
> 
> ...


 
On the flip side, I love when you ring a helpdesk and say your computer isn't working. After 10 minutes of ansering questions and getting nowhere, it always comes down to the same solution. Reboot. Do you think I didn't try that already before I rang you!


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## micmclo (7 Dec 2010)

Here, let me save you a phonecall to helpdesk
"Did you turn it off and turn it back on again?"


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## Sol28 (7 Dec 2010)

Turning OFF and ON really does work!


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## PaddyW (7 Dec 2010)

Sol28 said:


> Turning OFF and ON really does work!



It is the answer to all things, life, death, computer problems and war


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## Ciaraella (7 Dec 2010)

One or two of those phonecalls i can handle but when you get a load of calls on a monday morning from people who've forgotten their passwords over the weekend it can get grating! Who forgets their password every single weekend!!!


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## micmclo (7 Dec 2010)

I forget mine most Friday mornings, coming in hungover

_"Hi guys,I've locked myself out"_

They probably hate me 
But I'm not the only one. 9am on a Friday morning is a peak time for helpdesk

Ah these guys.
The blocked www.lotto.ie and said it was a gambling site. What manager came up with that???

Strangely they left www.racingpost.co.uk unblocked.


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## truthseeker (7 Dec 2010)

I received a nicely parcelled up laptop recently that was sent back to me for analysis/repair.

I opened it and the username and password were taped to the inside of it.

Good to know that the money spent on encryption software is cash well spent eh?


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## BOXtheFOX (7 Dec 2010)

My wife worked for a company where the staff didn't even know how to turn on their computers in the morning. She would be the first in and would switch on computers, lights etc. The rest of the staff would arrive in and start work on their switched on computers. When she didn't do it one day there was consternation in the office.
"The computers are broken".....


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## Bronte (7 Dec 2010)

truthseeker said:


> I received a nicely parcelled up laptop recently that was sent back to me for analysis/repair.
> 
> I opened it and the username and password were taped to the inside of it.
> 
> Good to know that the money spent on encryption software is cash well spent eh?


 
I'm putting my hands up in relation to the OP's post. Even rang the technical guys (not IT) for the heat which they are somehow going to increase by remote control from somewhere else. 

Also have the username and password on the wall in front of me at home and taped to the front of the laptop and at work have a spreadsheet with all passwords for all the systems beside my desk where I can find it easily. (Except for bank accounts) I couldn't care less who looks in my PC. 

I could do with a technical person at home, we discovered podcasts this year but OH somehow managed to make the computer put them upside down. Googled the answer to that one after I couldn't put up with it after 2 weeks.. But we cannot currently (4 months) record on the DVD recorder.


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## Sunny (7 Dec 2010)

Bronte said:


> Also have the username and password on the wall in front of me at home and taped to the front of the laptop and at work have a spreadsheet with all passwords for all the systems beside my desk where I can find it easily. (Except for bank accounts) I couldn't care less who looks in my PC.


 
I would be sacked on the spot!


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## DB74 (7 Dec 2010)

I got a phone call from a client one morning (the day after they bought their computer)

Client: I can't log into the computer
Me: Did you type in the password?
Client: It won't let me. Whenever I start to type it in only asterisks come up!


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## nai (7 Dec 2010)

helpdesk call came into a company i worked in about 14 years ago when anti virus was distributed via floppy disk to the branches.
One set of disks wouldn't install, helpdesk asked them to send up a copy of the disks via internal post. Copy arrived following day - a photocopy of the disks !!


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## becky (7 Dec 2010)

I have all my work passwords written down on a post it in the drawer. I would love to tape them to my PC as I have to look them up everyday.

I have 3 different sets of password needed everyday for work systems. You have to change these passwords every 30 days and it's not the same day - for security reasons.


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## Romulan (7 Dec 2010)

truthseeker said:


> But I havent got a printer?
> 
> Seriously though - try working in IT - I got a call one day to fix a photocopier because 'thats a technical thing isnt it?'. Or another memorable one was 'youre in IT, youd know about radiators - why is this one cold?'.



Likewise.

Q  Can you calibrate the microwave?
A  Yes but why would I?

Answer - you are IT aren't you.


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## DrMoriarty (7 Dec 2010)

A special prize for whoever can tell me why you can't insert images in _Letting Off Steam_ threads.


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## Emiso (7 Dec 2010)

Love this thread, it really made me laugh.

I work in an office with 8 other people and we have all been sent on computer courses.We really only use pcs for email and the intranet. 

I'm the only one who admits to knowing how to use the computer system and believe me its very basic. The rest insist that memos etc are sent out by fax or internal post.

It got to a stage where my boss rang me in a meeting in town one day and asked me drive back to the office to print an email attachment that she wanted to send to my colleague. After that I decided enough was enough.

No prizes for guessing what sector I work in !!


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## boaber (7 Dec 2010)

Jim Davis said:


> Now when I'm asked I say "did you look at the email I sent you" and the response is along the lines of "I havent opened my email in two days"



I know how you feel, except I get "you send that many emails I wouldn't be able to find it".


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## roker (8 Dec 2010)

Got a problem, the tray for my coffee cup will not slide out anymore


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## Rois (8 Dec 2010)

In a previous life in motor tax office public counter, my colleagues screen went blank.

It took me 2 seconds to realise the reason was that her copy of Heat Magazine which was sitting on top of her monitor had fallen down the back and unhinged the power plug. 

I replaced the plug, removing the magazine in the process, all of which took less than 1 minute. As a result, I was called to the managers office, in front of all staff, and given a formal warning for being seeing to have a magazine in my hands during working hours and not calling IT as it was not my job to fix IT problems... enough said


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## huskerdu (8 Dec 2010)

I have sympathy with all IT support staff and those who end up dealing with stupid queries but its works both ways sometimes.

Once upon a time, I needed an issue fixed on my user account on our unix network at work. I was told to log out until it was fixed. Some time later I rang to ask it was ready and i was snottily told " But I emailed you 30 minutes ago to tell you that you can now safely log in again?"

I asked how I could have got the email, if I couldn't log in. Got a blank silence on the phone.


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## Yorrick (8 Dec 2010)

Its great to see the money invested in the smart economy is paying off !!!

We would be better off training our kids to be able to lift heavy things


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## circle (8 Dec 2010)

Here's a handy technical support guide, enables anyone to solve any technical problem like a pro: http://xkcd.com/627/

(You might need to print it and hand it to them)


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## PetrolHead (9 Dec 2010)

I have complete sympathy with OP. I used to be the one in the office that had a basic knowledge of computers and everyone else would come to me for the most inane issues and to do the simplest things. 

So I know how to write formulas in Excel, I know how to format a doc so it looks good rather than the mixed sized, confused layout and general mess that they would create, I understood how to use very VERY basic HTML in e-shot emails we would send to clients... and when I left the company the boss actually said I should get a job 'in computers'. 

The problem was not the lack of my colleague's technical knowledge but rather, their complete inability to learn and re-apply new information. These weren't middle aged or elderly people afraid of technology, these were a group of people that struggled even if the company introduced a new admin process (and usually just gave up and did it the old way anyway... causing problems that someone more competent had to sort out).  

...and you're right OP... if you point them in the direction of the answer rather than just wiping their backside like you're their Mammy, forcing them, God forbid, to use their brain... they look at you as if you'd just spat on their Grandmother and proclaimed their first born the Anti-Christ....


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## Complainer (9 Dec 2010)

This kind of culture usually comes from the top down. I often amazed at how ignorance of IT matters is a kind of 'badge of honour' for many senior execs and business owners. You'd rarely hear senior people boasting about how little they know about HR, or Finance or safety or marketing, but it seems to be acceptable for people to laughingly boast about how little they know about IT.

This culture needs to change from the top down.


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## Towger (9 Dec 2010)

I have come accross IT Managers who don't know the first thing about computers. I remember spending 45 mins on the phone trying to get one to setup an Icon for a program on the desktop. I kid you not, he did not understand the basics of directory structure and network mappings. This was not a small company, it its self had 3000 employees and the parent company is quoted on the Irish Stockmarket.


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## becky (9 Dec 2010)

The you have an IT manager like ours who called to my office and cleaned by mouse of dust after I requested new one.  He was very proud he saved €5 or whatever a new one costs.  I didn't have the heart to break it to him that I knew how to do that, what with me doing it twice a week for a month or so before I decided I should get a new one.


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## Leper (10 Dec 2010)

I had many reasons for leaving the Public Service all those years ago. But, one of the things that made me leave was the inability of staff once they'd reached 27 they found it impossible to accept change.

The department was one of the first in the country to get 'computerised' (these were in the days even before a mouse was attached to a pc) and paper was to be a thing of the past. Because of failure to accept change paperwork work increased as a result.

Perhaps these are the kind of people asking simple questions?

On an off-shoot, I changed my refuse provider recently and there were no problems in the changeover. Being a person who pays bills before they hit the floor from the letterbox, a final account from the old provider came and for all of 0.75c.

It cost 0.55c to post it, more for the cost of the paper and envelope, more for the clerical input, and wait for it . . . around €2.00 process fee from An Post. If this bill had not been computer generated the refuse company would have saved themselves quite a few bob by writing off the charge.


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## dewdrop (10 Dec 2010)

Do some of the so called computer experts act in an elitist fashion?


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## Tintagel (10 Dec 2010)

I worked with a woman in an office where we had to input foreign exchange rates on to our computer daily. I discovered after a couple of months that only half of the rates were being changed, the other half were never changed at all. This was because the person in question didn't know how to move from Page 1 to Page 2 on her computer. It was a case of "the other person" in the office used to do it so "I never bothered to learn". Unfortunately the other person was transferred.


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## truthseeker (10 Dec 2010)

Tintagel said:


> It was a case of "the other person" in the office used to do it so "I never bothered to learn".


 
I see the IT side of this issue frequently - where I have to repair broken data because some user doesnt understand what the system they are using is doing. 

However - its not an IT problem, its a lack of coherent training in the users department. 

I have seen staff perform some task they were shown HOW to do, but never explained WHY they were doing it, over and over for months they do it, never understanding why (and never asking why). One day I come along in response to some problem and I ask them what they were doing, they tell me, I ask them why they were doing it that way - they look at me blankly. 

But this could be applied outside of computer systems - its a general failing in training when someone shows someone how to do something but never explains why its done that way.

Chinese whispers can play a part too - person A passes the task to person B who passes it to person C and by the time person D comes along some fundamental part at the beginning of the task has been lost so the whole thing makes no sense.


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## Shawady (10 Dec 2010)

Leper said:


> But, one of the things that made me leave was the inability of staff once they'd reached 27 they found it impossible to accept change.


 
This is a sweeping generalisation, as the section I work in has seen many changes in the 10 years I have worked here and most staff have had no problem taking it on.
However, I have recently been asked to do some in extra training in a specific area. It has been said to me by my line manager that a couple of other people were asked first but were not confident enough they would be computer literate. I did feel like this was a cop-out as I'm not a whizz kid and have just learned what I know from trial and error.


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## mathepac (13 Dec 2010)

Isn't it amazing what are classified  as "IT" problems or "IT" questions, including some of the examples above?

"My computer won't switch on for me.

Is it plugged in?

I can't see, there are no lights on.

Can you turn on the lights and look?

No, the electricity is off in this building ..."


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## Welfarite (13 Dec 2010)

So how did these people get the job ion the first place? dare I ask, is it public or private sector?


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## Complainer (13 Dec 2010)

mathepac said:


> Isn't it amazing what are classified  as "IT" problems or "IT" questions, including some of the examples above?
> 
> "My computer won't switch on for me.
> 
> ...


Yep, I had that too, when I ran a helpdesk in a multinational about 10 years ago


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## z107 (14 Dec 2010)

> So how did these people get the job ion the first place? dare I ask, is it public or private sector?


I have no experience in the public sector, but I know in the private sector that IT illiteracy doesn't discriminate. Doesn't seem to have much to do with age or gender etc, but more to do with attitude and a willingness to adapt.


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## Maximus152 (14 Dec 2010)

Well maybe its just me, but I do not mind when people aske me a techie question, I am usually glad to help. I mean Scaning/Emailing/Compressing/Editing its hardly rocket Science its just some people focus on other things in working life and life and so because they may only use or do a certain task once a year they need a reminder. I would never think some one was silly for asking me, quiet the opposite and it creates some intereting relationships. Now if they asked me to explain Quantam Physics over coffee..... well I will excuse my self and meditate some (i.e Goggle it).

M
Self praise is no praise.


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## Firefly (14 Dec 2010)

A call came into a dept I worked in once...."could someone please upgrade the internet?"


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## bogle (14 Dec 2010)

dewdrop said:


> Do some of the so called computer experts act in an elitist fashion?


 
Only those of us who use a proper operating system e.g. LINUX


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