Dracophile
08 November 2007, 07:12 AM
Because the cinema I work at has a strange disposition to never put me on the schedule I have taken up a new job that pays somewhat better (and cooler). I fix people's computers when they freeze/stop working/explode/whatever. Visiting someone's house and fixing up their Internet, installing software, or just troubleshooting in general is a great way to nail the easiest money in the world. And best of all, if I can't fix the problem I tell them it's free and not to worry about me "wasting my time" or anything. Maybe I should start a business.
Anyways, I spent today working on the computer of my mother's friend. Her husband passed due to cancer and the computer they all used was custom built by him. With him gone there is literally no one on the planet who knows how the heck the thing works and what parts were used. Despite that, I gave it my best shot. She was having trouble viewing her son's grades online. The problem here is that she didn't have the newest version of Internet Explorer (ICK) or Firefox. To fix this I was just going to install them and be merry. However as it turns out you need a funny thing called "SERVICE PACK 2" in Windows XP, and somehow these computer was sneaking around using SP1.
But get this to use SP2 you need a bunch of other silly updates. I started there, with the smaller updates. Then I attempted to install SP2 and everything went to hell. Errors out the wazoo so the installation canceled and said it did not install. However now the "winver" screen read that we were using SP2. And Firefox worked, but IE still didn't. On top of that in the middle of it all, Norton Antivirus decided to explode all over the place. One simple problem of internet browser compatibility was now a "State of Emergency". Best of all now it started freezing. Before anyone noticed I started to clean up the mess and just explain that it wasn't going to work because of all of the crazy mixed parts the PC was made from (which is entirely likely).
I did however, manage to update and install all of her new Norton stuff. For my troubles I was paid with a nice steak dinner that looked like it came straight out of the Flintstones (it was huge), and I was given two Mattel Electronics handheld games from the 1970's, Bowling and Soccer, and Bowling was still mint condition in its original packaging. I already have the 1978 Football game, and the 2004 re-released version. I don't have pictures yet since the games are in my truck, but I'll get them up tomorrow. This was a pretty awesome payment, she found the games while cleaning out the garage. :D
Anyways, I spent today working on the computer of my mother's friend. Her husband passed due to cancer and the computer they all used was custom built by him. With him gone there is literally no one on the planet who knows how the heck the thing works and what parts were used. Despite that, I gave it my best shot. She was having trouble viewing her son's grades online. The problem here is that she didn't have the newest version of Internet Explorer (ICK) or Firefox. To fix this I was just going to install them and be merry. However as it turns out you need a funny thing called "SERVICE PACK 2" in Windows XP, and somehow these computer was sneaking around using SP1.
But get this to use SP2 you need a bunch of other silly updates. I started there, with the smaller updates. Then I attempted to install SP2 and everything went to hell. Errors out the wazoo so the installation canceled and said it did not install. However now the "winver" screen read that we were using SP2. And Firefox worked, but IE still didn't. On top of that in the middle of it all, Norton Antivirus decided to explode all over the place. One simple problem of internet browser compatibility was now a "State of Emergency". Best of all now it started freezing. Before anyone noticed I started to clean up the mess and just explain that it wasn't going to work because of all of the crazy mixed parts the PC was made from (which is entirely likely).
I did however, manage to update and install all of her new Norton stuff. For my troubles I was paid with a nice steak dinner that looked like it came straight out of the Flintstones (it was huge), and I was given two Mattel Electronics handheld games from the 1970's, Bowling and Soccer, and Bowling was still mint condition in its original packaging. I already have the 1978 Football game, and the 2004 re-released version. I don't have pictures yet since the games are in my truck, but I'll get them up tomorrow. This was a pretty awesome payment, she found the games while cleaning out the garage. :D