Tech Support Cheat Sheet

I have a rule for all of my friends.  I will fix their computers for free, twice.  :)

It’s a good rule and it has helped my friends and myself on many an occasion.  Contrary to the impressions of those unfamiliar with the inner workings of their own computers, diagnosing and fixing a computer problem is not a matter of innate knowledge.  It’s basically 50% making common sense interpretations of errors and common sense changes to settings and 50% Googling for the answer.

Given fixing computers can be tremendously time consuming, WHY would I spend my free time fixing them for free?  Simple.  My rule is, I’ll fix your computer twice.  First time, you give me your broke down computer and I get the OS working, repair whatever it is, and give it back to you good as new(ish) and if there’s a problem with it again, you give it to me to fix again.  Second time, you give me your broke down computer and I get the OS working, repair whatever it is, and I keep it.

Oh, and if you want to know why you should never help someone with their computer problems unless it is really dire, check out this Dilbert comic.

Dilbert