

How do you deal with people who ask you to fix their computer? - nathanlrivera
http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/5384/how-do-you-deal-with-people-who-ask-you-to-fix-their-computer

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xpaulbettsx
Usually I just fix it, because I think of it this way: the amount of time I'll
spend fixing this is (usually) trivial compared to the amount of time they'll
waste trying to fix it - if I'm someone's friend, and I can take 10 minutes
out of my day to fix something that they would struggle with for an hour or
two and make their life a little better, shouldn't I do it? Today you,
tomorrow me.

That being said, I'm not particularly bombarded by these kinds of requests and
I could definitely see it wearing on me if people were constantly asking me to
fix their machines.

~~~
joebadmo
It depends, though. I've found that sometimes people can use me as a crutch
and don't even try to fix it themselves before coming to me. And other times
it's better to teach them how to find the solution to that type of problem
than to just fix it for them.

So, yeah, I sort of agree with you, but the math can get more complicated. If
it's me fixing it for them x 10 vs. them taking an hour to figure it out, then
the first option might be more efficient and more gratifying.

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totalforge
If they're on Windows, I send them to www.ninite.com to get antivirus, anti-
malware, and Firefox to browse with. All their selections will be packaged
into a single, slick installer by the site. This handles a lot of problems. I
often have them do it themselves while I supervise. This reduces dependency.

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mberning
I don't mind doing it for family or close friends, but if it is some
tangentially related person I tell them I charge $90 an hour. This really cuts
down on the leechers, and you'd be surprised how many people will actually pay
you.

p.s. I came up with this rate because it's the same amount that the local
Subaru race shop charges to work on your car.

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bdclimber14
I don't mind fixing some friends' computers. I draw the line when they are
running a pre-2001 computer with 2011 software in, you guessed it, 2011. My
family is incredibly frugal so they don't understand why a computer from 2000
is now slow, and that buying a new one would fix their problem.

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jnorthrop
I'm surprised at how bitter those responses are. Of course I will help friends
and family with their computer problems -- they are my friends and my family!
When I run into trouble and need their help I would hope they'd be there for
me...

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Udo
Generally, doing it for friends and family shouldn't be a problem.
Occasionally though people expect miracles, they expect them fast, and they're
pretty ungrateful.

It's also easy to be sucked in by acquaintances like this: "Can you have a
look at my PC after work? It won't take very long and I'll make you dinner."
to which you of course agree. The bad part comes later, because you've just
set a precedent and evenings like this will keep repeating. Those people think
two afterwork hours of fiddling with their ancient Windows crap is worth
exactly one burrito and a Sprite. Yeah, it happened to me recently.

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Jetlag
_It's obviously not real work because you're just sitting at a computer._

This is what most people think. The only response to charge an absurd amount
of money. If they shut up, you win, if they pay, you win.

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younata
I have a stack of printouts of xkcd's tech support cheat sheet [1], that I
just hand to the person.

[1] <http://xkcd.com/627/>

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astrodust
"What's a computer? Is that like a copier? I tried to fix one of those once
and then this black stuff went everywhere. Yeah, and it doesn't really come
out of carpet, either!"

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ja27
I refer them to friends that do that for money. I've helped a few really broke
friends though.

