Tech support: the simple truth

Source: xkcd.com

Thanks to Wendy for the link, though as she correctly surmises, I would have seen it once I’d got into work anyway. So, I guess some thanks should go to Reddit, too.

From Randall Munroe’s nerdgasmic webcomic xkcd, this “Tech Support Cheat Sheet” almost completely sums up the exact process I go through every time I’m asked to fix somebody’s computer. Click to make big.

I’m not actually officially ‘tech support’ at work, but I fill in since there’s nobody else to do it. People at work in particular are constantly amazed when I fix their problems, paying me undeserved compliments such as calling me a ‘genius’, or ‘hero’, or that I ‘know everything’. In a poor attempt at modesty I tell them that I’m nothing of the sort, but I usually don’t tell them that judicious use of common sense (and Google, for the love of Gordon Ramsey, GOOGLE) is generally preferable to any tech support training.

Honestly, most of the tech problems I solve stem from 3 areas: mainly common sense and knowing how to use Google; and occasionally any previous experience with whatever software or hardware is generating the problem. I’ve never had formal IT training, I’ve simply been fixing computers for my family and friends for far too long.

This morning, a particularly lovely workmate couldn’t fathom why on earth her numpad was moving the cursor around her screen instead of typing numbers. She found it even more confusing when I walked up to her computer, tapped the ‘Num Lock’ key, gave her a short hug and walked away.

This comic has a more serious point than most xkcd strips, I reckon. Everybody has that techie friend they call upon whenever something goes wrong (some are lucky enough to have several), but for the benefit of their patience and sanity (and their motivation to help you when you actually have a problem more serious than “my text is coming out all in capital letters”), remember at least to do a quick Google search and spend a few minutes looking around before relying on others.

I have noticed, however, that my dad and I talk rather less often since the day I taught him to use Google…