The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Guest Editorial Stan Johnstone stanj@melbpc.org.au |
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Ash tells he is presently "over worked (and underpaid)" for a contract client, and with the theme of "Under the Bonnet", Ash suggested that I could relate some experiences from inside members' computers.
When we started the Melb PC Internet service, members were using Windows 3.1, a dialler program named Trumpet Winsock, a wide range of modems from many manufacturers using various settings, and a few members had modems with speeds as high as 28.8 kbps! Compatibility with other modems was often a problem, and the usual solution was found by exchanging details over the phone, then modifying their Winsock scripts to change modem settings, insert delays, etc. until their system worked successfully.
Sometimes nothing seemed to work, and the only practical thing to do was to pay a visit and see things for oneself. After the first few visits I realised that it was pointless going anywhere without taking my own tried and proven 14.4k modem to have at least one benchmark from which to work. Even this was not enough on one early occasion when trying yet another unsuccessful dial up and listening carefully to the modem tones. Hold on! What was that click from the other side of the room? The answer was that it was a relay built by the member into the phone line to switch the house phone to the workshop. After bypassing that, the next call connected immediately!
This was the beginning of a steep learning curve of the wide variety of problems that one encounters, sometimes software, sometimes hardware, and often a combination of both. One thing that became clear early on was that you must never leave a job half done, or leave a member who still has problems. Besides, many don't realise that a roving volunteer works in his own time - they think you're a paid employee of the group and they expect you to come back again and finish the job anyway.
With many of the members' problems there is no way their troubles could be diagnosed by talking over the phone; the real trouble will become obvious only after seeing it for yourself. Many of our members have restricted mobility, and many have limited funds to afford the cost that computer shops and services need to charge. However if it's beyond me I always pass them on to someone I know they can trust.
Betty and Geoff are one of my favourite older clients. About six years ago they bad experiences with their local computer shop. They moved to Melb PC from another ISP and needed some further help. With some patience everything was sorted out, and then shortly afterwards their daughter presented them with a brand new computer! A panic call, "what do we do now?" With particular concern for the enormous volume of genealogical data they had gathered over many years, and taking one step at a time, we were able to get them up and running with the new machine. Geoff is the cook in this household, and I never come away without a loaf of fresh bread, or jam or tomatoes. I'm made to feel almost like one of the family!
Perhaps the biggest hardware problem facing our older members today is the rapid computer development and obsolescence, and unfortunately the only answer after the failure of just one component is to suggest a new "entry level" computer. Often replacing a hard disk is impossible as new disks with large capacities will not be recognised by the existing BIOS. A dead $20 fan will cause a CPU to fail, and even if you could obtain a secondhand hard disk or CPU, it's seldom practical to install another component that is the same age and has had the same wear and tear. Even then, all the data has to be recovered and reinstalled by one means or another, and this requires a lot of careful work.
So then they are up for a new motherboard that now has everything built-in (but needs a special case), a CPU with 10 times the speed, a hard disk 10 times the size of the old one, and possibly a new operating system to be learnt.
That's progress for you, even though the old computer seemed more than adequate!
Reprinted from the June 2003 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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