A Tech Support Classic


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Ok, so my grandmother had been trying to install the software for Earthlink on her laptop (Windows XP Home) and sign up with a CD she got in the mail. Well after trying unsuccessfully for several days, she calls me to say she can't seem to sign up. She had installed the software and entered in all the information they requested, then when trying to send it, she keeps getting an error message. (of course I couldn't get her to tell me what the error message was.)

So today I go over there to see what I can do for her and get her set up before things get really violent with the school work. Well after taking a quick look around, I see she did indeed properly install the software and all data was entered as it should, but would not send for some reason. Taking a swift look to see that the phone line is fully inserted, I notice the jack is empty, so I ask her about this. She tells me she HAD it plugged in while she was trying to sign up before, but had to unplug it so she could take the laptop with her to her sewing class.

Well I plug the phone line back in, and try to resend the data, only to get the same error message. At this point, I was thinking it's something to do with the modem....maybe it was turned off in the device manager at one time or something. Well everything I tried didn't work. So finally I go back to thinking there's something wrong with the line. I unplug it from the computer and test it on her phone....no dial tone??? Ok, so then I plug it back into the laptop and begin to follow the line to the wall to see if maybe it was a bad wiring in the wall.....

So I'm pulling and pulling to get to the end of the "slack" of the wire, and get to where the end of the line is......when I see the end of the line, I cried a laughing fit.......IT WASN'T EVEN PLUGGED INTO THE WALL!!!!!

LMAO

Ok, so I just thought you all would like a good classic laugh.

Later!

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My cat keeps knocking the receiver off the phone in the bedroom whenever some calls. Guess he's trying to get a spot in the TV commerical where the cats going meow into the phone for the cat food.

LOL he's a wanna be "meow-mix kitty" eh?

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Hey Nerelda,

Now, that is a great story. I was once at one of my friends houses fixing there computer because it was having a problem connecting to the internet. They are on a cable modem by the way. Anyway I try doing some certian things, but then I remember my old classic fix just unplugging the power for the cable modem for 30 seconds to a minute and then plugging it back in. Well, after I did that it worked perefectly. They said how did you fix it I said I'm not telling because then you won't need me for next time and I won't get paid again. So I never told them what I did to fix the problem.

B

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B:

It's amazing how often power cycling something like a cable modem, dsl modem, router, etc. will fix the problem it's having. That's one of the first things I do everytime my connection goes down. 9 out of 10 times, it fixes it. Just weird....

ya power cycling has a wierd effect on cable modems

or just unplugging the cat 5 cable and plugging it back in also works wonders

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good story, nerelda.

points up a couple of things...

first, always check the easy things first, even when the probability of it being the cause seems low.

second, you were able to laugh about it rather than getting frustrated or p.o'd - we've all seen posts where someone is mad/whatever at the computer.

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thanks guys havent had a laugh for some time

once some one posted from fixing some old dears compt

who was having trouble with the mouse

when he got there he said show me what you did with the mouse to make it go

so she held it in front of the screen and pressed the both buttons.

was i like that when i first started probably

marty

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That was hilarious Nerelda. But I bet your Grandma was embarrassed. Poor dear.

If I hadn't been on the computer when our cat pulled her "Sit on the off button on the surge control trick", we would have had some interesting times tracking down why the computer wouldn't turn on. As it was I nearly freaked out over suddenly seeing nothing but black screen. Then we looked for our darn (beloved) cat. She was behind the desk, still sitting on the button. She looked up as if to say what's the big deal? So now we have a large plastic kitchen colandar wedged over the top of the surge control and between the wall and desk as our cat standoff guard. She has tried to bump it off, but so far so good. :rolleyes:

God bless everyone.

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