Sooner or later we all get a call from our parents because they know we’re computer experts. When something goes wrong we become their IT support. Here’s a collection of some typical computer issues parents will call you to solve.
Send to 10 of Your Friends, Who Will No Longer Be Your Friends
Honestly no matter what it says, if it contains the phrase “send to 10 of your friends,” it’s fake, a scam or useless junk. You’re better off laughing and deleting. Trust me I’ve already seen it. Better yet go to snopes.com first to confirm before sending an email back to your friends, you’ll look smarter.
It’s a Brand New Hard Drive, but Space Is Missing? Is It a Virus?
Drive space is never what it says, whether it’s a hidden partition holding backup files or simply due to how the overall space is calculated. Most devices today don’t have the same space available as is written on the box thanks to a calculation difference between binary and decimal. A lot of parents get confused by this every day.
I Was Deleting Some Files in the Windows Folder I Don’t Use and It Stopped Working
The one thing more dangerous then a new user is a user who is just smart enough to cause serious damage. My friend’s dad decided it was okay to start deleting files out of the Windows directory. When this happens it’s a good time to take away those admin rights. Let’s hope they haven’t figured out a way around yet.
Toolbars, Toolbars, Everywhere!
It seems like every time I walk away from my parents’ PC and come back to it there’s a new toolbar installed. How does this happen? It’s usually in the process of installing something perfectly fine and free which includes an already marked checkbox for a toolbar. While many of these are harmless, it’s usually the first thing I uninstall.
Icons, Icons, Everywhere!
Another thing my parents are notorious for doing, or lack of doing in this case, is forgetting to sort and store files into folders when downloading images or anything else. It all ends up on the desktop. They never sort or clean them out, so it’s time to sweep up the desktop.
I Didn’t Do Anything and Now This Happens? Is It a Virus?
Magically, whenever I leave my parents alone with their PC for too long it seems like things have a way of breaking, randomly. I’ve built every PC for my parents and with decent parts, but somehow my parents manage to break the most secure simple systems, without even trying. No one is more effective at breaking a PC than a parent given the time.
Remember, we all started using PCs with a blank slate. We got to where we are by always learning more as we got new hardware. Be patient with your parents, teach them and help them learn to fix things on their own. You’ll save yourself from a lot of headaches and get to spend more time with them rather than fixing their PC.
What have your parents done to their computer? What have you had to fix? Let us know in the comments.
