ASUS Touchpad Not Working

[sapphirescales]

Some of my clients have dos programs, windows 98 programs and so on. If it takes me 3 hours to find a problem it takes me three hours.

For clients like this, that's perfectly fine and exactly what I do too. I'm not going to do a nuke n' pave on a system with Windows 98 era software if I can help it. But I will push them towards virtualization, or at the very least a 32 bit Windows 7 or Windows 10 system.

If I spent 10 minutes and then started a format reload I would not be doing a proper diagnostic and the customer would have no idea what the issue is.

I'm only talking about software related issues when I'm recommending a nuke n' pave. I'm not going to spend 3 hours removing a virus on a laptop whose owner only uses it to print documents and surf the net. I'm nuking and paving that thing. I run proper hardware diagnostics on all systems that come through my door.

But honestly, there are only so many things it can be with a modern computer these days. I'm not saying that I haven't run into a scenario where I needed to spend 3 hours diagnosing an intermittent hardware problem, but that's not the norm. Usually I can find out what's wrong with the system hardware wise within 10 minutes. If I can't, then I keep going until I know exactly what's wrong with it before I recommend any repair to my client.

Anthing older than 7 gets replaced.

Yes. Most of the systems I do nowadays are Windows 8/10 machines. Basically if it supports native UEFI mode (which all Windows 8/10 systems do), then I load a fresh copy of Windows 10 on them. If it's an older Windows 7 machine then I'm much less likely to do a nuke n' pave because it takes a lot longer to do and it's normally not worth it for such an old computer. Remember - Windows 8 came out 5 YEARS AGO. If the system is older than 5 years old, it's on borrowed time and I treat my fixes accordingly.

 

[AML]

I agree it would be wonderful if they were all on the same OS, unfortunately even though they have been told or warned many just don't have the money to upgrade, and we have clients thinking my computer should last as long as my TV.. You can preach to them all day... or they don't want to learn a new system.. I don't have the money... I only use it for email... the excuses go on an on.... Now a lot of my clients understand the need for upgrades and some come in and just say build me a new machine.
i apologize if the discussion got out of hand.. i am very passionate when it comes to my clients... also i did not understand your situation, which is completely different than mine..... cheers

 

[NviGate Systems]

The more complex Windows has become over the years makes it a domino effect when trying to repair them. You can spend days trying to fix something.

I had one client with this pop-ups about registry pointers and .net 2 wanted to have it fixed but once you go deeper it's a rabbit hole because there is a huge slew of dependencies that make one function work. It ended up we just said forget it, because N & P didn't work either his recovery partition was damaged and burning DVD's only partitioned the disk not loading software. It was a real mess. Anyways, for this issue he said just forget it, it's a backup machine and the app that was causing that error (Simply Accounting) he doesn't use anyways.

That's why I always cringe when the other guy at my shop always sells tune ups, because he markets it like it's a magic pill that makes your PC better. Not really. Want a magic pill? Buy a SSD!

I know folks like the 'olde familiar, but the honest truth is most aren't willing to pay enough for it. We are in the business to make money, we are not a charity, so you have to draw the line somewhere. If you can't figure out an issue after 24 Hours, it's time to put N & P on the table as an option, or the client can agree to extended rates to track down the issue.

Add to the mix OEM's who often have really poor software support, and your client says why can't they (OEM) do something....well, this machine is XYZ years old. They simply don't care, no money, times up, pick your options.

Guaranteed lifespan of any machine is the warranty period. After that, every machine is on borrowed time.

 

[GTP]

When my residential clients ask about upgrading to Windows 10 I tell them no, don't do it. I encourage them to stick with 7/8.1 Why? Because Windows 10 is spyware on steroids!
When Windows 10 originally arrived I had many people who jumped and upgraded. It's interesting that almost 99% of them reverted back to their previous OS within the allowed time frame for a return.
I have Clients on Windows 10, sure, but they either upgraded themselves, got me involved in the upgrade or bought a new computer elsewhere or from me with Win 10 preinstalled.
Business clients are about 75% Win 7, 21% Win 10, 2% Win 8.1, 1% MAC and 1% Linux
Got a bakery that is Linux only and they are happier than "pigs rolling in ****!"

Clients appreciate and trust my opinion and usually stick with my recommendations. The odd occasion that someone want's to do their own thing is fine with me as well.