Hi Matthew, On Wed, May 16, 2007 at 06:08:55AM +0100, Matthew Macdonald-Wallace wrote: > I work on a helpdesk as a day job supporting windows 2K/XP and an > AS/400. Most of our users know how to use a computer to get their job > done and that's it. Any errors at all (from "my computer won't switch > on" to "the internet's gone down!!!!") are reported to us and we > basically tell them (after three, 1...2...3) "Have you tried switching > it off and back on again?" which, as it's windows, usually fixes the > problem. >
Arrrgh! No it doesn't! For many issues it makes the problem (and hence the user) go away. It's a quick bodge to make the user stop calling. It is the typical helpdesk response in pretty much every company I have been in for the last 15 years. Nobody bothers to analyse a problem to figure out what the underlying issue is anymore. If it takes more than 30-60 mins to "resolve" a problem most companies just re-image (format and reinstall from a known good image) the hard disk and forget it. I have been at companies where (on numerous occasions) the helpdesk have offered exactly three options:- 1) Leave the problem as it is and live with it 2) Reboot 3) Re-image the PC (note none of these is a "fix", all three are workarounds) I have then investigated the problem for anything up to 10 to 20 minutes (most often using a combination of google and the microsoft support website) to discover a real fix - be it a hotfix, registery hack or whatever. Of course if the helpdesk did that they would then have a nice knowledge base of information to call upon to fix problems in the future. Part of the reason for this may be that many companies employ low-skill 1st line support operatives who have little actual technical or problem diagnosis skills. They follow a roadmap which ultimately ends at the same place "reboot or rebuild" when all other avenues are not applicable. Maybe this is a good reason why Microsoft claim a low TCO of windows over Linux, because when it does go wrong all you need is an index finger to push the power button, not a few brain cells, some logic and reasoning. I am not having a go at you or helpdesk people in general. I totally understand that with a large number of users and a small helpdesk there is little time to diagnose every problem. It can also be difficult to diagnose problems on Windows machines - no easy ssh access, most activity isn't logged etc. It is the attitide that rebooting "fixed" something that gets my goat. Bah! :) </rant> Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
