WOF: Do you provide tech support to friends and family?

Yes. I provide tech support for friends and family.

My motto: "I compute for food"

Only if they are using Ubuntu. I do not support them if they want to use Windows, besides all they have to do is re-install the OS every few months.

I dunno but maybe you should try it with your wife next time you get one. ;-p

Well uh, I traded her in on a long string of girlfriends, all of whom were better in bed.

Ah, comparison shopping!....unlike tech, newegg user reviews not likely to help out there.

nil satis nisi optimum

I'm still in college learning about computers, so I welcome the experience. My cousin a car dealer asked me if I would design a website for him, I was thinking what the hell?! He said he would pay me, I told him I barely know the basics of website design and changed the subject . Other then that I have never been offered money from my family to fix there computers, but I am more then happy too.

Support? It's almost like an ad honorem part-time job the thing I have with my family and friends... I love it but I'm getting kinda tired though.

It's almost the only time my brothers will actually call me. My wife and I joke about it all the time.

Yes because I'm another one of those who belong to a family that forgets even how to cut and paste -- except my nephew who is at least a whiz at software but should never open a computer, ever.

I love it when they don't listen because they know they can get a "deal" on a new system only to discover the system just isn't performing like they thought and thus are forced to ask questions they should have asked in the beginning.

I especially love it when silence decends upon the room when I tell them I could have built them a system more powerful at half the cost.

Haha, sometimes IT IS sad... =S

Best WOF ever!!

It's a great hobby for us retired folks.
I only charge for hardware.
Keeps me pretty busy with family, friends, neighbors, etc.
It keeps me busy and my mind active and always learning new stuff.
I especially enjoy telling the widows that I only accept "Hugs and Kisses" as payment .... that gets me some really funny responses .... I used the same line on a guy once and after looking at me for a second, he called my wife over.

yeah, I do that always.

Funny story - or an extremely annoying one depending on your angle..

My dad took some convincing to eventually move from Windows ME to Windows XP. When I did it for him it took about 8 hours to do the install, transfer over the all the files then "Dad-proof" it so everything had shortcuts on the desktop etc and he could find anything.

Anyway he had a minor problem with it and I don't live with my parents so for some reason he decided to ring Dell support instead of bothering me with a short phone call. The Indian gentlemen on the phone told him to put the restore disk in which he did and my 8 hours of work was completely ruined and Windows ME was back on the machine.

Turned out the "problem" was that the internet was not automatically dialling when he clicked on Internet Explorer. A shortcut on the desktop for the diallup connection would have taken me 10 seconds

That was the last time my parents did anything other than call me directly when they have an issue.

Now in hindsight, people who needed convincing to move away from Windows ME to XP - now that's funny too!

My tech support is "buy a new one". Works great.

Yeah fair play

I don't but my Fiance did. She would help her entire family with their computers if need me. She even helped "friends" and many people that weren't even friends. She got sick of it very quickly. It was eating away at her time and enjoyment of life. Most people are users. They may say they appreciate what you're doing but at the same time they're lazy ****ers that don't want to learn anything for themselves and they will not hesitate to call you up each and every time after that for the littlest of problems or concerns. I told her to tell them all to screw off and that she has a life. Personally NO ONE asks me to fix their computers. Either it's because they think I'm not knowledgeable or they know I'll say no.

Oh yeah... I AM "The Computer Guy" to my family and friends (and the neighborhood... ) So I charge for my services... not always money, but mom will bake me a cheese cake or a lasagna, My uncle will fix my garbage disposal, or a friend will invite me and the GF over for an outdoor grill... It's all good! I don't mind unless I am REALLY ready for some "down time".

As for funny stories... I have a great one! At one time I worked for a public school district as the technology coordinator. A regional director for special education had an office at our district, and lets just say she was REALLY proud of her PhD and 2 masters degrees. One day she asked me to look at her computer. It wouldn't boot, and the screen was blank. I asked her if it was plugged in (sorry, gotta cover the dumb stuff first right?) and she looked at me as if I had grown a 2nd head on my shoulders. She said "of course it's plugged in" and left in a huff. Well I crawled under her desk and sure enough the computer was plugged into an outlet strip, but the outlet strip was plugged into its self! So much for the PhD! heh heh

From The Oatmeal, Why it's better to pretend you don't know anything about computers:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

Is this a taxable event? Note the the IRS..... "NO" I do not provide any technical support to my friends & family.