Tonight I dine in he... I mean reinstall XP for somebody

[TaraIkeda]

Ugh I am not looking forward to this, someone I know needs me to reinstall XP for them because they have no idea how to use the recovery disk and they are afraid to use it because they have **** loads of junk on their computer.
But I will come armed, a external hard drive and my copy of Ubuntu Linux.
Ubuntu will mainly be there to pull the files off the disk onto my external.
But I might get a new linux user tonight too, this is not the first time this user has had windows woes.
He doesnt know much about computers though, he only knows about linux from me but he doesnt want it yet because he is afraid he will loose full system compatibility...
He is afraid if I install linux he will loose internet, his music, his videos, his games.
I assured him that Ubuntu could cover most of those bases but he is one of those Microsoft dudes who thinks only windows that will work...
But maybe I can put some seeds of conversion in tonight, he already knows that I am bringing my Ubuntu disk with me because he is aware that with my linux disk I can recover his system.

And please note: I am using my Ubuntu disk in this case because he only knows about Ubuntu and not the other linux flavors such as OpenSuse.
He is not familiar with the linux world so I dont want to overwhelm him with the many distros out there.
He has heard of Ubuntu mainly because of the Dell computers being sold with Ubuntu and a article he read about it.
If I gave him opensuse he might chase me out of the house, he is kinda paranoid with his computer and I am lucky enough for him to trust me to bring my Ubuntu disk...
I told him the live disk I have would not harm his computer and he knows that I have done simular with other people he knows.
besides i get a good $30 out of the deal, I dont like overcharging, hes got enough things to worry about.

[69_rs_ss]

Just my 2 cents, don't try to push it on him. I'm not saying you are, just pointing if he isn't ready then if he got pushed into it he will be running back pretty quick with a bad taste in his mouth. Other than that, good luck, hope things go through quickly. Nothing is worse then it taking longer then it should to get a computer back up and running.

[ken_yap]

+1

Let people make up their mind when they are ready.

However feel free to make lots of ooh, tut-tut, tsk-tsk, quick inhalation through pursed lips and similar noises when reinstalling XP. And swear a bit each time XP makes you reboot.

PS: Make sure you update him to SP3. The CD image can be had freely from the M$ download site.

TaraIkeda wrote:
> Ugh I am not looking forward to this, someone I know needs me to
> reinstall XP for them

a tip for the wise: tell them you charge $10 an hour to work on
friend's computer problems....and, $50 an hour if it is a Windows
problem..

tell them NO hard feelings at all if they want to find someone
else...you understand completely...

if they ask why you charge so much more for a Redmond machine tell
them that you use that system SO seldom you really have to scratch to
figure it out....AND, it is frustratingly slow, complicated and locked
down (from an administrative viewpoint)..

thankfully, my friend's Windows problems no longer suck up *my*
time...before i went to this strategy i was getting called far too
often...and, each one usually cost me _several_ hours of head scratchin'..

--
brassy

[growbag]

Originally Posted by brassy

TaraIkeda wrote:
> Ugh I am not looking forward to this, someone I know needs me to
> reinstall XP for them

a tip for the wise: tell them you charge $10 an hour to work on
friend's computer problems....and, $50 an hour if it is a Windows
problem..

tell them NO hard feelings at all if they want to find someone
else...you understand completely...

if they ask why you charge so much more for a Redmond machine tell
them that you use that system SO seldom you really have to scratch to
figure it out....AND, it is frustratingly slow, complicated and locked
down (from an administrative viewpoint)..

thankfully, my friend's Windows problems no longer suck up *my*
time...before i went to this strategy i was getting called far too
often...and, each one usually cost me _several_ hours of head scratchin'..

--
brassy

+1 there, that's exactly what I started doing, and also refusing to install/re-install pirate copies of Windows and applications, saved me tons of times and headaches!

I installed several copies of openoffice after that, saved many a person and non-profit clubs lots of money!

Plus don't forget to take headache pills with you .

[techfan80]

Better Still be an informer. Finish your work, recommend Opensuse Linux, charge more for M$ repair and installs next time, and Hey!! is it wrong to have a drink with other Linux addicts

[consused]

TaraIkeda, ignore the wheeler-dealers. I think you have the better strategy for winning his confidence and getting some interest for ubuntu. You obviously made the deal you and he are comfortable with (win+win). "Softly, softly catchee etc." as the first two replies advised. Good luck with the repair.

[DistortedHumor]

XP is a ok OS, and there are a number of commerical games that Linux just will not run out of the box. (For example, on my desktop I have windows vista on just for gaming) and sometimes it is a slow migration, and they must be willing to jump, don't push. Even my father, who is a strong windows user, is now a firefox user (and he loves it) when I get suse up and running on the laptop, I might have to let him mess around with it.

[dragonbite]

I've been working on my Mom's Windows XP machine, which has some sort of virus. I had my linux Laptop running right next to her laptop because I was looking online.

I've been telling them, "It's taking me longer to figure things out because I don't get viruses on Linux" and "It does what I need and has what applications I need.. for free."

Don't know if my Mom will ever use Linux, but if Windows gives her enough trouble she just may try it...

DistortedHumor wrote:
> (For example, on my desktop I have windows vista on just for gaming)

yep, Redmond makes a pretty good game system...but, too bad you have
to buy all that extra keep-out-the-virus-crud just to play games!!

--
brassy