The day of the dead

So my day was abruptly broken up by two calls for 'dead' computers.  One was a simple 'hangover from hibernation'.  When your on a portable computer and rely on hibernation, you sooner or later experience the 'hangover from hibernation' syndrome where it "kind of" came back from hibernation, but it really is not functioning.  Usually a whack with the power button is the cure.

But, the other was not such the case.  Here is a customer (well – sort of) that I have been trying to emphasize the importance of routine computer cleaning.  This is one of those services that we offer to customers where on a twice a year basis, the computer is torn down, dust bunnies blown out, fans oiled and inspected or replaced and then some follow-up software cleaning (defrag, non-critical updates, etc.) is done.

This customer doesn’t see the need for it and would rather pinch a few pennies to save a few dollars.  Even though that grinding noise has been going on for some time now, and even though I have emphasized the need to take care of it now…the dude decided to ignore it.  Well, today is the day!!  And now that it no longer makes any noise, nor for that matter does anything at all, it is most likely time for a new CPU, motherboard or both (or more).  The cost will certainly dwarf the cost of routine cleaning.

This is not unlike anything else…wait until something goes wrong.  The doctor, the dentist, the mechanic all have similar stories.  Heck, we’ve heard about them in the IT world with backup for ages.  Well, today was just another one of those days.

Of course, I can also add the stories of those that resist running as a non-admin user that claim they will be just fine...until that day came where I got the chance to look at them with that "I told you so" face.  Prevention is cheap - Repair is expensive.