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If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.
No one listens to IT guy
User calls me one day, telling me she can't get into her system. I ask her a few questions, find out she her PC will not boot into Windows 7 then tell her I will be at her desk to help her out in a few minutes. On the way to her office I remember her PC is about 5 years old, hardware hasn't ever been changed, so the hard drive is about 5 years old as well.
I arrive at my destination, i.e. her office. Fire up the PC, gets to the Windows 7 load screen (screen before login screen) and it locks. Restart, f5, boot into safe mode...doesn't even get to the windows pre-login screen. I run a few troubleshooting tasks while the user huffs and puffs behind me and her coworkers are telling her she needs a new PC, which is all great convo to hear while you know this is a hard drive problem only (99% sure).
Nothing is getting me into windows. I know the quickest way to fix the problem is to replace the drive, copy her working image file and data files and she will be "good to go" in about a hour (I've done this before in that amount of time for other users - this department's PC use is outlook, excel, and word, not heavy use). I tell her the plan, but she doesn't like the plan. She and her coworkers think she would be better off getting a new PC (since they're the IT techs, they would know right?) instead of just replacing the drive. They told me she'll just encounter another problem down the road.
I tell them it's my professional opinion that a new drive will fix her problem. I did exactly the same thing for another user in that department last year and she's been good since (aside from the occasional user error her hardware has been fine) I replaced the drive. Even after telling them the cause of this problem and how to fix it, they insist on purchasing a new PC. I was overruled by my our boss even. How great is that? It gets better. They told me to go ahead and install a new drive in that PC so someone else can use that PC. What?
So I purchase a new PC for the user against my will and then put in a new drive in the "old" PC, install all the good stuff, and now a user is plugging along great on that system. I wonder why I'm even on the payroll if they're not going to listen to me?
Has something like this ever happened to any of you?