Can You Trust Your Computer Repair Man.... I Mean, Really Trust Him?  

Are you saying it's legal to charge £130 for a part which they say you want, and you don't, plus they never fit it to your computer? In fact, I think that's almost as bad as stealing your bank account.

I don't know how you can justify what they do, especially to people who are not technically minded, or even those who are elderly and conduct their whole social life online. I think it's way out of order, salesman or not. He's not actually selling anything, is he? He's bluffing!

Why do hackers hack anyway? Is it because there are poor, unsuspecting people out there who don't know any better, or don't even realise they're hacked until their computer dies? What do they get out of it... it beats me!

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution.

You can say the same thing about a car salesman. They try to sell you a car by making it sound fantastic when in fact they could be talking about completely non-existant parts or more in the car salesman terms, "non-existant quality". I agree with you on that part where they sell you a part that they never fit to your computer(however. selling you a part that they do fit to your computer that you mignt not necessarily need is unethical maybe but certainly not illegal.) but I meant most of what I said more figuratively then litterally. I also meant it in a kind of different sense. Hard to explain, sorry for the confusion!

But yes, when marketing a product lot's of marketers try to fancify a product.. or service in techie guy scenarios that may just be there to beef up service. Such as hm. Example. "5-hour energy" and no crash later! I heard that's bull & I know people who have had it and did have a crash later! Is anything really being done about it? Not really. Their slogan is catchy though and sells the product regardless of how well it works if it works at all.

Lot's of people are unethical and that's my assumption as to why they hack. They like taking the easy way out and if they're knowledgable in that area there are a lot of unsecure computers out there and it's like a pot of gold staring you in the face. Greed and being unethical takes over. However, not all hackers are bad. There are hackers that hack for the good of the world and to help beef up security at various companies and businesses around the world. Other's simply do it to amuse themselves. There is only so much to do in the world and quite simply, they could have gotten bored or the chance of being shunned in the real-world and that's their way of "fighting back".

A few other examples to beef up my points are such a thing as a "lemon" when it comes to cars where you can buy a brand new car and drive it off the lot and it breaks down. You're pretty screwed and in most places you probably won't get your money back.

Another example is redbull. Does it give you wings? I think not!

Really, cars are not relative here, but I do see your point from the usage of those examples.

The problem here is, ok, you say hackers are bored and have nothing else to do, but why do they have to pick on people because they know how to do it? Obviously, computers are a facility that haven't been in schools for that many years, and a lot of people had to train themselves to use them, even. Then, some whizz kid comes along and takes away their lifeline. You know, a lot of people who use computers are immobile, unable to get out, and their life is on their computer; others use the computer to work and earn a few bucks because they lost their job, etc, etc. I think it's a despicable thing to do, to hurt these people just because one can, and because one's bored. How mean is that? I have endless amounts of security on my computers and I still got hacked! I knew a local guy in the village who fixes computers and it only cost me £100 for a brand new hard drive on my desktop and a stripping of the hard disk and reconfiguration on my laptop. I trust him because I've known him for years, and he's totally upfront with me. But these guys who hack and deceive people into parting with their money, need sorting. They're not nice to know, and certainly don't give a thought to the hurt they cause.

As for the "lemon" example; if you buy a brand new car, then you can afford to sue. I'm sorry, but that doesn't cut with me. Cars are ultra expensive here in Britain, and an immobile person can't get out to even buy one, let alone drive it.

Redbull? I can't stand the stuff and no amount of sales talk would encourage me to buy it. Besides, I already have wings... I'm a little angel!

You are very correct ,so thst the computer or to understand their own problem -solving is the most fundamental way.

Yes, it is, and I, for one, am always ready to learn new things but some of the more senior or immobile people don't have the facilities to do so, and they have to rely on techies and security systems to keep them online.

Well, I'll tell you something now. I went to a guy in the village with both my desktop and laptop when I was hacked, a guy I've known for years and completely trust. Naturally, he took the machines away because he had all the bits and tools at his home, and I have noticed a lot of difference since he fitted a new hard disk in my desktop and completely cleared and re-configured the laptop. However, just sitting here showing me what he'd done, for £100, he was chatting, and told me that he doesn't do it any more, but he used to hack. He'd hack into somebody's account, then contact them, telling them they needed certain software. Why? I just can't understand why anybody does that!

Brightest Blessings, love and hugs. xx

To make extra Money I guess as they will bring it to him and then he makes money out of it

He sounds like he was honest - just telling them how easy it was for a DISHONEST trader to do it.

That's right, Sue. He told them the programmes they needed to keep their computers more secure.

That was before he got into repairs, by all accounts, Gabs, so it wasn't to make more money. I don't have any qualms about taking my computers to him because a) I got a good deal, and b) he was straight down the line with me.

Ha ha ha... as long as he doesn't want to check out her software, you're ok, my friend.

As for the computer; if he fixes it at home where you can see him, then there should be no problem anyway. You're lucky to have him around, I'd say.

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution, my friend.

Oh my word! No, I hadn't heard about that one, but that's a despicable thing to do, and I guess, to extort money out of somebody or other.

I tend to pick up a little bit about fixing my own when I phone Dell Support. I write everything down they tell me to do, so I don't have to pay them next time. lol.

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution.

Yes, I've reported lots of scams from both Paypal and EBay. They never send for personal details in email... always on site. The best one was from the NatWest Bank, one of our main High Street banks over here. It wasn't on letterhead, the spelling was atrocious and the grammar even worse... guess where that one went! lol.

I don't open anything from banks, building societies, Paypal or EBay. They all go straight in the bin. You seem to have found a good repair man there, but they're not always easy to find, my friend.

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution.

That's good my friend. It's nice when you have somebody whom you can trust. I feel for the immobile and those on their own who get hacked and lose their lifeline. It must be a bit of an ordeal for them, especially if repairs are too costly.

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution.

me too, Darkwing, I also know that my geek feels the same way, she's always doing things to make us more secure - I haven't been too many places until she has time to come over and protect this machine, mostly mylot.

Dare I say this... lol. I think a woman is probably more empathetic to others and less likely to become a hacker, than a young man. I'll probably get showered with abuse now, but that's my feeling.

You're the apple pie of your brother's eye then, my friend. That's great that you have a computer whiz in the family. I think I could get used to that.

That's quite true, that what goes around, comes around. They will get their come-uppance, I'm sure, but in the meantime, they hurt a lot of people who rely on the internet for their social contact, merely because they can't get out and about.

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution.

That's brilliant, and I would think very reassuring for you. The cost of a meal out is peanuts in comparison with what you might have to pay at a repair shop! WTG my friend.

Thank you for your contribution and Brightest Blessings.

It might well be that some of those programmes you were using were a threat to your machine and that the security they put in, won't allow them through. That's not a bad thing, my friend, unless you're having popup problems or something.

As for the pictures... mine were like that for a long while but now I have Beta Incredimail, they seem to be sized to fit the email better, and I can send more in one mail than previously. If you can't get thumbnails, and they're still big, then it probably has something to do with your browser settings.

Brighest Blessings and thank you for your contribution.

wehat gets me it was on my putter in the program but now it isnt.
So I have to go in to another program to get them down wehre they aint so big they take up the whole email.
It should still be there hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Yes, it should and I can't help feeling that your settings have been changed somewhere along the line.

me too

I think it's better if you can have somebody fix your computer on site. At least, as you say, you can see what they're up to and watch for the memory stick being inserted. It's worth the extra payment, I feel. My guy is local, so he comes to the house first, but I trust him to take it away to actually fix because he shows me the problem and explains what needs to be done, plus he has better facilities in his own home, for repair work.

Backup too is good, as you can just put in the CD and get them up any time you wish, but there are a lot of things that are saved to the hard disk and even if you do copy them off, they stay there. Besides which, the more senior members online, and the immobile, who only know how to actually get onto the internet and socialise, will probably have problems with downloading onto CD and anything technical. I feel these people are the hardest hit, and I really feel for them because their whole social life is on the computer.

It doesn't hurt to be a computer safety paranoid. At least you're aware of the slightest problem and it's better to check out a minor problem than ignore it and get stuck with a major virus.

Brightest Blessings and thank you for your contribution, my friend.

Having someone that we do trust is very important, when it comes to computer repair. I honestly wouldn't trust some of those guys to even hold my beer LOL
As I said, thankfully we are covered in our house. Hubby will fix most hardware problems and I'll have a go at software. We're a good team LOL.
But, you point out the big number of seniors using computers and you're completely right. Some will have trouble even understanding the need to back up, let alone the rest. And it doesn't stop there. I have noticed that back home - in Portugal - most people don't even understand yet the need for a good antivirus. ANd when they finally get real about it - often because they've been hit - they are not informed enough as to what they're looking for and many times end up with one of those rogue programs that instead of helping is actually adding to the problems.
Most business will sidestep the ethical part if they can. But some can be more damaging than others. Unfortunately the only defense I can see if being informed.
There are zillions of things that stay in our computer even after we deleted them, and people don't realize that. They don't understand that even if they delete something, one might not only find it but recover it later on, and unless they have taken steps to make it difficult doing so will be a piece of cake.
Being informed is the key, always.