Dear Users... (A thread for Sysadmin, Technical Support, and Help Desk people)

[arthwollipot]

I feel your pain. Computers have been standard office equipment for thirty years now, although the interfaces keep changing. But it seems to me to be similar to an office clerk completely freezing up when form TJ105 is updated to TJ105B to allow for a two character country code to be used in the address. And it's necessary to completely re-teach the person how to handle the form, that time and the next ten times it comes across that clerk's desk.

Basic computer knowledge has been a part of every public service selection criteria since 1994. But I still have to explain to people how to copy and paste.

And there's one new Tier 1 agent I really want to just tie down and force to read every page of the Chronicles of George.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Me: Well, since you're managing this project and I'm only the first step of a long development process, and I have no access to or visibility of any step past my own, I think you should be the one to open the ticket. So everyone working on it will know to communicate with you about it.
Them: No, you just do it for me.
Me: [sigh]
Them: [six hours later] Can I get an update on what's happening? Can you tell me when the ticket gets assigned, and to who, and tell me what they're doing, and how long it will take?
Me: [to the next stage development] Hey dude, on this one? No hurry. Seriously. No hurry.

How To Turn A Three Week Project Into A Two Year Project, by TM.

 

[Wudang]

Sorry. For me to raise a ticket on a users behalf I have to assign myself a ticket which goes into my work stack to be assessed for priority and potential risk.

 

[alfaniner]

That is one sharp key!

Used in conjunction with the Shift-3, of course.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Basic computer knowledge has been a part of every public service selection criteria since 1994. But I still have to explain to people how to copy and paste.

That's still my biggest issue and the core reason I started this thread.

I know that literally every single person I provide IT support for put "Excellent computer skills" on their resume but since so many of them lack the most basic, simple end user skills I have no idea what they thought they were saying when they claimed that. "I'm capable of standing next to a computer without it exploding" is the bar most of them only barely reach.

 

[quadraginta]

If I don't keep tabs on my control, my alt will escape, my function shift, and then I'll have to take a pause break.

And... I just realized there is a typo on the rubber keyboard protector I've been using for years...

Misprints like that can be incredibly valuable to collectors.

It may be worth millions.

 

[TragicMonkey]

That's still my biggest issue and the core reason I started this thread.

I know that literally every single person I provide IT support for put "Excellent computer skills" on their resume but since so many of them lack the most basic, simple end user skills I have no idea what they thought they were saying when they claimed that. "I'm capable of standing next to a computer without it exploding" is the bar most of them only barely reach.

"I have a lot of experience. At computers."

 

[erlando]

That's the route I was using to get there. But since it brings up so much stuff I also use I will probably continue to be a left-clicker.

Another route for the keyboard enthusiasts is Windows+D (for desktop), Alt+F4 and then select with up/down in the dropdown (default is Shutdown). Execute with Enter.

 

[JoeMorgue]

So I've got a user who when she logs into a Remote Desktop Session she has 5 copies of the same printer (PrinterName, Printername (Redirected), Printername (Redirected2), so forth).

I can't get rid of them. She doesn't have permissions to delete printers so I get an access denied. If I log in as my admin account they aren't there. If I try to run PrintManagement (either stand alone or within MMC) from her account using run as... they aren't there.

So basically only her account sees the printers, but she doesn't have the rights to delete them. I can't make her owner of the printer, even temporarily, to make any changes to it, I can't even rename to something like "DON'T USE THIS ONE."

 

[Wudang]

Can she logon and then you type "appwiz.cpl" (only cpl I have memorized) and right-click and "run as admin" then you'll have an authorized control panel but under her account?

I have no idea if this will work.

 

[Yalius]

Can you temporarily promote her to a local admin, remove the printers, then revert?

 

[JoeMorgue]

Can you temporarily promote her to a local admin, remove the printers, then revert?

No her session actually active as a remote desktop session on remote server for...reasons too complicated to get into here so I'd have to make her a domain admin and that group is a locked down above my paygrade.

I'll probably have to escalate to the Network Team but I hate doing that.

 

[JimOfAllTrades]

Is it possible the printers exist on her local machine and are being connected to the server via the RDP client? My users are always accidently creating copies of printers in Windows, usually by unplugging a USB printer and plugging it back in on a different USB port.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Is it possible the printers exist on her local machine and are being connected to the server via the RDP client? My users are always accidently creating copies of printers in Windows, usually by unplugging a USB printer and plugging it back in on a different USB port.

Possibly. It's a specialized little thermal printer for printing medical labels so it might get plugged/unplugged throughout the day. I'll have to ask.

It's locally installed but shared out in AD with the local machine acting as the print server as the specialized medical software is also hosted on virtual machines on the server.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Ugh. Lab label printers, by any chance? That was the worst thing I ran into in my old job. Regular hospital printing is horrible, but lab labels are a special kind of awful.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Ugh. Lab label printers, by any chance? That was the worst thing I ran into in my old job. Regular hospital printing is horrible, but lab labels are a special kind of awful.

*Nods* Dymo 450 for blood tubes.

 

[TragicMonkey]

*Nods* Dymo 450 for blood tubes.

I can sympathize but not render advice. I dealt with the little printers in ORs and exam rooms, where they'd print out "Specimen: Leg, Left, Mrs Mary Andrews" and slap it on the severed leg in question before sending it to the labs. The main issue was getting the new-to-us EMR to see the printer, which involved creating printer-to-room maps in the EMR. Then if anyone moved a printer to a different room it wouldn't work because the EMR expected printer ABC to be in Room 2 only. And the EMR kept forgetting the mappings anyway.

Also I heard that one time somebody lost an amputated leg that was going to the lab. That's not a sample you can just retake from the patient. Huge fuss, both because they couldn't find out what was medically wrong with the leg, and also because it could have popped up anywhere in the hospital (bad) or somewhere outside the hospital (much, much worse). That's the kind of thing that really ends up in the news, and it's not a good look, hospitals hacking off legs then losing them! Lady who told me this story said it never turned up, and it's been eight or nine years.

 

[novaphile]

I can sympathize but not render advice. I dealt with the little printers in ORs and exam rooms, where they'd print out "Specimen: Leg, Left, Mrs Mary Andrews" and slap it on the severed leg in question before sending it to the labs. The main issue was getting the new-to-us EMR to see the printer, which involved creating printer-to-room maps in the EMR. Then if anyone moved a printer to a different room it wouldn't work because the EMR expected printer ABC to be in Room 2 only. And the EMR kept forgetting the mappings anyway.

Also I heard that one time somebody lost an amputated leg that was going to the lab. That's not a sample you can just retake from the patient. Huge fuss, both because they couldn't find out what was medically wrong with the leg, and also because it could have popped up anywhere in the hospital (bad) or somewhere outside the hospital (much, much worse). That's the kind of thing that really ends up in the news, and it's not a good look, hospitals hacking off legs then losing them! Lady who told me this story said it never turned up, and it's been eight or nine years.

I've been telling everyone for years that medical students need to be fed more often, but no one will believe me.

 

[Norman Alexander]

I can sympathize but not render advice. I dealt with the little printers in ORs and exam rooms, where they'd print out "Specimen: Leg, Left, Mrs Mary Andrews" and slap it on the severed leg in question before sending it to the labs. The main issue was getting the new-to-us EMR to see the printer, which involved creating printer-to-room maps in the EMR. Then if anyone moved a printer to a different room it wouldn't work because the EMR expected printer ABC to be in Room 2 only. And the EMR kept forgetting the mappings anyway.

Also I heard that one time somebody lost an amputated leg that was going to the lab. That's not a sample you can just retake from the patient. Huge fuss, both because they couldn't find out what was medically wrong with the leg, and also because it could have popped up anywhere in the hospital (bad) or somewhere outside the hospital (much, much worse). That's the kind of thing that really ends up in the news, and it's not a good look, hospitals hacking off legs then losing them! Lady who told me this story said it never turned up, and it's been eight or nine years.

Obviously they need to keep their processes better in step.

 

[Donal]

Me: Well, since you're managing this project and I'm only the first step of a long development process, and I have no access to or visibility of any step past my own, I think you should be the one to open the ticket. So everyone working on it will know to communicate with you about it.
Them: No, you just do it for me.
Me: [sigh]
Them: [six hours later] Can I get an update on what's happening? Can you tell me when the ticket gets assigned, and to who, and tell me what they're doing, and how long it will take?
Me: [to the next stage development] Hey dude, on this one? No hurry. Seriously. No hurry.

How To Turn A Three Week Project Into A Two Year Project, by TM.

I hate that so much. I get stuff sent to me that goes well beyond my scope, but I am the one with the ticket and am responsible for keeping everyone updated. Of course, no one is responsible for updating me with their progress. No documentation. No timely responses. But plenty of calls "why is this still open?"