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Adrian Midgley wrote: | http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4387525.stm | | marginally interesting...
"Most of the problems I've been called to look at have been caused by viruses and spyware"
When I ran my own business distinctly NOT doing end user PC repairs, I was occaisonally persuaded by very desparate business people to sort out their PCs Windows problems.
Then the chances were you'd run into either Windows 95/98 or Windows 2000, and they would have one email bourne virus and one of the many "decent" anti-virus packages would remove it. You'd install some software to prevent a recurrence, tell them to pay when the trial period runs out, and collect a sum for the mindless time and effort expended.
These days you hit Windows XP home, the Adware/Antivirus/Spyware program will find 20 or 30 executable beasties, and several hundred other trivial bits of dross, remove them all, and then you have to reinstall the OS to remove the remaining one or two that weren't found, or to repair the box to a usable state. My perception of the success rate of antivirus is that it nose dived sharply in recent times.
Unlike car repair almost every OS install is a write-off, so you'd basically be reinstalling almost every one to make a cost effective business.
I suspect this is why there is a lack of "professional repair people" (although most PC vendors will do the reinstall to factory settings for you, and the better ones give you a CD that will do it for you).
Then again maybe doctors can give us some tips on running repair services where the sucess rate is low, and the work labour intensive, although I note the reinstall option (bone marrow transplants) is gaining in popularity.
Although you'd think the IT industry would have made the systems user servicable. When I was working on Microsoft software a lot I remember comments from Redmond along the lines of this bug fix is a great opportunity to sell support services to your client to install it.
With my business I made a conscious decision to try and avoid this part of the market, although undoubtedly there is a living to be made in the Exeter area for anyone with the skills and patience.
I hope the tax man noted the guy is being paid in kind by his vet, I don't want to be there when the tax man extracts his pound of (cat?) flesh. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
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