Dad will never know!



  • I had to share this story about my co-worker, I'll call him Bob.

    A while back Bob bought a brand new computer, and sparedno expense. I think grand total was close to $7-8000, all the best stuff x2 (or 4 in some cases). He is not a gamer (hates gaming), just wanted the best of the best. He does not look like the tech type, an ex-Marine, who still kept his buzz cut trimmed.

    Anyway, he spent 3-4 weeks carefully setting this computer up (wiring it, adding the cards, carefully installing everything in the best order that he could think of, benchmarking each step) and so forth. So a week or so before this story, he had everything perfect, just the way he wanted it. All of us heard about how great this computer was, and how it was probably one of the best ones out there because he had set things up so good.

    So one day he comes in, sits down, and goes right to work. He does not look happy. Curious, I ask him what is wrong. "Damn kid" he replied. This was not abnormal with him and his stepson, but I figured there would be a good story (there always is) so I inqueried further.

    "What happened this time?" 

    "He ruined my computer"

     "Your new one?????"

    "Yep."

    "How?"

    "He reformatted it"

    "He did???? Why?"

    Bob than tells me that he had forbidded his kid, or anyone else in the family from even looking at this new computer. Unfortunately his teenage stepson loves computer games, and was making do with a rather old PC. The day before, his kid had a friend over, and after finding out that his PC did not run a new game he wanted to play, the two decided to load it onto Bob's computer and see how well it works. Well being top of the line, it worked great. The only problem was when they were done, they realized that Bob would see the game loaded onto the PC when he got home.

    "That's an easy fix" said the wonderful friend, "Just reformat the hard drive and he will not see the game"

     And that is exactly what they did... losing all of Bob's weeks of hard work with one command.

     Apparently Bob's "Perfect PC", did not have a password or backup image. Oops!



  • In consideration of Bob's described computer prowess tell the kids next time

    Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs ...

     



  • Beautiful.

    I'm reminded of that dell commercial about "boot camp for PCs" saying that with most manufacturers, you have to know a lot about computers to buy a computer from them.  At the end of the commercial, It shows a guy doing pushups outside in the mud while it's raining and he's screaming "I still don't know how to format a hard drive!"  I don't know anything about the relevance of that, but it popped in my head, so it popped onto the forums.



  •  I call bullshit.

     



  • Looks like somebody is gonna have a fall down the stairs.. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Looks like somebody is gonna have a fall down the stairs.. 

     

    I guess you'd be a great dad. 



  • @ZippoLag said:

    I guess you'd be a great dad. 
     

    Well, his kid would only do that once, that is for sure.



  • Cameron: Ferris? It's not working.

    Ferris looks up.

    Cameron: The game isn't coming off, running it in reverse.

    Ferris: I thought that might be a problem. We have to open the case, delete it by hand.

    Cameron: No, forget it. I've got to take a stand. I put up with everything. My old man pushes me around. I never say anything. He's not the problem.
    I'm the problem.
    I've got to take a stand.
    I've got to take a stand against him.
    I am not going to sit on my ass
    as the events that affect me unfold
    to determine the course of my life.
    I'm going to take a stand and defend it.
    Right or wrong,
    I'm going to defend it.

    I'm so sick of this shit.

    I can't stand him
    and I hate this goddamn computer.

    Who do you love? You love a computer.

    * CARNAGE ENSUES *

    Cameron: Shit ... I formatted the shit out of it.

    Good.

    My father will see what I did.
    I can't hide this.

    He'll come home
    and he'll have to deal with me.

    I don't care. I really don't.

    I'm just tired of being afraid.

    The hell with him.

    I can't wait to see the look
    on his face!



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

     I call bullshit.

     

    If you knew the guy, you wouldn't... this guy also bought two brand snowmobiles. Asked our boss to go with him that night to try them out, ran into him when he could stop on the ice, bruised his ribs, my boss cut his face and both machines were effectively totaled... stuff always happened to him. 



  • @Erick said:

    Cameron: Ferris? It's not working.

    Ferris looks up.

    Cameron: The game isn't coming off, running it in reverse.

    Ferris: I thought that might be a problem. We have to open the case, delete it by hand.

    Cameron: No, forget it. I've got to take a stand. I put up with everything. My old man pushes me around. I never say anything. He's not the problem.
    I'm the problem.
    I've got to take a stand.
    I've got to take a stand against him.
    I am not going to sit on my ass
    as the events that affect me unfold
    to determine the course of my life.
    I'm going to take a stand and defend it.
    Right or wrong,
    I'm going to defend it.

    I'm so sick of this shit.

    I can't stand him
    and I hate this goddamn computer.

    Who do you love? You love a computer.

    * CARNAGE ENSUES *

    Cameron: Shit ... I formatted the shit out of it.

    Good.

    My father will see what I did.
    I can't hide this.

    He'll come home
    and he'll have to deal with me.

    I don't care. I really don't.

    I'm just tired of being afraid.

    The hell with him.

    I can't wait to see the look
    on his face!




  • When I was a kid I don't think I ever formatted my dad's hard drive, but I did once re-install Windows 3.1 because I tried to change it to display 256 colors instead of 16 colors and the whole thing crapped out. I don't know if there was another way to fix it or not, but with only an hour until my dad came home I grabbed the floppies and did the re-install. He noticed :(

    Then again, my basis for being interested in computers comes from trying to hide all the damage I caused to my dad's computer.



  • I kind of feel for Bob... Guys like that try really hard to do things right, but they just lack that last 1% of the required knowledge to finish the job properly. I suspect the kid probably got what he had coming, and Bob wound up (at some point) learning about passwords, backups, and so forth.



  • @shakin said:

    When I was a kid I don't think I ever formatted my dad's hard drive, but I did once re-install Windows 3.1 because I tried to change it to display 256 colors instead of 16 colors and the whole thing crapped out. I don't know if there was another way to fix it or not, but with only an hour until my dad came home I grabbed the floppies and did the re-install. He noticed :(

    Then again, my basis for being interested in computers comes from trying to hide all the damage I caused to my dad's computer.

    Isn't that how we all started?

    That and fixing all the damage Mom made... 



  • Sounds like my friend's dad and his obsession with reformatting the HDD every 2 months and reinstalling. Each time introducing new and pointless informal rules of the computer. I personally think it would've been more effective to just install anti-virus, anti-spyware and unplug the 56k modem (OMG yay! dialers) from the computer when it isn't in use (they had ADSL at the time).



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

     I call bullshit.

     


     

    Totally beleivable to me.

    Take one guy that knows almost nothing about tech that buys the top of the line because "I deserve it damnit".

    Add one kid living in a household run by a man that sees the world through camo paint and whos best quality is motivating other men to do work for him.

    Result is exactly what we have here.

    Now if mister buzzcut spent only half of what he did and bought two computers instead, he would still have a kick ass machine and so would his son who wouldn't feel the need to touch daddy's.  That is until the freind came over and wanted to network them together to play.

    Never under-estimate typical american consumerism from people that feel it is a right, not a privildge, to own the best of the best. 

     

    PS:  Sorry for quoting your entire post  ;) 



  • @ZippoLag said:

    I guess you'd be a great dad. 

    Yeah, if my kids were still alive I would be.  I can't shed too many tears for them, though, it's survival of the fittest around here: I won't have my name disgraced by weak, inferior DNA. 



  • @KattMan said:

    Totally beleivable to me.

    Take one guy that knows almost nothing about tech that buys the top of the line because "I deserve it damnit".

    Add one kid living in a household run by a man that sees the world through camo paint and whos best quality is motivating other men to do work for him.

    Result is exactly what we have here.

    Now if mister buzzcut spent only half of what he did and bought two computers instead, he would still have a kick ass machine and so would his son who wouldn't feel the need to touch daddy's.  That is until the freind came over and wanted to network them together to play.

    Never under-estimate typical american consumerism from people that feel it is a right, not a privildge, to own the best of the best. 

     

    PS:  Sorry for quoting your entire post  ;)

    Wow, an offtopic, anti-American flame from an ignorant jackass on the Internet!!  Who'd have thunk it??



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Wow, an offtopic, anti-American flame from an ignorant jackass on the Internet!!  Who'd have thunk it??

     

    I beg to differ.  No wait, I won't beg.

    This wasn't anti-american at all.  Never did I say the guy couldn't do what he did.  I only said it was stupid to do what he did and if he did things differently it could have turned out better.  I then stated that here in the USA, this is pretty typical, and it is.  That is a simple fact.   And the post was completly on topic.

    I guess you just have a typical knee-jerk reaction to anything that rubs you the wrong way huh. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @ZippoLag said:

    I guess you'd be a great dad. 

    Yeah, if my kids were still alive I would be.  I can't shed too many tears for them, though, it's survival of the fittest around here: I won't have my name disgraced by weak, inferior DNA. 

    Sounds like the problem is the mother.  It's her inferior DNA that started all this.  Unless you're a tetragametic chimera or something?


  • @KattMan said:

    I guess you just have a typical knee-jerk reaction to anything that rubs you the wrong way huh. 
     

    Nope. He apparently just had a moment of weakness and gave in and fed a troll.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Filed under: If you don't like it get the fuck off our Internet.
    I like this.  If I were in the market for a new tag cloud attack, this would be at the top of my list.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Yeah, if my kids were still alive I would be.  I can't shed too many tears for them, though, it's survival of the fittest around here: I won't have my name disgraced by weak, inferior DNA.

    LOL! I still don't have kids because I can't afford them, and I'd probably snap on them.



  • @AbbydonKrafts said:

    LOL! I still don't have kids because I can't afford them
     

    I could sell you a few. CHEAP.



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    I could sell you a few. CHEAP.

    Haha! It's the upkeep that I'm concerned about.



  • @AbbydonKrafts said:

    LOL! I still don't have kids because I can't afford them
    Kids should have to pay their own way.  I recommend putting them to work as coal miners, because those can get down inside those little crevices to get the best coal.



  • @AbbydonKrafts said:

    @MasterPlanSoftware said:
    I could sell you a few. CHEAP.

    Haha! It's the upkeep that I'm concerned about.

     

    Bah, lock em in a closet, shove some graham crackers under the door every now and then...

    Whats so costly?



  • @bstorer said:

    I recommend putting them to work as coal miners, because those can get down inside those little crevices to get the best coal.
     

    Best if you start them early on feeding them coffee, cigarettes and alcohol. You need to stunt their growth early on to maximize their earning potential.



  • @AbbydonKrafts said:

    @MasterPlanSoftware said:
    I could sell you a few. CHEAP.

    Haha! It's the upkeep that I'm concerned about.

    I could sell you some recalled cat food.  CHEAP.



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @bstorer said:

    I recommend putting them to work as coal miners, because those can get down inside those little crevices to get the best coal.
    Best if you start them early on feeding them coffee, cigarettes and alcohol. You need to stunt their growth early on to maximize their earning potential.
    Good point!  And if they develop black lung, then I guess you could switch them to a career as a jockey.



  • @bstorer said:

    I could sell you some recalled cat food.  CHEAP.
     

    Oh sure, spoil them.



  • @bstorer said:

    Good point!  And if they develop black lung, then I guess you could switch them to a career as a jockey.
     

    There is always a market for midgets in the entertainment industry...



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @bstorer said:

    I could sell you some recalled cat food.  CHEAP.
     

    Oh sure, spoil them.

    Spoil the kids, or the cat food?


  • @bstorer said:

    Spoil the kids, or the cat food?

     

    Both, but hopefully in the reverse order.



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @bstorer said:

    Spoil the kids, or the cat food?

     

    Both, but hopefully in the reverse order.

    I've only ever been able to achieve one or the other.  You know what they always say: spare the rancid, renal-failure-inducing cat food, spoil the child.


  • @bstorer said:

    I've only ever been able to achieve one or the other
     

    Let them get hungry enough... They will eat it.



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @bstorer said:

    I've only ever been able to achieve one or the other
     

    Let them get hungry enough... They will eat it.

    Well, let's just focus on something we can all agree on: kids these days are just coddled.  They don't even have to hitchhike to work!


  • @bstorer said:

    They don't even have to hitchhike to work!
     

    Up hill. Both ways. In waist deep snow. Avoiding polar bears.



  • @bstorer said:

    Well, let's just focus on something we can all agree on: kids these days are just coddled.  They don't even have to hitchhike to work!

    Hitchhike? Don't these lazy kids have legs?



  • @SuperousOxide said:

    @bstorer said:
    Well, let's just focus on something we can all agree on: kids these days are just coddled.  They don't even have to hitchhike to work!

    Hitchhike? Don't these lazy kids have legs?

    Of course not.  Do you know how much a leg is worth on the black market?  Thirty-seven pesos.



  • @bstorer said:

    Do you know how much a leg is worth on the black market? 
     

    And daddy needs a case of beer!



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @bstorer said:

    Do you know how much a leg is worth on the black market? 
     

    And daddy needs a case of beer!

    So after Daddy finishes lopping off these legs of yours, I want you to clean the hacksaw, and then take the legs into town, sell them, and bring me back a case of beer.  AND I EXPECT CHANGE!


  • @bstorer said:

    So after Daddy finishes lopping off these legs of yours, I want you to clean the hacksaw, and then take the legs into town, sell them, and bring me back a case of beer.  AND I EXPECT CHANGE!
     

    And hurry up! NASCAR is almost on!



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @bstorer said:

    So after Daddy finishes lopping off these legs of yours, I want you to clean the hacksaw, and then take the legs into town, sell them, and bring me back a case of beer.  AND I EXPECT CHANGE!
     

    And hurry up! NASCAR is almost on!

    I know I'd have to be drunk to enjoy NASCAR.


  • @bstorer said:

    I know I'd have to be drunk to enjoy NASCAR.
     

    Not to mention you would have to already be drunk to drink Busch Light, which is likely the official beer of NASCAR.



  • Oh man if my dad was a military crazed loonie.... firecracker in the case set to go off when the case was opened. Then ensure there is video evidence incase he kills me.



  • @WeatherGod said:

    That and fixing all the damage Mom made... 

     

    What, you ate the afterbirth that came out with you, too?



  • It all reminds me of THAT day, about 10 years ago, where I was all happy to have a friend lend me some game (Need for Speed or something like this). Installed it on Father's PC while nobody was there, and bang, machine didn't boot anymore. Big panic, followed by my first Windows installation ever (W95...)

    Fortunately all went well even with the very limited computer knowledge I had back then, and I managed to put the thing back up, reinstall the couple of programs that were on it originally, keeping all the original data, and on time before the parents came back. They never knew about it, and still don't. 

    But TRWTF is that when I randomly went through the game's manual with anger I ran across a statement, in the "troubleshooting" section, that went like "why has my PC become unusable?", answering that the game was incompatible with the drivers of a single particular graphics card and would require a system reinstall to solve. Like, you had to actually kill your PC before reading that you shouldn't have installed the game in the first place. And of course Murphy giving a little help, we happened to have that particular GFX card. Sigh.

    That day still stays as one of the most stressful moments of my life to date....



  • @KattMan said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    Wow, an offtopic, anti-American flame from an ignorant jackass on the Internet!!  Who'd have thunk it??

     

    I beg to differ.  No wait, I won't beg.

    This wasn't anti-american at all.  Never did I say the guy couldn't do what he did.  I only said it was stupid to do what he did and if he did things differently it could have turned out better.  I then stated that here in the USA, this is pretty typical, and it is.

     

    It's typical EVERYWHERE.   



  • @matthewr81 said:

    "Just reformat the hard drive and he will not see the game"
     

    Let's wreck the kitchen, then they'll never notice we broke those dishes.



  • Hey, bstorer and MPS: I forgot to tell you yesterday. Monday night I told my wife to read this thread, and she got a laugh from your posts and tags.


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