OT: Clueless users, PC labels and color-codes

From: Glen Goodwin <acme_ent_at_bellsouth.net>
Date: Sun Aug 26 14:53:20 2001

Chad Fernandez wrote:

> I just went to a local computer show today. I was happy to find that a
> few vendors had components available from disassembled computers or
> whatever. I picked up a 3com 3C905-TX PCI ethernet card, an ATI Mach64
> video card, and a very nice Sound Blaster 16, all used of course.

Keep an eye on the ATI. I've seen lots of cases where they exhibited weird
behavior when used with non-Intel-chipset motherboards.

> The
> Mach64 had "Monitor" written in marker on the slot cover. Do office
> people really need to remind themselves where to plug the monitor in? I
> have also seen a 3.5" floppy drives marked "hard drive a:" and the 5.25"
> floppy, marked, "floppy drive b:". What's the deal?

I put printed labels on every system I sell, whether it's one I built, or a
used machine I took in on trade. I used to use labels with icons printed
on them but too many people didn't understand them. The printed labels cut
support calls by at least 50 percent. I still get calls from people who
can't figure out how to connect the AC power cable from the system to the
wall outlet.

All the recent ATX motherboards and expansion cards I've seen use the
"Colorful PC99" standard, wherein the VGA port is blue, the audio output is
light green, etc., but labels work best.

It's always amusing to hear the system box referred to as the "modem" or
"hard drive." On dual FDD systems, the 3.5" drive is the "hard drive,"
since the disks are "hard," not "floppy." About once a month someone comes
in asking about buying a "computer with Microsoft on it."

I love my customers ;>)

Glen
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Received on Sun Aug 26 2001 - 14:53:20 BST