Nolan Carson

The more and more I deal with Dell Support I'm starting to wonder if I am too patient.  Having worked for a help desk myself, I know how many factors there are and different levels of support that are involved for each issue, but I always seem to run into issues.  Nobody likes to have computer problems and have to deal with the hardware manufacturer in the first place, so I have always given them second and third and fourth chances.  But some how they still let me down.  This time it has to do with a computer that has been overheating and shutting down.  Then the computer takes a while to cool down before you can start it back up.

I should give a little history, I'm not sure that Dell Support cares about it, but it should show how customer support representatives should realize that they don't know who is on the other end of the call and they need to provide the upmost respect and best support to anyone that calls, whether it is a business with hundreds of computers or a small business owner with only a couple.  Our company has ordered Dell computers since long before I started from Dell Premiere with 3 year, Next Business Day On-Site support.  Somehow this computer was ordered with their "Depot" mail in support, which probably could've happened with the nature we order computers 1 at a time from their website.  This is also the second Dell Latitude E5400 in the last month to overheat and shut down like this.  The last one the on site technician was sent and he pretty much replaced everything (motherboard, heat sink, fan, etc) related in the computer and we haven't had problems since.

The support call went fine, I initiated it via their online chat system.  I was informed about the level of support and offered an upgrad, which I'm not sure why I would do now for $150 when we need less money than that in parts.  I was informed it would take 7-10 days.  They send a box, you package the computer and send it in with the service ticket information.  They ask you to back everything up.  Which makes since, this email goes out to hundreds of computers they work on, I'm not sure why anything would need to be reimaged in this case, but we backed up anyways.  The computer came back closer to the 10 day range with Windows Vista installed.  They had reimaged the hard drive with a different operating system.  That's another story all together, but we had been paying extra to Dell to have new, Vista capable, computers come with Windows XP.  They probably just grab a hard drive off the stack and replace it, but you would think they could've reached a little further to the XP stack for us if you're going to replace a hard drive, when all you did is replace the fan and heat sink.  That's right, they didn't replace the motherboard, just a fan and heat sink.  I could see if the fan had died, but unless they are connected, would a heat sink go bad?  We started the computer up, noticed it had Vista, then copied all of our stuff back to it and used it for 2 days before it happened again.  Just long enought to get the checkup call from Dell and I had told them it was working.

I made the 2nd call to Dell to reopen the issue and get the problem resolved.  All they would offer is sending the computer back in for another repair.  This time I was told it could take 2 weeks.  I couldn't even get them to guarantee overnight shipping.  I still am taking part of the blame for having the wrong support level on the computer, but there is no reason we should have to go without a computer for another 2 weeks, when they didn't repair the computer right in the first place.  It would've have been so much easier and cheaper to replace the motherboard in the first place then to pay for shipping both ways and the time of the support people involved to work on a previous issue again.

In the big picture there are many small issues that add up and where does the responsibility lie.  I think the support reps should be given a little more ability to offer priority shipping or possibly sending an onsite technician for the 2nd call when they've made a mistake.  The other areas of blame are on the people that put these systems together and have such a messed up order of events that have to be followed.  Like the support person replaceing a hard drive / operating system when it wasn't needed or requiring the same level of support on issues they didn't resolve correctly.  And since this has happened to 2 of our 6-8 Latitude E5400's in the last month, I can't imagine that they don't get the same call more.  Which puts some of the responsibility on the hardware makers/designers.  The next minor responsibility should lie on the people that sold me a computer with "ship-in" support, either the website must've been confusing, someone doesn't overlook our orders, or a mistake was made.  That would've been an easy $150 up front, if they had told me what happened.  The last bit of responsibility lies on my shoulders.  Maybe I did make a mistake by getting the wrong level of support on one computer that happened to have problems, but I may not make that mistake again if I eventually get fed up with their practices and move on.

I got home the other day and saw a package on the front step.  I didn't think much of it, I kinda have an addiction to ordering stuff off of Amazon.  Then my wife said, "What'd you get now?".  I got to thinking, I haven't ordered anything in a few days, I wonder what it is.  I picked up the box and brought it in.  It was delivered by UPS, and I didn't recognize the return address.  I started to open the outside box and saw a box a little smaller with a design on it.  I thought that's weird, I that design looks familiar, but I'm not sure from where.  I continued to open the box and then it hit me.  I had received one of Google's trial/beta Chromebooks.  I couldn't believe it.  Is it possible they finally got around to sending me one from when I had requested it in December 2010.  I had read somewhere online that they sent all that they were going to send out, so I had forgotten it. I mean, really, why would some regular guy from the mid-west get a free laptop from Google.  I thought to myself, was this an accident.  I had just bid for one on ebay 2 days earlier for way less than it sold for.  I think I offered $150 and it went for $455.  I obviously wasn't that serious, but every once in a while you get that feeling that you will get a deal on ebay.  I could see paying $500 for the laptop... if I didn't have a wife that would've killed me for it.

I got asked to take a look at someone's personal laptop at work last week.  Which is weird, because I get that alot.  I haven't needed much accounting help from our accounting department or even advice from our legal council but I guess computer help is different.  Maybe next time I have a mess at home I'll call our maintenance staff.  I'm just kidding, I get it, and I really don't mind too much.  I believe the good karma comes around in other ways.  And don't tell anyone I work with, but they don't mind me helping out with little stuff during work time, as long as it doesn't get in the way of real work that needs done.  

I'm pretty sure I unchecked the box to have any antivirus to be installed on this new Dell Vostro 3500 when I ordered it, but for some reason the trial has been installed.  I am unable to uninstall it from Add or Remove Programs without a password.  Thanks Dell & Trend Micro.  I've read a little bit about it online and tried going through the file system to a file named PCCTOOL.exe.  No such file in this version.  I also tried going through the start menu to a "Support Diagnostic Toolkit", which doesn't exist.  I was able to find a file called NTRmv.exe that starts the uninstall in a "Trend Micro Client/Server Security Agent" window, then says its "Unable to get uninstallation information (mode). Uninstallation aborted." Then after 4 or 5 of those messages asks for the password again.  I've tried a blank password, admin, password, trendmicro, all the basics, no luck. 

I kind of feel like Jeff Jarvis here complaining about Dell Support, but I guess my issue isn't near as bad as his was.  Overall I have never had any problems with them and trust me I have dealt with them a lot.  My personal computers have mostly been Dell and the companies I've worked for have always used Dell. So I've called and chatted with them a lot on may different kinds of issues ranging from servers to this one being a $3.99 bezel.  I prefer to chat with them online to save myself talking to people, elevator music, and being placed on hold.  Plus this way I can get something done, or blog about them while I'm waiting for responses, like in this case.  To show how long it's taken for this $3.99 part to be ordered, I've formated and reinstalled Windows on the computer I was calling about and I've written all of this post so far.  

The chat started off pretty simple, I asked for a replacement bezel for a laptop.  I knew it wasn't covered, I offered to pay and that was followed by 30 questions about what happened, what type of computer it was... again.  Then finally she said that I would have to pay $3.99 for the bezel.  Sweet, only took 20 minutes to pay $3.99. Then before I could give her my credit card I was asked atleast 6 times if I needed a new battery.  Yes you heard me right, a new battery.  I started by kindly saying "no thank you".  She proceeded to tell me that batteries degrade over time and need replaced.  This lady must be a rocket scientist or something, I should ask for her virtual autograph or something.  Here's the transcript.  I removed her name to protect the annoying.

16:05:54		******Katy*******	The LCD bezel only cost you $3.99.
16:06:06		Nolan Carson	ok, sounds good
16:06:19		******Katy*******	That's right.
16:06:34		******Katy*******	I also see that you've been using the system for over 3 years.
16:06:50		Nolan Carson	about that, yeah
16:06:50		******Katy*******	Dell recommends that you replace your battery with a genuine Dell battery obtained from Dell.
16:07:04		******Katy*******	I suggest that you need to have a new battery.
16:07:30		Nolan Carson	it seems to be working ok, it can wait until it stops working
16:07:39		******Katy*******	Portable system batteries contain chemicals that degrade over time, reducing their ability to hold a charge.
16:08:06		Nolan Carson	ok, it can still wait
16:08:34		******Katy*******	Battery cost $135.99 only.
16:08:43		Nolan Carson	no thank you
16:08:49		******Katy*******	I suggest to buy the battery today while it's on sale.
16:09:02		Nolan Carson	no thanks, it can wait
16:09:34		******Katy*******	I can give you free shipping if you will purchase new battery.
16:09:49		Nolan Carson	No
16:09:53		******Katy*******	To ensure that you get to use it whenever and wherever you need it, it would be best to have an extra battery with you always.
16:09:55		******Katy*******	Okay.
16:10:14		******Katy*******	How about additional memory for better computer performance?
16:10:15		Nolan Carson	I do need to get to the next computer, because I still have a third and I don't work all day
16:10:22

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I came across something today that I had to post.  A coworker just purchased a Dell Inspiron laptop with a 64-bit version of Windows 7.  I put the 64-bit version on my work laptop, but he's the only other person I know that is using it.  I remember that I had problems installing my network printers the first time, because the server didn't have the 64-bit drivers installed.  Once I found the drivers online and manually setup the printer things have been working great.  When I went to setup my scanner Windows Update was able to find the drivers online and installed it with no problems.

Well today, he was trying to install a Fujitsu ScanSnap S510, even manually installing the drivers from the website didn't work.  I did some quick research to find that Fujitsu said they didn't support 64-bit versions of Windows with that scanner.  After doing a little more research I found that there is a driver repair tool built into the install that you have to run by navigating to the C:\Program Files (x86)\PFU\ScanSnap\Driver\SsDrvRepair folder and running an executable named SsDrvRepair-x64.exe.  Then everything worked.  I'm not sure why it was so much work and Fujitsu couldn't have just done that in the first place.  I guess that's just another reason to support why we decided to not go company wide with the Fujitsu in the first place.

http://www.sevenforums.com/drivers/9239-fujitsu-scansnap-s510-windows-7-rc-64bit.html

UPDATE:

The same problem came back 3 or 4 days later.  Same computer, the scanner had been working, but just stopped.  There was no sign of it in the Device Manager.  I had him run this driver repair tool just for the heck of it and it started working again.  That doesn't make much sense to me, but I had him add a shortcut to the file this time.  So now he won't have to navigate to find it.

So today at work I faced one of the things you hope you never have, but you are sure you will some day when you least expect it.  For example when your supervisor (IS Director) is supposed to be somewhere in north-central Iowa climbing a hill on a 21 speed, road bike.  This morning when I was on my way to work, I got within 1 block and there was a street light out.  I didn't think much of it, there were stop signs 1 way so I wasn't worried about getting hit, on with my business.  I pull in to my parking lot and noticed that nobody is parked in our companies private lot.  It would be very surprising if I beat everyone in.  I noticed that most of the cars were parked just outside of the lot in the metered parking.  Again, not a huge surprise, we seem to have alot of problems with our electronic gate.  Usually the problem is someone drives through it to get prime time parking on the weekends.  So this was a little odd, but oh well.  I'm walking in and one of the maintenance guys is removing the arm from the gate and says "gonna be an exciting morning".  Again, I figure he's just referring to a broken arm on the gate and having to work outside when it's already humid and warming up.  Then I walk into the building and the light for the first floor isn't on for the elevator.  Weird, but I remember 1 of the lights was burned out before, but I thought it was 2nd floor.  Maybe it just burned out over night.  Then I press the up button and the elevator doesn't open.  It hits me, "THE POWER WAS OUT"!

I mentioned my supervisor was out, so is my office mate, the 3rd guy in the IS Department.  So that just leaves me.  I raced up the stairs, the server room had been getting hot so we had a portable air conditioner in the server room (more like a closet).  The room was open to keep cool, but there was not a sound.  Everything was off, the lights were obviously all out, network and phones down, everything.

I hear there was a fire in a man hole in downtown/old market and that power has been out since 2 AM. I figured there wasn't much I could do, but hope that the power came up soon.  I texted my boss to see if he had heard.  Turns out he was still in town and was on his way in.  He was trying to put together some paper work for me to do some work today and was unable to get into the system from home.  So he ran in to check on the cooling unit and discovered the problem a little before I had.  So that was a relief.  I hate to bring him in from vacation, but it took a little pressure off my shoulders trying to explain to everyone what all was down, how long and what could be done in the mean time.  I was prepared for the questions, but still not my favorite situation.

I tethered my laptop to my phone and got a little done.  Grabbed breakfast and then it was just a waiting game.  Word was power could be out anywhere from 2 hours (12 noon) to 24 more.  The most solid news we heard was that the area was still to hot to work in and repairs would probably start around noon.  Still just a guessing game.  The CFO and CEO decided to ask me how hard it would be to bring in generators and get atleast the server stack up and going.  Which brings me to the main point of this post.  What's your disaster recovery plan?

Every company has one in place.  When you think about it, it's pretty obvious.  What would you do in case of any possible disaster that could happen to your work place, or the information needed to work.  Like most companies most of our server stack is in the building.  We backup off site and have a pretty solid disaster recovery plan in place, should we know that the disaster will last atleast 1-2 days or more.  It's tough in this case when we didn't know if it was going to last from 2 to 8 working hours.  So I was asked how hard it would be to bring in a generator, I mentioned we needed to have the networking gear and atleast a few of the servers plugged in to accomplish what they wanted.  My supervisor quickly came to the rescue again.  He had ran power meters on the servers halfway recently and with the help of the building maintenance guy and his electrician, we were quickly able to decide what was needed and how long it would take to get the equipment there and working.  The guesstimate was a little less than 3 hours and they were able to beat that by 30 minutes.  Pretty quick turn around actually.  The networking, phones and servers were up and running by 3 PM and we didn't have to go into our full disaster recovery.

As for our full disaster recovery, we have a hot site setup that we can restore our servers to from backup.  Then they set up 10 work stations imaged like our computers so that 10 people can be officed and fully working in 4-8 hours.  The tough part of that equation comes when we have to change our DNS settings so that people on the outside can reach us.  The only guarantee that we are given in that situation is 20 minutes to 48 hours.  Since we have properties all over the US that access our systems though a web interface, it could cause a little more of a damper for them.  The main goal is that the company has an answer for any possible thing that could happen.  Today we learned how long it takes us to adapt and gives us real experience to know if we can handle it.

The other thing that faces many companies today is, if servers or the services they provide can be moved off site or hosted.  We have been toying with this and many companies already have hosted email solutions and are starting to move other services into the cloud.  I wonder if this will come up in the near future.

So what's this mean to you?  Do you have a "disaster recovery plan" in place for your home computer or information.  What would you do if your hard drive crashed and you lost your family pictures?  What if there was a fire in the house and you lost your photo albums?  How far are you willing to go to make sure your information AND stuff is safe?  I have a server that backs up the information from my home computers so that any 1 of them or all of them can crash and I don't loose anything important.  Then that server duplicates the data so that any 1 hard drive can crash.  I hate to admit this, but if someone steals my server I'm currently out of luck.  I've backed up most of the data to an external hard drive that I store in a fire safe box in my house, but really people should be saving this stuff to the cloud or somewhere offsite.  I could talk forever about backup solutions, but the point is, make sure you have a plan.

I had the chance to play around with an iPad recently.  The chairman of our company got one and liked it so much, he asked me to set one up for his wife.  It felt like Christmas opening an $800+ Apple package before anyone else got their hands on it, since I don't get the chance to do that much.  The task was to get it working on AT&T's 3G, to setup an iTunes account, and to add an Exchange email account.  Sounds easy enough.  I really didn't run into any problems.  Like I've mentioned before, I have a 2nd Gen iPod Touch and now have iOS 4 running on it, so I've setup apps and added Exchange email accounts before.

I was suprised at how easy it was to get 3G running.  From the phones that I've had activated on Verizon, Sprint and AT&T, I was expecting this to be a little more tedius than it was.  Basically I just put in the credit card info and the rest took care of itself.  I wish there were a few more options so I could tell if and when it was going to renew.  Then choosing between the different levels of service was a pain.  It's too bad there's not 1 unlimited plan for a low price.

My first observation about he hardware was how heavy it was.  I never would've guessed from looking at it.  I think the size is a little awkward, it was tough to type with my thumbs in portrait mode and too small in landscape, but I guess my hands are probably a little bigger than the average person.  Once I turned the screen on I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the screen.  It is clear, vibrant and crisp.  I could see a use case for showing off photography if I was good at it.  The default wallpaper was so detailed a few of the lines on it looked like scratches at first glance.

As for software, this in my opinion is the only way to really get value out of the iPad.  There are some nice news apps that were specifically written for the size of the screen.  That part seemed nice, that I could look at a news paper and see a few headlines before I chose what to read.  But it actually frustrated me that Facebook and some other games had to be blown up 2 times to fill the screen. Then the resolution looked horrible and it took the value away from having a nice big screen.  

I'm happy with my iPod Touch and it was quite a bit cheaper.  It gives me my fill of the iOS and it's apps.  I also have a Dell Mini 9 netbook, so I have a small device I can travel with if I want that.  So the only place an iPad would really fit into my lifestyle is for a couch device that turns on quickly and can find information fast.  I don't watch enough videos that a need a new device to do it with.  I don't ever read, but if I did, I could borrow my wife's Nook.  As far as that goes, I could just go back to the 1 book I've been reading for a few years now and flip pages manually.  I can already search for info, read my email, and scan my calendar from my Android phone, so I just really don't have a need for it.  i suppose if I had some expendable income that was burning a whole in my pocket I'd get one to show off to my friends, but only when they put a nice camera in it for "FaceTime" or taking quick pictures and videos around the house.  Oh yeah, and on Verizon.  So think about that Apple, you might be able to sell 1 more iPad if you found me some expendable income.

I'd consider something like this for my family members that aren't so computer savvy, but the more I think about it, I go back to one of my principle technology theories.  If you can't handle figuring out a new piece of technology, then maybe you shouldn't be using it.  I've always thought people should embrace technology as it could make their lives easier.  It won't make it any easier if you spend more time trying to figure it out or getting help than you would've saved.