If, like me, you
know precious little about the internal workings of a computer, then I guess
you’ll have been ripped off by a computer repair ‘expert’ at least once.
Unless, that
is, you have a trusted friend who understands all the technical stuff and can
bail you out when your laptop or desktop is sinking under a sea of problems.
I went back to see my family in Manchester over Christmas and the New Year and when my desktop
computer over there suddenly refused to connect to the internet, I tried everything I knew
to solve the problem. Like swearing at it (''Bloody Dell, what's the matter with you?'') and of course rebooting. Well, that’s about
all I can do when something goes wrong.
Someone once
told me that rebooting solves everything. And he was a computer expert – or professed
to be. Pillock!
Anyway, computer
matters being all Geek to me, I decided to ask around at a couple of the local specialist
shops in the Manchester suburb where my UK home is. There was no way I was
going to lug the machine to their place, so I made a couple of notes and also
armed myself with the message that kept appearing on the screen.
The proxy server is refusing connections.
Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections.
• Check the proxy settings to make sure that they are correct.
• Contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is working.
At the first computer shop I went to –
a relatively new, well-fitted establishment – I showed the screen message to a smartly-dressed
Asian gentleman and asked him if he knew what it meant and how much it would
cost to get me back on line.
‘’Your
computer has a virus,’’ he told me authoritatively. ‘’We will need to remove
it, which will involve cleaning the files off your computer so it will be more
or less as it was when you bought it. This will cost you £40.
‘’If you
would like the files restoring as they are now, this will be an additional £15.
We will need to have the computer for about 24 hours.’’
I mentally
dubbed him Vikram Virus and told him I would return with the computer. Intending
to obtain at least one more estimate before committing myself, I headed for another,
smaller computer repair shop in a less salubrious area.
‘’There’s a
problem with the settings. I can fix it for £20,’’ asserted the manager.
‘’No virus?’’
I queried.
‘’No, it’s the
settings and I can sort it out in about half an hour if you bring me the computer
tower.’’
No virus, no
need to remove and replace files – and £20 compared to £55 to get me back on
line. That will do for me, I thought – and headed home to collect the computer tower vowing never to
go near Vikram Virus’s place again.
When I arrived,
my young lodger Anthony had just come home from work. Remembering that he
worked in IT, I thought I’d sound him out in the hope he might know what was
causing the problem.
Anthony, for
some reason I can’t get on the internet,’’ I confided, producing the proxy
message from my handbag and plonking it in front of his face. ‘Do you have any idea what this means?’’
I expected a
furrowed brow and a vacant ‘’Sorry, I don’t
know’’ but got the opposite.
‘’Don’t
worry, it’s nothing major,’’ he insisted. I can sort it out – it’s a minor
thing with the settings.’’
With that he sat
down at the computer, called up something or other, tapped a few keys - and bingo,
we were back online.
The whole job
took little more than 60 seconds – and he refused point blank to take any
payment.
From £55, to
£20 to a freebie. And they used to say you couldn’t trust car-repair shops!
OK, so I
should have asked Anthony in the first place – but he wasn’t around at the time
I lost my internet connection and I am not the most patient of people.
The big question the whole experience throws up for computer-illiterate people
like me is, 'When something goes wrong and you consult one of these 'experts',
how can you be sure you are given the correct diagnosis? And even more so,
charged an amount in keeping with whatever has been done?
Anyway, I've
now got Anthony earmarked to service my car, though I have no idea whether he
knows anything about motor mechanics.
But he's
honest and he's cheap - which is more than can be said for Vikram Virus.
