It's only lunch time.

Yes, it is Monday morning. Again the user base has left their brains at home in bed. Amazing how much simple everyday tasks can be forgotten over the weekend. Let us recap the morning so far.

First thing, thanks to the ever so faithful Micro$oft updates the DHCP server did not fully start after Saturday night. Not a real big deal except for the fact that the Directors PC relies on an IP reservation for the computer to work and he was in before 6 am. Of course I don't show up until 7:45 am which is fine since I am only supposed to be from 8 to 5, but the Diretor was unable to access what he needed until then. Great start!

Next, we have the user that could not find her files. There they were, right on the server where she left them on Friday, but she could not find them.

I mentioned earlier about updates being installed over the weekend right, well one update placed a icon on the desktop of a few PCs. The icon did not really do anything, and was not causing a problem but low and behold this user could not function until she new what the icon was for. I mean, she did not even attempt to work until I came down and said that it was ok to work.

And the best is the user that turned off their computer before going to lunch and when they returned could not turn it back on because they were holding the button in. Not just pressing the button to turn on the computer but pressing it in and holding it. This of course would cause the computer to turn on and after about 6 seconds turn right back off.

I love my job, I love my job, I love my job!

A True "Personal" Computer

So I am a little grumpier than usual this evening. Seems a larger number of people decided to leave their brains at home in their iPhone charges this morning (there is my reference to iPhone). Password issues have got to be the number one pet peeve for any Systems Administrator, no matter which platform they work with. Since this blog is dedicated to all the foolish issues Sys Admins have to deal with I might as well start with the password word issue from today.

If you are a computer user on an administered network you probably have to change your password every 60 to 90 days. This is a most important step in password security although not very complicated, well for most. Take today for example; user calls in a panic telling me that she has been locked out because she did not change their password in the time allotted. My system here forces you to change your password every 90 days, at which time you are given 6 grace logins to do so. After said logins you are then locked out and have to contact the Grumpy Ole Admin.

I access the interface needed to reset the users grace logins so that she can change her password yet she still has 4 grace logins left. Understand, this is on a Tuesday and the user logged in yesterday. I call back and tell here she still has logins left and she then tells me, “I know, but it is not working.”

Now I am utterly befuddled. I reply to the user, “You told me that your grace logins had been used and that you could not login.”

“Well maybe it was a different error, I can’t remember. All I know is that I am putting in my password and it is not letting me in”, the user replies.

So now computers are taking it personal and not letting people in. I take a deep breath and tell the user, “All you have to do is use the password that you used yesterday and you can get in.”

“I already have,” utters the user, “I know I am using the right password, but the computer is not letting me in.”

I now begin counting to ten before I try explaining, in vain, to this user that the computer is not against her and that she needs to just slow down so that she can remember the correct password. I then realize that it would be a waste of time when the user tries to tell me that she has been using the same password for years. It is at this point I know I have lost this battle and will never get these ten minutes of life back. So I reset her password to, you guessed it “password”, and gave her one grace login to change it. Knowing she has won she mutters a thank you and hangs up.

So you want to be a Systems Administrator? The above story, and more such as these will outline the standard ID10T errors that make up your job.

Good Night!

Welcome!

No, this is probably not an original subject. I know, there are hundreds or maybe even thousands of sys admins, network admins, or any number of tech support personnel working that have to deal with stupid questions. I just want a way to share my day to day adventures with anyone or even no one that may want to or may not want to listen. I am not here to rag on users; it is just very heart warming to imagine the slight grin that a fellow support person will have on their face as they may read some of my encounters. It is my hope that this will be therapeutic for me as well as assist in honing my "skill" in writing.

So here goes nothing!