The Hippie called earlier, he got his CD/DVD system working again. This time he took notes (as instructed) and sure enough, it was his audio software. It would have taken months to solve this problem at the pace we are actually learning repairs in class. It seems that Windows XP must have Explorer set as the default browser and that the installation process turns on the integrated sound even if you have an expansion card. These are the little gems that we are not, repeat not, learning in class. I know that the problem I’m having with the HP is some dumb little step that is missing, but hello? I’m paying thousands of dollars to learn how not to overlook those exact little steps. PC Professor seems to have “got it backwards”.
The Hippie got a sharp contact this time at Dell. That is the person who should be teaching class. The Hippie could only write down what he could interpret, there is no doubt he was expertly guided to the exact problem and given the correct instructions to fix it. This is still not an endorsement of Dell, because everyone who answers a help line should be this type of expert. Pay enough, Dell, and you will get them. Marilyn [my top student] called, and her bosses want her to go to a regular computer school. By that, they mean CompUSA or New Horizons. After a few weeks of learning to change her fonts and screen colors, she will be back for more useful things. Sadly, that takes away my student, and I may have to advertise. I gave her my e-mail. She politely called me a genius but that still means I lose my student.
Author's note 2015-03-20: I recognize the above post as the type of writing I produce when I am dead tired. What I'm discussing here is fixing computers using Win XP. I signed up for a course to fix the computers, but it is actually a course on the use of XP. The course sucks, it is designed to dribble the information out to maximize the tuition charged. Everything I need is "next term". That is nonsense, as it only takes one term to learn computer repair.
At the same time, I am fixing computers for others, such as the Hippie. By 2008, he became a "computer expert", of course, but in 2005, he could not get his sound card working. This "instant genius" behavior does not surprise me. I saw a lot of it while growing up with 8 people in a 3 bedroom house.
Marilyn, my best student, never did call back.
