I use a Shop Vac leaf blower ( outside ),
and then I just look in the box and write
down what I see. Use some kind of sticky
note to give the box an id. Put the thing
back together, and boot it, taking note
of ram, disk size and type, etc at the
DOS screen. Boot in to Windows, and
note OS, program list .. like Office .., and
then maybe run a program called KeyFinder
to get the serial # of important programs ..
again, like Office. Every single time I
discover that the Customer has brought
in a disk from home and installed 50
illegal OSes, and Office. Then, I ask if
the Customer wants the systems cleaned
of junkola and defragged, and I make note
of suspect hard drives .. like bad bearings.
And finally, I use something like Windex
to clean the monitors, boxes, and keybds.
At this point, the Customer will always tell
me to stop because he/she just wanted to
"get them running" ( which is customer
jargon for "I don't know jack about computers,
and I don't want you to find out that I'm a
jerk and a theif." ) Good luck getting paid.
Also, be ready for the phone calls blaming
you when about half of them crap out
from age and viruses. That's a good time
to offer to upgrade the hardware, and
reinstall them. Of course you will need
license #s for the OS and Apps. That's
when you'll get the Big Office Boss,
"Sounds good to me. I'll get back with
you." .. meaning .. "I've decided to go
with Best Buy and 50 new Dells" because
you are just a computer tech and could
not possibly know as much as those
Salesmen at Best Buy.
johns
