[bstone]

I just gotta play with every computer I see. Been doing this as a job for over 7 years now. Thought I had seen it all....here's the story.

After going out to ice cream with this girl I have been dating for 2 months, we go back to her apartment. She goes to use the restroom and I sit down at her desk to look at her Dell laptop running XP Home. I notice her ext. mouse is all choppy do I take out the trackball and clean the rollers. She comes back and I say check out the mouse and she uses it and said omg it works thanks so much. Then we of course start poking around her system and I do the obvious. Have to create a good, secure password (before there was none), have her deep6 IE and go with Firefox 1.0, run a few Windoze updates, remove old apps that she never uses, stuff like that.

I notice she's on a wifi system and she says the router is in her roommate's bedroom (who is sleeping). I bring up the router's web page (192.168.1.1), use the default password and show her that there are 4 unidentified people currently logged onto her unsecured router. I also show her how I got in using the default password. I say I can "secure" it if she wants and she says yeah. So we first change the admin password to something nice and secure, update the firmware to the latest and then I go to enable WEP 128-bit. I put in the generating phrase and it spits back the 28 character hex code. I ask her to read it to me as I write it down, which she does. I click apply and then go to log her onto the newly secured router.

Type in the password and no go. Huh? ::blind:: Try again. And again. Again, again, again. OMG. I try to get back into the webpage but since I can't join the router that's impossible. OMG. What do I do? OMG. I begin to panic. What am I missing? I call a friend and ask him to google "Windows XP Home, Service Pack 1, 128 bit WEP". Comes back with an article saying that XP SP1 don't do 128bit natively, but you can use the PC Card manufactures driver to do that. Unfortunatly she don't have the CD and the driver utility was so old it wouldn't launch. DAMN. What now? It's 3am and she is tired. I tell her to go to sleep while I figure it out.

I begin walking up and down the block looking for any unsecured wifi in the area. Do I feel like an ubber geek or what! I just hope people won't call the cops on me. I finally find one a block away, get on real quick and download the updated drivers and utility. That works, I install, ok good. Get back into her apt and begin to play with it. I select her router, set it to 128bit WEP and type in the code and it says, "Code must be 26 characters in length." Huh? What you talking about. That's what I typed in. So I look at the code, real carefully, counting it five times before I realize it's only 25 characters long. OMGWTF! I try every imaginable combination trying to think where we could have gone wrong. Nothing works. OMG. I am ****ed for sure. It's 4am and I am getting tired.

I begin to play with the Linksys utility a bit more until I see in the same area where you can type in the 26 character hex code you can also type in the generation phrase you used. So I did and what do I see...the SAME PHRASE with one tiny, tiny noteable exception. An extra letter on the end, one meassley "c". So I tell the Linksys utility to log on. Victory is within my grasp! But wait, the linksys utility says it cannot log onto the router. WTF! OMG! BBQ!!!! Damn damn damn! I go back into the Networking control panel, click to let Windows handle the wireless and type in the same code and IT WORKS. WTF!!!! In order to not let this spin out of control and have her hate me forever (cause I am going away today for 8 days and won't be around to fix it if it goes south) I turn off WEP totally and leave it in an open network.

I go into her room and tell her it's all fixed, we were missing one letter and that's it. She smiles, gives me a hug and I go home, at 6:30am.

[Randman]

I would have read your thread but not until you learn about something called paragraphs.

[Lancer409]

haha ..


took me forever to set up my home network (my bro's pc, my pc, my old dodgy first laptop)

then i got my powerbook. i shiz you not, it took me 15 minutes .. probly more like twelve. not using an apple router, just a regular standard netgear one.

[mdc]

that's an unlucky story.

if you were ever in this situation again, would you?
a. clean the mouse and forget about the computer
b. try it all again?

[bstone]

Prolly try it all again but next time make damn certain that there isn't a sleeping person in the room with the router. Had we been able to hit the reset button it all would have been made better. GAHHH.

[Randman]

Get her an iBook.

Or, next time, go into her roomie's room ..

Dear Penthouse,

I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. But it did!
Here's how it began. ...

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by bstone:
Prolly try it all again but next time make damn certain that there isn't a sleeping person in the room with the router. Had we been able to hit the reset button it all would have been made better. GAHHH.

What ever happened to spending time with your girlfriend?

Dude, you're getting AWAY FROM that Dell.

[bstone]

Originally posted by Randman:
Get her an iBook.

Or, next time, go into her roomie's room ..

Dear Penthouse,

I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. But it did!
Here's how it began. ...

OMFG! LOL!!!

[Peter]

did you get laid in the end?

[bstone]

Did you miss the part where I said I hugged her and left?

[Peter]

Originally posted by bstone:
Did you miss the part where I said I hugged her and left?

apparently so

[bstone]

She just wrote me an email saying:

i've worked with a lot of computer geeks in the past on my computer, and you'r ethe only one whose actually improved anything and also not left me stranded when something doesnt work (even though here it was largely my own problem and stupidity w/ the router), and the amount of energy you put into not leaving me stranded was unbelievable. i couldn't believe you stayed all night. i really admire your dedication, ethics, and desire to help.


looks like i did good

[videian28]

strange lady

[insha]

Then we of course start poking around her system and I do the obvious

Hmmm... is this an inuendo (sp?)

[insha]

Originally posted by mdc:
that's an unlucky story.

if you were ever in this situation again, would you?
a. clean the mouse and forget about the computer
b. try it all again?

I'd say "b" but next time around get laid.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by bstone:
i really admire your huge, throbbing dedication, hot sticky ethics, and animal desire to help.

Fixed™ -- for uber geek fantasy land.

[macroy]

Originally posted by bstone:
She just wrote me an email saying:

i've worked with a lot of computer geeks in the past on my computer, and you'r ethe only one whose actually improved anything and also not left me stranded when something doesnt work (even though here it was largely my own problem and stupidity w/ the router), and the amount of energy you put into not leaving me stranded was unbelievable. i couldn't believe you stayed all night. i really admire your dedication, ethics, and desire to help.


looks like i did good

Wow, sounds like you made yourself a "Friend".

[OpenStep]

You shouldn't have to be using the Linksys utility in Windows to configure connecting the wireless network. XP has built in support for managing wireless networks (as long as the wireless card driver is installed) and doesn't need a third party utility. Guess it doesn't matter now as long as it works

[alligator]

No, something smells fishy with this story. What woman in her right mind would go to bed at 3:00 a.m., and then wake up again at 6:30 to give her boyfriend a hug? Oh, and what woman would even let her boyfriend (who happens to be visiting her) play on the computer all night long?

[osiris]

Originally posted by Peter:
did you get laid in the end?

ha, that's what I was thinking. This tale reads like a geek porno edited for cable TV. Best of luck though.

[djohnson]

Originally posted by alligator:
No, something smells fishy with this story. What woman in her right mind would go to bed at 3:00 a.m., and then wake up again at 6:30 to give her boyfriend a hug? Oh, and what woman would even let her boyfriend (who happens to be visiting her) play on the computer all night long?

Good question. Maybe she was REALLY tired?

[buffalolee]

Originally posted by bstone:
She just wrote me an email saying:

i've worked with a lot of computer geeks in the past on my computer, and you'r ethe only one whose actually improved anything and also not left me stranded when something doesnt work (even though here it was largely my own problem and stupidity w/ the router), and the amount of energy you put into not leaving me stranded was unbelievable. i couldn't believe you stayed all night. i really admire your dedication, ethics, and desire to help.


looks like i did good

Look at this way. You just earned yourself some major brownie points. That whole night was worth it because NOW she knows you care about her.

[jcadam]

You were in the girl's bedroom and you worked on the computer all night? You shouldn't have touched that Dell except to turn the webcam on.

[CreepingDeth]

OMFG

[itistoday]

Originally posted by jcadam:
You were in the girl's bedroom and you worked on the computer all night? You shouldn't have touched that Dell except to turn the webcam on.

Dude, he made us geeks proud, he f1x0r3d the computer and it seems like he got the girl in the end

[CreepingDeth]

Originally posted by itistoday:
Dude, he made us geeks proud, he f1x0r3d the computer and it seems like he got the girl in the end

Kind of like a Bond movie, except without the British accent, Q, M, the gadgets, the hot other girls, the evil villians, domination plots, Aston Martins, world traveling, etc.

[demograph68]

I am at the library right now and was able to get around their computers 15 minute time out for the internet... they use an internet app called epixtech or whatever... It was a matter of going into help, browse the files, open explorer... lol... windows really does suck!

[yodog]

Originally posted by bstone:
I just gotta play with every computer I see. Been doing this as a job for over 7 years now. Thought I had seen it all....

wow bstone, you really hate PCs.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by bstone:
Then we of course start poking around her system and I do the obvious.

Best line in the whole story.

[Peter]

Originally posted by yodog:
wow bstone, you really have PCs.

[gerbnl]

Originally posted by bstone:
looks like i did good

Hmm, that's weird! To me it looks like you're in trouble. You've created expectations!

[CD Hanks]

You should have left it all alone.

[historylme]

LOL Great one.

[ambush]

sounds like she owes you a BJ.

[Mafia]

Originally posted by ambush:
sounds like she owes you a BJ.

for real. btw never trust anyone to read out the wep key!!!

[itai195]

I think you've learned a valuable lesson -- never voluntarily make any change on anyone's computer no matter what. Not only are you asking for a lot of pain, you are also essentially signing a support contract for life.

Your story reminds me of the time I had to set up an airport express for my fiance's parents. After several hours I got it to work with their PC, but her mother's iBook to this day cannot see the express. When I set mine up at home it worked right out of the box, so *shrug*

The way Windows handles the WEP keys is also kind of annoying. On my XP Pro laptop, the text box for the key isn't long enough for 26 characters without scrolling, and you have to enter the key twice. It would be nice to at least make sure I put in the same number of characters both times... Anyway OpenStep is right, use XP's built in wireless management in the future rather than something like the Linksys utility. I've never been able to get Dell's utility to actually work on my laptop. Fortunately Dell's utility seems to at least acknowledge that it's worthless by recommending that I let Windows manage the wireless connection.

[Kilbey]

Originally posted by itai195:
I think you've learned a valuable lesson -- never voluntarily make any change on anyone's computer no matter what. Not only are you asking for a lot of pain, you are also essentially signing a support contract for life.

This is the exact same thing I was thinking.

The best part ever of switching to a Macintosh is people stopped asking me for help with their computers. It was like I joined a cult.

Hey, where'd my cool-aid go?

[d4nth3m4n]

WEP has never been all that easy for me to deal with i dunno, just a block i guess.

and you now have the dubious honor of being her free tech support. from now on, anytime anything goes south, you'll be the one getting the call. and since she is on windows, you know that'll be happening a lot. hope you get laid man, otherwise you just dug yourself your own grave.

i gave up trying to optimize people's PCs. it ended up that i was doing all this free work for nothing other than a handshake and a smile. especially when it is almost always something that can be remedied by staying up to date with definitions and service packs.

[andretan]

Next time, keep an ethernet cable handy.

[OpenStep]

I didn't mention it above but I completely agree on this issue. When I'm not at school I run a very small computer repair/consulting business and I hit this "lifetime tech support" snag all the time. Often for $50 I'll do an ad-aware and a online virus scan that does miracles to most people that are stupid enough to click yes on every popup they see. A month ago someone called me with a HP with Windows ME and I told them to go to the store and buy XP Home and for $50 I'd reformat it and load on the latest security patches. BIG MISTAKE. Even charging money it's not worth doing for the amount of phone calls I got almost for 2 weeks. I got completely unrelated questions, things like how do I clear my AOL cookies, how do I change my ink cartridges ( )etc... really guys, even doing free work be careful cause people will suck the life out of you if they figure out you have an ounce of computer knowledge

[greenamp]

Originally posted by itai195:
I think you've learned a valuable lesson -- never voluntarily make any change on anyone's computer no matter what.

Best advice ever.

[bstone]

Well I am a "computer guy". Been doing it professionally for years and did the MCSE and A+ but I specialize in Macs. Anyhow, it's all working now and I'm happy that she doesn't have some sicko, fat man viewing child porn via her router. I am, however, getting out of computers and now am studying the fun stuff- biology!

[Kitschy]

I notice she's on a wifi system and she says the router is in her roommate's bedroom (who is sleeping).

Why didn't you just wake her up? If all it would have taken was a restart of the router?

Sounds like it woulda saved a half day or so...

[selowitch]

Man, you were really nice to her. If she wasn't in love with you before this, she sure ought to be now. I think her subsequent e-mail was a little lukewarm and professional, so maybe she's not that into you after all. Hope I'm wrong.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

thanks for reminding me to play dumb at every opportunity

i'm no expert and even if I was, i dont want to help people unless I can afford the time and effort

[alphasubzero949]

Reminds me of the time I spent trying to secure my girlfriend's linksys, since she didn't know how to access the web-based config pages. She is a recent switcher but still uses a linksys router for her wireless setup. I spent literally all night trying to get the 128 WEP security to work only to be locked out of the network, forcing a reset every time. I eventually gave up and only changed the administrator password. I've been nagging her ever since to ditch the linksys and pick up an Airport Express.

[olePigeon]

I spent about 3 hours troubleshooting my bro's PC trying to figure out why it kept dropping packets left and right. Normally our ping on games such as Counter-Strike on a good server is around 15 to 20 ms or so. On his PC it kept spiking to 250+ ms ping.

In the end, it turned out to be a bug with the default Windows SoundBlaster Live! drivers. They would cause tons of noise on the PCI bus and freak out the NIC.

Yeah, the sound drivers. Like I would've figured that was the cause of my networking problems!!!

I want the 3 hours of my life back.

[itistoday]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
I spent about 3 hours troubleshooting my bro's PC trying to figure out why it kept dropping packets left and right. Normally our ping on games such as Counter-Strike on a good server is around 15 to 20 ms or so. On his PC it kept spiking to 250+ ms ping.

In the end, it turned out to be a bug with the default Windows SoundBlaster Live! drivers. They would cause tons of noise on the PCI bus and freak out the NIC.

Yeah, the sound drivers. Like I would've figured that was the cause of my networking problems!!!

I want the 3 hours of my life back.

Wow

[addiecool]

When I tried to configure my XP laptop to use WEP Configuration it ended up more like configuring the router to a WEP key acceptable to the great lord Windows XP.

It kept saying I need a 5 character key, or wait make that 26 characters. You wanna HEX key so give ... Blah blah blah...

Everytime I have to setup a secured wireless for windows I feel so depressed. I will never learn what these ass-XP machines want. It is like a Tsunami coming...

[The Oracle]

So true about people being leeches when they realise you have computer knowledge. I run into this daily. 'Hey, can you do this?' 'Can you help me with this?' 'Why won't my laptop do this?' Blah blah blah. Usually I don't mind because I fix 'em and then they owe me one.