Hawk Services

12/19/2020

08/09/2018

Tales of IT ... Watson can your hear me?

So I got a call from a customer who said that their internet was down. I go out and find that they had a new MFP printer installed and switched internet providers.

I spend time checking the router and talking to the ISP and it all checks out. In passing they mention that the MFP will not receive faxes. I follow the cables and found that they had run the phone cord to the computer Ethernet port and connected the printer to the modem port of the computer.

After some cable reruns the computer is back online and the fax is faxing.

Moral of the story don't let the ISP tech leave until you test the connections or you end up paying me double.

07/20/2018

Tales of IT ... zap!

So I got a service call about a dead system. User tell me it has no power and smells funny. I figure the power supply fried and go out with a replacement.

When I arrived I detected a bad odor like burnt hair and bad bbq. After opening the tower I removed the old power supply, a very old model with wide vents. The smell is defintly from inside.

I discharged the supply and unscrewed the cover to look inside. After a moment I asked the user when they last used the system. He told me it has been a few weeks.

Well it seems that a momma mouse had setup best in the supply and gave birth to a litter. When they powered the sytem on it flash fried the lot of them.

I completed the repair and left the number for pest control.

07/19/2018

Tales of IT .... adjust this!!

So I am on call for service calls to a well known banks and I get a call at 7am. The morning manager called support and claims that their check printer has failed. Support was unable to fix it and the contract states a tech has to be immediately dispatched.

So I accept the call and ask which branch. Now I live in north new jersey and expect that I would get calls for local branches. Nope, Hamptons Long Island a 3 hour commute during morning rush hour.

I make the drive out, paying tolls and dealing with heavy traffic. When I arrive the manager is all in arms as they have not been able to process any checks. I take a look at the printer and immediately see the issue. The paper tray with the checks has that little slider that holds the paper tight in the tray. Someone had slid it back one notch and the paper pickup could not get a grip on the paper.

3 minutes after arrival the issue is fixed, I'm the branch hero and I leave the site for another 3 hour commute home. So 6 hours on the road, for a basic simple obvious issue that the phone support guys should have caught.

I called the ticket in to the customers support center and billed them double rate and travel costs for wasting mine and the branch managers time.

Bottom line read your equipment manuals and know the basics. For want of a simple adjustment the bank spent a small fortune.

The check I got was appreciated!!!!

07/18/2018

Sitting up doing this. Had to share.

https://www.patreon.com/chrishallbeck

07/17/2018

Tales of IT ..... lemon pledge

This one I have heard from so many other support teams in one form or another but just have to share my version here.

So I would get complaints that the email service would be offline for an hour at 9pm at night once a week. I was checking the DNS and our network provider for routing issues and other normal issues with no luck. The server reported a loss of network but no other issues.

So one night I decided to go sit in the office and monitor things in person. I setup my monitor tools and made some coffee. About 8:45 I started watching the network closely and heard the front door open and close. About 10 minutes later I see that the email server has dropped off the network. I am checking TCP logs and running traces when I hear a vacume start up.

I stick my head out of the office and look down the hall and see a power cord snaking out of the server room.

Yes. That's right. The cleaning crew came in once a week to do a full cleaning and the long hallway outside the server room had no power outlets. They were unplugging an unmanaged switch that the email server and a few printers was using.

After that I had a power outlet installed in the hall and started locking the server door.

07/16/2018

Tales of IT..... define portable?

Several years ago I got a call from a client that had a tech problem. They told me that every time they took their portable computer into the other room it shut down and they had to restart it.

I asked the normal question, was the battery fully charged. They could not answer so I went over to thier location.

When I walked in I looked arround for a laptop computer but did not see one. The client came out and pointed at a rolling cart with a monitor on it. Turns out that they had a desktop tower inside the cart and when they wanted to roll it out to the salesfloor they just unplugged the power strip and rolled it away.

Needless to say I carefully looked it over and explained the difference between a portable computer and a "portable" computer. They bought a second setup for the other room later that week.

12/28/2017

Remember to renew your Antivirus and Malware protection for 2018. Don't end up with a paperweight in place of your hard drive.

04/23/2017

If you have Windows 10 you should be seeing this any day now. MS is pushing a major patch out starting today. Expect your systems to be offline for at least an hour if you have the default auto update turned on.

10/20/2016

Just saying folks.....

10/03/2016

Great training!

10/03/2016

Support this guy!!!