| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: How do you cope with software and general IT problems when working? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| Do it myself | Sep 18, 2013 |
Having worked with computers for over 25 years (since the days of sending files with X or Y modem protocols, before the WWW!) I am fully competent to sort any computer or software problems and often get "roped in" to repair friends' computers, which I rather enjoy doing!
Steve K.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 13:25
English to Spanish
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| That's not fair. | Sep 18, 2013 |
Mary Worby wrote:
I seek advice from a professional, who just happens to be my husband!
We all wish we had a husband (or wife) like that!
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 13:25
English to Spanish
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| Some IT issues are DIY, others not so much | Sep 18, 2013 |
Fancy that, I have a contract client that uses a machine translation-assisted plug-in on a SaaS (software as a service) platform to have its team of translators work on the heap of documents in five different languages.
The plug-in proposes a translation for each segment, which then we translators correct, modify, etc. for a final translation.
All this is done in a browser/SaaS platform. Some IT issues have to do with the servers holding the translation memories or with... See more Fancy that, I have a contract client that uses a machine translation-assisted plug-in on a SaaS (software as a service) platform to have its team of translators work on the heap of documents in five different languages.
The plug-in proposes a translation for each segment, which then we translators correct, modify, etc. for a final translation.
All this is done in a browser/SaaS platform. Some IT issues have to do with the servers holding the translation memories or with the servers holding the documents being translated.
When the process hits a snag and slows down, all we translators can do is to clean the browser cache and restart the browser.
Welcome to the 21st century of “cloud translation.”
[Edited at 2013-09-18 14:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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DianeGM wrote:
The things I can fix : I do fix
For the things I can't fix: I call my IT guy.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:25
Spanish to English
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I have 2 PCs and 2 up-to-date laptops so I can usually just switch on to another one if any of them goes skewiff.
In general, if the problem is very basic (like my scanty expertise/knowledge) I try to fix it myself. Otherwise, I might ask a translator friend colleague who lives nearby if I think it's something he might know more about than I do.
For issues calling for more professional know-how, I have a local IT repairer, whose workshop is only 5 minutes away, as well as my "own" ... See more I have 2 PCs and 2 up-to-date laptops so I can usually just switch on to another one if any of them goes skewiff.
In general, if the problem is very basic (like my scanty expertise/knowledge) I try to fix it myself. Otherwise, I might ask a translator friend colleague who lives nearby if I think it's something he might know more about than I do.
For issues calling for more professional know-how, I have a local IT repairer, whose workshop is only 5 minutes away, as well as my "own" top IT guy, who I've bought my last 2 PCs from and who installs and sorts out my SW and OS options for me. The only snag is that the latter lives almost an hour's drive away, so I might have to take the PC to him physically, or else pay him for the callout, which I don't mind either, because the service I get from him has always been great.
[Edited at 2013-09-18 15:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 13:25
English to Spanish
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| Do you know how to troubleshoot your hard drive? | Sep 18, 2013 |
How many of you are familiar with the acronym S.M.A.R.T.? It's a hard drive diagnostic tool that comes with every hard drive. It tests the health of the hard drive in real time, such as spin speeds, temperature and other parameters. However, if a hard drive goes bad, SMART doesn't give you any warning. Sad, ain't it?
There are third-party tools such as Acronis Drive Monitor and Speedfan that take the guessing out of this difficult monitoring task. Hard drives fail for a number of re... See more How many of you are familiar with the acronym S.M.A.R.T.? It's a hard drive diagnostic tool that comes with every hard drive. It tests the health of the hard drive in real time, such as spin speeds, temperature and other parameters. However, if a hard drive goes bad, SMART doesn't give you any warning. Sad, ain't it?
There are third-party tools such as Acronis Drive Monitor and Speedfan that take the guessing out of this difficult monitoring task. Hard drives fail for a number of reasons. One big risk is operating the HDD beyond its rated operating temperature.
If you have a desktop computer, do some regular cleaning inside with pressurized air to clear the dust and dust bunnies accumulating inside the system fan and around it. If your computer system fan is clogged with dust, it will slow down. Plus, the dust is bad for electronic components. Ergo, your computer's inner temperature will rise, putting your hard drive, graphics card and other components at risk.
If you run external hard drives where you store your projects, glossaries and other important data, you are not out of the woods. First, if you use USB external hard drives, plug them directly to the USB port on your computer, not to a USB hub. It's been my experience that doing otherwise increases the hard drive's operating temperature.
Last but not least, maintain a generous clearance (3-6 inches) around your external hard drives; do not block the vent slots EVER. Likewise, keep your desktop tower vent slots free and clean at all times so that the system vent may bring in fresh, cool air inside the computer.
For those of you who work mainly with laptops, operating temperatures inside them tend to be higher (around 10 C degrees higher). Don't block the vent slots of your laptop by placing them on the carpet, a pillow or a sofa. If the base of your laptop heats up too much after an hour or so of using the computer, think about upgrading to a better quality laptop. Remember that laptop hard drives last much less than desktop hard drives.
Back in the day of MS DOS 5/6 operating systems, we all had to know some basic commands to fix things. Things are far more complicated and complex these days. But it behooves us to learn the basic troubleshooting skills to avoid paying someone $50/hour to replace a component we could have done ourselves.
[Edited at 2013-09-18 15:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I fix it myself | Sep 18, 2013 |
But I'm a certified pc repair tech, so it's not really a lot of fuss... I built my desktop, which I looooooove, and haven't had any problems with it aside from a noisy power supply fan which I'll be replacing in the upcoming days. My wife somehow manages to break her laptop at least once a week.
Our conversations usually go something l... See more But I'm a certified pc repair tech, so it's not really a lot of fuss... I built my desktop, which I looooooove, and haven't had any problems with it aside from a noisy power supply fan which I'll be replacing in the upcoming days. My wife somehow manages to break her laptop at least once a week.
Our conversations usually go something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwgCY5YHrU0 (It's in Spanish). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 02:25
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Help me out here, Triston | Sep 18, 2013 |
I got the body language but not the Spanish. Did the conversation go along the following lines?
"Get off your lazy harris and help me! My computer's down again"
"Shut your trap, wench. Can't you see I'm watching Real Madrid."
Or, was it shorter and blunter? 
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Emin Arı
Türkiye
Local time: 20:25
English to Turkish
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| when I got stuck I take advise of my best friend, Google | Sep 19, 2013 |
Google knows everything, so I just ask it/him/her.
| | | | | Happy to help | Sep 19, 2013 |
Julian Holmes wrote: I got the body language but not the Spanish. Did the conversation go along the following lines? "Get off your lazy harris and help me! My computer's down again" "Shut your trap, wench. Can't you see I'm watching Real Madrid." Or, was it shorter and blunter?
Pretty close! This is from a commercial for Argentina's version of Ebay. The wife says "It doesn't work anymore" and the husband says "Sell that computer, woman!"
| | | | Klára Kalamár
Romania
Local time: 20:25
English to Hungarian
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is my constantly on hand IT guru
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