After waiting hours and hours for the software to download onto my desktop the other day, it finally finished. The files were placed in zip file on my desktop and all I should have had to do was double click on the zip file icon and follow instructions for installation. Should have been easy, should have taken 15 minutes tops. BUT NOOOOOooooo. It took 16 freakin hours one day, and then another half a day the next day and four damn hours of my cell phone peak minutes talking to a technician who seemed to be looking up the problem in some kind of troubleshooting manual which I could have done myself! The first several hours were downloading the zip file, and then it took a few minutes to install the software from the zip file. Everything seemed like it was moving right along as far as the installation process went, and icons were placed in the program files where they should be, and all should have worked fine. I went to the company website to test the software and no go! I tried several times and it wouldn't work. I then sent an email to tech support and they sent back an email that it must be my computer and also the usual claim "no one else is having problems." Well, bully for everyone else then!
After a few more tries, I reinstalled the software. I tried the company website again...then again...no go, nothing. I then called tech support and got this really nice guy who was trying his best, but he had me trying all kinds of crazy things...changing settings, changing preferences and defaults. I was hoping my computer wouldn't explode. The thing that worried me most is that I was having to turn off more and more security settings, but that didn't work to solve the problem.
Around 11 p.m. I threw in the towel and said I was going to bed. The tech guy kept talking and I said I really needed to get to bed, and my husband who was also trying to help needed to get to bed. Mr. Technician gave me his home email and said to send a message and let him know how things were the next day...and he also suggested trying to install a new version of Internet Explorer. I despise Internet Explorer and use a different browser that is more secure and doesn't have the problems Microsucks has.
The next morning, before work, my husband downloaded the newest version of Explorer 7. But he didn't install it because he had to leave. (I didn't know he had downloaded this as he didn't leave me a message about it.) I struggled with the settings etc. some more when I got up around 7:00 a.m. I realized something I hadn't noticed before. Whenever I had the Internet Explorer 6 browser open, and went to a different site, another window would open and revert back to my default browser! I tried again and again...it was the damndest thing! Why was this happening! Grrrr! I tried resetting all the controls back to default and that didn't help.
Then the head of tech support called me after I had sent an update to the first tech guy who had given me his email address the day before. Boss tech then starts asking me redundant and seemingly stupid questions...do I have Internet Explorer installed, did I download the software...I was losing patience, but since this is my employer and not some lame service we are paying for, I had to be nice and keep my head about me.
He then tells me that we need a new version of Windows XP since the one we have is SP1...he said we needed SP2. So, hubby stopped by Best Buy on the way home and got a brand new version of XP, but fortunately he was smart enough not to open it right away and wanted to try one more thing. He installed the downloaded Internet Explorer 7 and miracle of miracles...it worked! I logged onto the company website and it magically worked....for whatever reasons. He has since taken the new XP software back for a refund. We didn't need it. (I think I could be a technical support person as good as those guys can...should be "interesting" working for yet another company who has a "trial and error" tech support department.)
I don't really care anymore how it started working, just as long as it is. I start my first day of training on April 4 and so help me, this bugger program better work!
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