Community poll forum: Was the PC technician action right or wrong?

It's better safe than sorry. I'd rather leave the personal stuff alone. If I think that software is not good or failed, I would tell the customer before I remove it.

I had my daughter's boyfriend junk stuff on computer, I just leave it alone. I would ask him if he want to remove or not. He said nah. I'll just leave it alone. He is not complaining. Even my son tried to fix his friend's laptop, he called and let him know that the software is lost. He said it is ok.

I am a computer technician in a small town. I have a lot of clients who come to me when they can't get good help from someone else and their machines are totally whacked. I will also get a repeat customer come back with major problems and I find all of these programs on their machine. They tell me to "fix it" and I remove all of these so called "optimizers" from their machines. Why? Because most times when "novices" download programs, they failed to read the "extras" that come along with it and end up adding a bunch of junk to their pc's. These programs will ask for money to finish what they started scanning and will exaggerate their conditions to unbelievable proportions.
I am a firm believer that Ccleaner is the only add-on to use. Memory boosters and speed boosters don't work (just add more memory).

That story almost sounds like a sleazy technician that would do something like removing the software, then telling someone that they need the software sold by them. Either that, or the person didn't know much about what they were doing. Even if the technician was being honest and trying to help, just because you don't like a program, doesn't mean you should be removing it from people's computers, especially without asking the person first. That's something you present to them, if they still want the stuff, it should be their choice.

Chutzpah! Male dominance! Bigotry! Omni wise! Insistent!
No matter how good he is I'd never trust him to do anything for me, nor would I buy anything there.

Although the technician probably has knowledge superior to CR's, basic respect for the client should have been observed. If you were feeling bad, and went to a physician for relief, you would rightly be very angry if the doctor thought to himself after examining you, "This patient has cancer. I will cut it out now," then proceeded to sedate you and operated then and there. You awaken some time later, maybe cancer-free, but feeling violated for not having any say in your treatment. Though removal of programs from your computer isn' t the same as surgery, the principle is the same. A patient or a customer likes to be consulted before something fairly major is set into motion. Out of respect for his client, the technician should have had a consultation with his client, where he would have explained why he thought removal of the programs was the right action, giving CR some choice.

No, the tech should not have removed anything from the HDD without asking and explaining what and why.
You don't allow an auto repair tech do anything to your car without permission, and this is no different.
I wouldn't use any of those advertised utilities, and I would tell someone not to use one, but I would NOT without their specific permission, remove the software from another persons machine. It is a PERSONAL computer. belonging to that person.

Condobloke - I think you kind of missed the point here....

If you have a cancerous growth the doctor would ask for your permission first before removing it (or in the case that you are not in a position to make that decision the person who has power of attorney over you), and you do have the option to refuse - like Steve Jobs did, choosing alternative medicine over a GP.

This is the same with computers, the IT technician should really have asked the person first for their permission.

OH, or, gee... maybe the dentist pulling your tooth because you have a toothache?

The guy took it to the tech because he had a problem. Having two or three different "optimization" programs on a computer is a big, big mistake, and I've tried two of the three mentioned by C.R. before. Waste of money. (BTW, I'm an MCSA, and have worked with personal computers since the TI 99/4a.)

I don't think the PC tech should have removed any programs without asking the customer first.

It is entirely the customers decision to have those programs installed not the PC tech.

Sometimes I get customers telling me that their system is running slow and could I go through the programs on their system and identify any problem programs.

I go through and usually see the normal culprits - such as spyware toolbars, certain P2P clients and sometimes illegal software.

I always point out to the customer which items could be causing them problems and advise them on why I suggest having them removed, but if the customer says they'd rather leave them on I leave them where they are, even in the case of what appears to be illegal software.

When I first started out with PC's I remember being really annoyed with one IT tech as I'd took my PC to be repaired and I had Duke Nukem 3D (we are going back many years here!) on it, the problem with the computer then was that the mouse port needed connecting as when they'd built it for me they'd forgot to plug in the mouse port (it was in the old days when the serial mouse port was on a separate cable) - simple enough. When I got it back I went to play on DN3D only to find out the entire game had gone. Ok I just re-installed it from the CD, but I was really annoyed to find that all my saved games and everything had been wiped so I had to start again from scratch.

I still don't know why on earth this guy wiped DN3D off my machine as it was a totally legit copy and all I'd sent the computer in for was to have the mouse port plugged in, which after plugging the mouse port back in all he needed to do was boot it up and check the mouse moved, simple. He had no right to go into any of the folders and start looking at my private data. I never took my PC back to that firm, at the time I was on a HND in Software Engineering and I quickly began to learn how to repair PC's anyway through my Uni course (it was quite strange at first because prior to that PC I'd gone from ZX Spectrum to Amiga and was used to the computer that you never opened, and then with PC's it was like oh you can open it and all the components are separate unlike the Amiga or the Spectrum and they all fit together - it's like playing with Lego!). A few months later his firm disappeared anyway, I presume it was from all the other people who'd had problems.

Possibly, we missed the main reason why the technician removed those programs.
He obviously took much time to do that.
Did the customer have to pay for that time?

I do this often when asked to fix or tune up a system, I leave only one active program of each thing. I do sometimes delete programs if they are causing problems, but I mostly just disable them and advise the owner to pick one. You can't have multiple programs of the same time, like virus checkers without them fighting and causing problems or locking you out of the system entirely. Multiple toolbars is the most common problem I see, often stopping IE from running till I disable them.

As a PC tech, I would never remove a paid program with out consent though i agree with the tech, they often do more damage than not. Still, I would ask my customer and strongly suggest my opinion and show proof if possible but in the end, it is their decision and since they paid for them it is not my place to remove them.

<font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font>
<span style="'font-family:" "Arial","sans-serif";'><font size="3">It depends on
the contract between the two, has C.R. given the Tech status quo over the PC
without having to contact him, or is it, "Would you take a look and let me
know what is wrong." It seems to me that being C.R. had used this Tech
before that a little common courtesy would have fallen into place and the Tech
should have given him a call and said, "I think it best to remove these
programs, is that OK with you." Some programs such as Adobe Creative Suite
5, must be removed different from just going into the add/remove programs. In
addition, there are more problems if C.R. has lost his original disks for
programs such as Microsoft Office, or one for the printer installation? If I
was the Tech I would have taken the time to make a quick phone call to C.R. to
include him in on the process, even if C.R. did not know how to send an email,
it is still his computer and would seem a better business practice. On the
other hand, there are the programs that people download mindlessly from the
Internet, still I think a phone call is in order, explaining that these
programs can be harmful and are most likely the problem with his PC. </font>
<font size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font>

Absolutely not. Worked on computers for MANY years and still do. I would never remove a client's software
without asking first. Let the Client know the reason you oppose having the software installed and let them make
the decision to remove. If they tell me to remove it, then, and only then, will I do so. I would also be interested
in knowing what criteria the person used for condemning the programs cited.

if for no other reason, to advise the client so he/she will not repeat doing the same thing in the future - good business practice and common courtesy