tech

"What's My Password?" — M'sian IT Professionals Share Their Funniest Tech Support Requests

Funny 'cause they're true. :P

Cover image via @twinsterphoto (Canva) & Pest Push

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From bad Internet connection to hardware problems in your laptop, we all have moments of experiencing tech issues

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When things like this happen, we usually try to fix it ourselves first. 

While some people are definitely better than most when it comes to all-things tech and computers, a.k.a tech whizzes or professionals in the field, most of us certainly require extra assistance. 

Out of curiosity, we decided to ask Malaysians who work in IT and tech to share the funniest tech support requests they've ever gotten, be it personal or professional.

Here's what they said:

Note: Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

1. "I had a user come up to me and ask why their computer would not turn on"

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Image via @ gettysignature (Canva)

"I went over to their desk and noticed a pool of water, so I immediately unplugged the laptop and lifted it up.

"Water came pouring out from the side vents. And the user looked at me and said, 'Oh ya, I spilled water on my desk, could that be the problem?'. That was the funniest thing that happened to me by far."

— Izuddin

2. "I had never seen such a filthy laptop before that I burst out laughing and was like, 'How. What. Have you never cleaned...?!??!!'. Imagine!"

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Image via Pest Push

"Someone complained that their laptop was slow and wonky, so I went to have a look. I opened the back of their lappy and there were ants inside. A LOT of ants. Like running around and living their best lives in there.

"I was speechless and also a little amused. I still LOL every time I think back about it now, hahahah."

— Lola 

3. "Once, I got a call from a drunk guest saying that he couldn't connect to the Internet"

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"I used to work at a call centre which helped troubleshoot Internet connection issues for hotel guests. Some guests used to bring their desktop instead of laptops. I suppose it was for higher-end use like video editing or something, since back then in 2007, laptops weren't powerful for such uses. 

"[This] one guest couldn't connect to the Internet. We went through all the initial troubleshooting steps (checking if cables are connected, modem is on, etc.) until I asked him to go to his desktop's Internet setting in the Control Panel.

"He asked how to find the 'Control Panel', and I told him to look for the 'Windows' icon on his keyboard. Moment of silence before he exclaimed, 'Where's my keyboard?!'

"Turns out he lost it, so I had to call concierge to help him get a replacement."

— Sukhbir

4. "IT support needed her to navigate to the 'My Computer' icon but she got confused"

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Image via @gettyimages (Canva)

"During MCO, most of us WFH. There was one user who had issues with her laptop, so she called the IT support team. My colleague attended to her, and asked her to click on the 'My Computer' icon.

"She was like, 'How to click 'My Computer'? THE COMPUTER IS PHYSICALLY THERE HOW TO CLICK?'

"My colleague tried to explain to her that it's an ICON, but she kept arguing that there's no 'My Computer', hahaha."

— Brandon

5. "Since I handle the management and upkeep of laptops in the office, I constantly get bombarded by requests from employees who don't know how to work their devices"

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Image via @twinsterphoto (Canva)

"And usually, it's really basic stuff. For instance, once, a certain employee was struggling to get her video call to work on Microsoft Teams.

"After troubleshooting for half an hour, and even screen sharing to figure out the problem, I realised she just accidentally closed the webcam cover. She almost requested a full laptop change too, HAHAH."

— Jean

6. "The way I laugh when I tell people this story only makes it hilariously more unbelievable, hahah"

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"A couple of years back, when MCO just happened and everyone was WFH, my IT team was informed that we needed to help someone fix a laptop virtually because... a monkey had entered that person's house and destroyed the laptop that was on the table, HAHAHAHAHA."

— Raj

7. "Since our company specialises in smart switches, we have like a showroom to more or less let people experience the smart living experience"

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"One time, there were people who came to check out the house. So, this customer brought the whole family including their children. We went ahead and showed him how our switches work by controlling the switches through the app.

"The children came running scared to their dad and kept on claiming that the 'rumah ada hantu' 'cause the lights kept turning on and off despite there being no one at the switches pressing it. Couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Kids are cute."

— Mifzal

8. "Someone once asked me if I know their laptop password"

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Image via @gettysignature (Canva)

"There is only so much I can help with. :')"

— Colin

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