S
Stilton A. Cheese
Boy, am I steamed!
A few weeks back, a customer bought a nice Samsung notebook (not from me,
but that doesn't matter, I *try* to support all of my customers needs).
Nice computer. It came with Windows XP Home, German (we're in Germany). My
customer is from New Zealand, and like most new comers, isn't very good at
German at the moment. I installed, as to her wishes AOL v7, in English,
which is what she wanted. She expressed a desire to have XP in English as
well. I tell her I'll check into it and get back to her.
First call is to Samsung, Germany..No, they can not provide us with an
English restore CD. Fair enough.
Second call is to Microsoft, Germany, technical support. Can I upgrade
German XP Home with English XP Home Upgrade? No.....But I can upgrade
German XP Home with English XP Professional Upgrade....The technical support
person said this would be a true upgrade from Home to Professional and this
would work.
So I look at the cost of English XP Professional Upgrade, and here in
Germany, it's pretty expensive. So then I go to eBay, UK, and find XP
Professional Upgrade at a very fair price.
I call my customer, tell her to purchase the software on eBay, make sure the
seller will ship to Germany, and call me when it shows up. Which she did
and XP Professional showed up Monday. I made an appointment and went to her
house this morning and tried to install the XP.
XP Professional Upgrade will not install, because the language is different
than the of the original OS.
So I visit MS online support and find this little gem:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;282089
Apparently the Microsoft, Germany, technical support person was totally
wrong.
Oh, I waited on hold for about ten minutes to get to talk to him and was
charged 0.12 Euro / minute.
A few weeks back, a customer bought a nice Samsung notebook (not from me,
but that doesn't matter, I *try* to support all of my customers needs).
Nice computer. It came with Windows XP Home, German (we're in Germany). My
customer is from New Zealand, and like most new comers, isn't very good at
German at the moment. I installed, as to her wishes AOL v7, in English,
which is what she wanted. She expressed a desire to have XP in English as
well. I tell her I'll check into it and get back to her.
First call is to Samsung, Germany..No, they can not provide us with an
English restore CD. Fair enough.
Second call is to Microsoft, Germany, technical support. Can I upgrade
German XP Home with English XP Home Upgrade? No.....But I can upgrade
German XP Home with English XP Professional Upgrade....The technical support
person said this would be a true upgrade from Home to Professional and this
would work.
So I look at the cost of English XP Professional Upgrade, and here in
Germany, it's pretty expensive. So then I go to eBay, UK, and find XP
Professional Upgrade at a very fair price.
I call my customer, tell her to purchase the software on eBay, make sure the
seller will ship to Germany, and call me when it shows up. Which she did
and XP Professional showed up Monday. I made an appointment and went to her
house this morning and tried to install the XP.
XP Professional Upgrade will not install, because the language is different
than the of the original OS.
So I visit MS online support and find this little gem:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;282089
Apparently the Microsoft, Germany, technical support person was totally
wrong.
Oh, I waited on hold for about ten minutes to get to talk to him and was
charged 0.12 Euro / minute.