Aging computers cause agony

Sophomore Philip Fulcher has seen his share of computer problems.

The Information Technology Services student consultant said he sees a lot of viruses in his job at the ITS Resource Center — enough that the Response Center has an Adware Hall of Shame with a record of 4,978 pieces of malicious software on one computer.

“Computers can’t be as indestructible as construction equipment,” he said.

The computers the class of 2005 received as freshmen now are at the end of a long four-year journey of term papers, registration crises and AOL Instant Messenger conversations. The question is now whether they survived the trip.

Many students, such as senior Jessica Wilborne, encountered their fair share of mishaps. During her time at UNC, Wilborne had her hard drive replaced three times, and workers installed two new motherboards.

“If I try to run more than one program or have more than one (Microsoft Internet) Explorer window open at once, my laptop shuts down,” she said. “And then it doesn’t come back on for three hours.”

According to Information Technology Services, seniors faced the largest percentage of problems solved by the ITS Response Center this academic year. They filed 7,375 requests for ITS to fix problems.

And Wilborne is not alone.

“Maybe they thought my computer was cutting-edge when I got it, but with no CD burner, it was obsolete even then,” said senior Alyssa Young. “Now, it’s like I have a dinosaur.”

A computer upgrade is an option for seniors with older laptop models, but not all take advantage of the opportunity. Senior Matthew Fishbein was hesitant to spend the money for such a boost.

“Other friends had the upgrades earlier in school, and they had difficulties with the new software,” he said.

Fishbein, a business major, said that earlier this year, his computer fell prey to several viruses and spyware. “It totally affected my life. It left me without an operational computer for several weeks before I brought it in to get fixed.”

Senior Kim Wilson, an exercise and sport science major, said she brought her computer to the center when she discovered a virus.

“When I got my computer back, it wasn’t fixed. I had to bring it back the next week,” she said.

But some students question the source of their problems.

“It’s hard to say whose fault that was, the technology’s or mine,” Wilson said.

Bruce Egan, associate director of the response center, said, “Sometimes the problems are with user education. But other times, it really is a hardware failure.”

The response center, located in the Undergraduate Library with a satellite office in Hinton James Residence Hall, sees students with a wide variety of computer issues.

Junior Caroline Guthrie, an ITS phone operator, said many students are frustrated when they call with computer problems. “And many are embarrassed.”

Guthrie said she spoke to a student earlier in the week who watched a bicycle run over his computer after it fell off the balcony.

Egan said he saw a student whose computer caught on fire and another whose computer crashed midway through her dissertation.

“Students should have realistic expectations about their computers. It’s a mechanical item,” Egan said. “It can be faulty.”

But Egan said ITS keeps its eyes open for hardware problems.

“Students are tougher on their machines than most because they’re moving their computers all around campus,” Egan said. “And seniors have been lugging their computers around for four years.”

 

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.