What's the Funniest Error Message You've Ever Seen?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around humorous error messages encountered by participants, particularly in the context of computer malfunctions and tech support experiences. The scope includes personal anecdotes, reflections on past technology, and light-hearted commentary on error messages and customer service interactions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant shares a link to a gallery of funny error message spoofs, highlighting a specific favorite.
  • Another recounts a frustrating experience with tech support regarding a defective keyboard, emphasizing the difficulty of explaining the issue without the letter "I".
  • Some participants suggest that using an on-screen keyboard could have been a solution for the keyboard issue, while others express skepticism about the tech support's handling of the situation.
  • A participant mentions a similar keyboard problem with the "z" key, noting its impact on communication.
  • Discussion includes reflections on older computers and their error messages, particularly the "Keyboard Error" message during startup.
  • Participants express preferences for different operating systems, with some favoring Macs over Windows due to perceived differences in error messaging and blame attribution.
  • One participant finds humor in the blue screen of death and shares thoughts on the physicality of interacting with different types of monitors.
  • Another participant expresses excitement about the ability to create custom error messages.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share a general amusement over error messages and tech support experiences, but there are differing opinions on the effectiveness of tech support and the use of on-screen keyboards. The discussion remains light-hearted and exploratory without a clear consensus on any particular viewpoint.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference older technology and its limitations, while others discuss the evolution of error messaging and tech support practices. There is uncertainty regarding the availability of certain features in older operating systems.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in technology humor, personal anecdotes about tech support, and discussions on computer error messages may find this thread engaging.

mattmns
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I was surfing the yahoo message board, which is usually great for a good laugh, and someone posted this link (at the bottom). The topic was something about a ms attempt to stop pirating by not allowing pirated software to be updated. ( here is the link to the news story if you are interested http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20050126/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_piracy ) This message board was not that good, the good ones are usually controversial topics, or anything with politics. However, someone posted the link below, which has a few funny error message spoofs in it.

Error Message Gallery

This is my fav:

http://pic.smasher.org/error/default7.png
 
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:smile: That reminds me of the first computer I bought for myself that arrived with a defective keyboard. The letter "I" just didn't work and I had already followed the instructions to reset the keyboard to make sure I hadn't accidentally programmed the keys or mapped them in some strange way, so was certain the keyboard was broken. I called tech support or customer service (who knows, they always transferred my calls to whichever one I didn't call) and started explaining the problem. I guess I got someone truly clueless, because after explaining the problem, he informed me that I should use their new online tech support. I explained again that my keyboard wasn't working, so I couldn't access the internet to log in. Mr. Clueless then goes into his "troubleshooting internet access" spiel. So, I explained to him again, the problem is entirely the keyboard. Mr. Clueless is really confused by now, and says he thought I just told him I can't get online to use the internet tech support. I explain once again, right, because the KEYBOARD is broken and I can't type in my username, which had an I in it. I try to explain to him what a common letter "I" is, that even if my username didn't have an I in it, it would be really hard to explain my problem without using the letter "I". I really had a good laugh over it once I finally got past Mr. Clueless and through to someone who could give me the information of how to ship back the keyboard for a new one.
 
Pff you both were clueless :-p you could use the on screen keyboard as long as your mouse worked :smile:

But still, that guy should have realized that your keyboard did not work and said something that could be usefull.
 
mattmns said:
Pff you both were clueless :-p you could use the on screen keyboard as long as your mouse worked :smile:

But still, that guy should have realized that your keyboard did not work and said something that could be usefull.

They won't. They normally try to avoid returns as much as possible. He was doing his job on ignoring the real problem and making up some other problem.
 
Wow, not having an I would kill me. that's all I like to talk about.
I had a similar keyboard problem once, but it was with the z key. doesn't come up nearly as often, but being from Ariona I definitely noticed it.
 
tribdog said:
Wow, not having an I would kill me. that's all I like to talk about.
I had a similar keyboard problem once, but it was with the z key. doesn't come up nearly as often, but being from Ariona I definitely noticed it.
Yeah I hear ya, all I talk about is how great I am. This one time I was going to talk about I, but I decided that I was too cool to talk about I, and that maybe one day I would not talk about I, but I still have yet to decide.
 
mattmns said:
Pff you both were clueless :-p you could use the on screen keyboard as long as your mouse worked :smile:

1) He was being paid to know about computers, I wasn't, that's why I called.

2) What on screen keyboard? I haven't used Windows in a while if that's something new. Did it exist way back when it was Windows 3.1? Regardless, the solution to the problem was simple: ship me a keyboard where ALL the keys work. There should have been no need to use an online tech support to replace a broken keyboard.
 
Moonbear said:
2) What on screen keyboard? I haven't used Windows in a while if that's something new. Did it exist way back when it was Windows 3.1? Regardless, the solution to the problem was simple: ship me a keyboard where ALL the keys work. There should have been no need to use an online tech support to replace a broken keyboard.

It's part of the accessability tools designed to help people with poor vision, hearing, manual dexterity, etc. to be able to use Windoze. I can't say for certain, but I would imagine it started in Windows 95. I would seriously doubt it was available in 3.1.
 
Ah yeah. that reminds me of older comps. If you didn't have the keyboard plugged in when you first started it up, after it went through POST it would yell at you with, "Keyboard Error, press F1 to continue."

Makes you wonder what exactly the programmers were thinking.
 
  • #10
check said:
Ah yeah. that reminds me of older comps. If you didn't have the keyboard plugged in when you first started it up, after it went through POST it would yell at you with, "Keyboard Error, press F1 to continue."

Makes you wonder what exactly the programmers were thinking.

I think that's one of the reasons I like Macs better than anything running Windows. With Windows, when the computer froze and I had to unplug it and plug it back into turn it off and back on, the computer would yell at me and display a screen saying something like "YOU didn't shut down properly." I usually yelled back at it a few select words along with my explanation that I'd have shut down properly if it didn't freeze up completely. Macs are more willing to share the blame, "The computer did not shut down properly." It's much nicer than being accused of doing something wrong when it was entirely the computer's fault!

Is it a bad sign when you end up talking back to your computer? :eek:
 
  • #11
Okay, I finally followed the link to look at the rest of them. :smile: :smile: :smile: I'm seriously laughing out loud here. Glad I waited until I got home to follow the link! My absolute favorite is the one that starts out "Bug Found." :smile:
 
  • #12
lol, the blue screen of death. Ahh, my computer has yet to crash while using fedora. Hmm I just realized that I should not get one of those flat panel monitors. I always punch my current monitor; however, it weighs about 50lbs. I am not sure how punching a flat panel monitor would go, I bet it would not last long if I had one. And no it is not a bad sign, I talk to my computer all the time. lol, in yum the computer talks to me like a person. It will say something like: "I am going to install the following, is this ok?" Makes me feel smart when my computer talks to me like a person.

edit.. woah sweet, you can create your own error message! Just saw this now, time to create one :smile:
 
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