So? Plug it in!

[vikingchyk]

Almost a MiM story, but not quite. The M is still a M.

<bg> My office has both system administrators, who handle hardware and network issues, and application administrators, who take care of in-house developed databases, applications, as well as web applications. I'm an app admin. Thank goodness.</bg>

Co irkers and and I were in a small group talking about whatever, when one of the Mahogany Row[1] denizens shows up. "My keyboard isn't working. I think it's unplugged." The SA follows her back to her office, while the rest of us look at each other and say simultaneously "So? Plug it in!" {after we were sure they were out of earshot }

Yeah, it was unplugged.

So, you knew what the problem was, and you couldn't be bothered to try plugging it in first?

"Help me, my nose is running, what do I do??? Oh, woe is me!!!"

SO glad I'm not an SA anymore. I get a slightly higher class of stupid questions now.

[1] aka the managers who have semi-private offices and mahogany furniture, instead of living in the cube farm.

[EricKei]

"Help me, my nose is running, what do I do??? Oh, woe is me!!!"

So go catch it! Gogogogogo!

[ComputerNecromancer]

Co irkers and and I were in a small group talking about whatever, when one of the Mahogany Row[1] denizens shows up. "My keyboard isn't working. I think it's unplugged." The SA follows her back to her office, while the rest of us look at each other and say simultaneously "So? Plug it in!" {after we were sure they were out of earshot }

Yeah, it was unplugged.

So, you knew what the problem was, and you couldn't be bothered to try plugging it in first?

If it's a USB keyboard, plugging it in is fine.

If it's a PS/2 keyboard plugging it in won't work (it won't be recognized until you reboot the computer) *and* you can actually damage the motherboard.

I've got a box that has a dead PS/2 mouse port due to exactly that. Somebody plugged the mouse in while the system was on.

[Silent-Hunter]

That depends on the computer I think. My IBM laptop let me plug my mouse in without turning it off, and it would recognise it too. I'm pretty sure the manual even said it was OK.

[earl colby pottinger]

PS/2

While my 3 month old home computer comes with the combined PS/2 port I have not seen many machines sold for business use having such ports here in Ontario Canada.

Are they still common in business machines where you are?

[prjkt]

With a few of my old computers, if the p/s2 mouse was unplugged, plugging it back in wouldn't work, but unplugging and plugging the p/s2 keyboard back in would....

[wolfie]

"Help me, my nose is running, what do I do??? Oh, woe is me!!!"

That's not a problem - so long as, in order to keep the workload even, your feet smell.

That depends on the computer I think. My IBM laptop let me plug my mouse in without turning it off, and it would recognise it too. I'm pretty sure the manual even said it was OK.

The laptop was probably designed to allow that - after all, someone in a "settled" work area is likely to want to connect a pointing device better than the built-in one, and shut down/restart would waste too much time. With a desktop, the mouse is the ONLY pointing device, so there's no need to be able to switch between internal and external "on the fly".