My vote for #9: clueless resellers

Mark,

If it helps, I agree that there is such a think as WinRot. I have come directly up against it many times in my life. It's real and it's dangerous. I got your back.

1-Dumb software that doesn't let you work the way you want to or won't do something it should do.

2-Companies that don't list an address & phone# on their web site.

3-Web sites that don't give you a clue as to what they're selling or what they do.

4-Documentation that you can only read after you've installed their buggy software.

5-Tech support that knows less than you do & can only read from their script.

6-Product support by either email or online only, can't speak to a real person (but then you'd
probably be hit with #5).

Fill in the blanks with just about anything.

1. The way Microsoft ____________
2. The way Microsoft ____________
3. The way Microsoft ____________
4. The way Microsoft ____________
5. The way Microsoft ____________
6. The way Microsoft ____________
7. The way Microsoft ____________
8. The way Microsoft ____________
9. The way Microsoft ____________
10. The way Microsoft ____________

... the list could be expanded.

I strongly agree with your list of hates. One of my pet peeves that didn't make the list is deceptive software installation progress indicators, of which there are two main variants:

1) The progress meter that blatantly lies. I've recently installed ArcGIS for a few of my users and each time the installer gets down to "30 seconds remaining" and then stays there for 10 or 20 minutes.

2) The endless parade of installation steps. You watch the progress bar creep towards completion. Just when you think you're done, it starts over at zero. How many more iterations are left? 1? 100? There's no way to know!

I don't expect an installer to tell me to the second when it will be done, but it would be nice if it would give reasonably accurate timeframes, like "you have time get a cup of coffee", or "you can backpack through Europe for a month". On the other hand, maybe I should count my blessings that they aren't like the cable guy or the plumber - "your software will be installed sometime between 8am and 2pm".

When I delete something just let it go away, don't double check that's what the recycle bin/trash can are for. If your software doesn't support the ability to retrieve deleted documents/whatevers maybe it should. e.g. DOS/Windows (any version), Network World iDemand software.

Bloggers that don't blog but feel the need to post something even if it just a link to something else. If I read your blog it is because for whatever reason I am looking for you thoughts on the subject you write about, I am not looking to you for content aggregration without your commentary.

1. Passwords. Specifically one's a user creates that causes them to forget it if it is not written on their monitor. Because of this, it tends to take away other (mainly important) tasks IT needs to focus on.

2. Installing/Re-installing Windows. Sounds familiar? Even if an image is current, the never ending rebooting that is necessary to install patches/updates gets so frustrating.

3. When it seems to be our fault when the Internet comes to a screeching halt. Don't take in the fact that you are all on-line the same time that the issue occurs. We can only provide so much bandwidth for streaming radio people!

4. Spyware/Malware. Enough said.

5. Single-point protection for antivirus. This is a great idea in a smaller business or one that is central to the endpoint server. When you have 35 locations all using this protection, things WILL slow down just a bit to justify calls to ask "why is everything so slow today?".

6. Vista. Please do not have me elaborate on this one. There are plenty of Blogs that do.

7. Inconsistent setups. I abhor the idea that somebody who is such a profound genius at their job could create (or destroy in my opinion) any system or network and not keep a log of any work done. What happens when that "genius" leaves? Give me call sometime, and I'll be glad to tell you about it. I'm still trying to create the missing log.

8. WMI. Oh, man did we have a fight with this one! Seems to be centered around an Anti-Virus product that created such a failure with WMI control. Thus, causing windows updates to fail, as well as the virus protection's own protection. Which brings me to the final one.

9. Ownership. If you are at fault, do not point the blame at a reputable source.

That's it for me. Trust me though, there are sure to be more.

1. Lack of authority to enforce IT rules. The managers / directors / VPs who are beyond reach of IT rule enforcement are often some of the worst wasters (bandwidth, toner, manpower, etc.) in any company and they're typically the first ones to bring in viruses and trojans.

2. The perception by some CFO's that money saved in the short term by meddling with IT's budget will not cost just as much (or more) when we finally get approval to spend. I plan for equipment replacement. I budget for equipment replacement. My budget gets approved. I make other decisions based on the expectation that my approved budget is spendable. I worry over spec's and quotes until I know exactly what we need to buy. And then, when I start the process to actually purchase something, I'm stonewalled. How about instead, I tell them what we need, they tell me what part of that I can have, and then they actually let me spend it how I best see fit!

Cannot disagree more on the "dating content" idea. I tried that. I've written articles and guides online for topics that will not change. Some of them go back to 2002, and the information is as current in 2008 as it was then -- the topic is NOT going to change, period. Yet not one week goes by that some moron doesn't e-mail me -- without even reading the @#$%^&* article -- asking if it's still accurate? I've started to remove the dates on everything but timely content. People are too stupid to handle dates.

To even say "winrot" is to live in the Mac/Linux land of lollipops and ice cream. Well, no OS is perfect. The more you add/install/customize/alter, the more chances of system breakdown occur. I don't care if it's RedHat, OS X or Windows XP. The more you use a system, the more that can go wrong. It's 100% user related. You can use tools like CCleaner (formerly called "Crap Claner") to remove ... well... the crap, as left over by uninstalls and messy installs and temp files. You can manually clean your startup and registry. Then use protection software like WinPatrol, or a good internal firewall like Kerio, that will catch software trying to act without your direct command. Software does not magically break itself, and that includes the OS. Only hardware does that one.

Reformatting is giving up. Sometimes that's fine too, I've done it myself. Not all errors are worth fighting, just virgin the system and try again. But it's certainly not the only solution.

My IT hate:

The companies in IT that send you an e-mail asking you to fill out a survey telling you something like, "Please fill out our 5 minute survey." You click on the link only to find out that it takes much more time than that. By the time you figure that out you have to decide whether to eat the wasted time or since you are already so far, you might as well finish.