[ale] If you must restore a windows computer, how do you make it better?

[aaron]

On 2009, Oct, 14, , at 9:14 PM, Michael B. Trausch wrote:

> On Wed, 2009-10-14 at 14:36 -0400, Richard Bronosky wrote:
>> My MiL had a hard drive failure in her Dell windows media center
>> machine. (which does not have a tuner card and serves not media  
>> center
>> purpose, but the Dell sales person up-sold her) I have recovered the
>> data using my Linux desktop and a drive dock. I now must consider  
>> what
>> to do with the bones.
>>
>> She will not use anything other than windows. End of story. Moving
>> on.
>
> What I tell *everyone* is this:  I'll set them up with a Windows
> instance, if that is what they want and they have all the materials  
> for
> it (license/certificate/etc.) and once it's all said and done, I'll  
> take
> an image with it, make two copies, and give them both copies.
[snip]

It's a whole lot simpler to actually make it better and
stop enabling their addictions by saying:

"I don't do windows. Doing windows is an inane, frustrating
waste of time and energy for everyone. You could never pay
me enough to make hurting you like that an appealing
proposition."

If they want or need or insist on an explanation as to WHY,
I recite the full mantra:

"The only possible way to make a windows machine better is
to remove windows. Windows is a disease and I don't want
anyone, especially people I care about, to be crippled by it.
It would be both illogical and unethical for me to be a party
to infecting you or your personal technology systems with any
form of Mafia$oft products.  If you want assistance with
discovering and using the capable alternatives for your
hardware, I'll be more than happy to cure your machine of
windisease infections and install healthy, competent and
functionally equivalent Free Software that will meet all
basic your needs."

:-)

peace
aaron