End User Mad Because PDF XChange Isn’t Printing Fast Enough
Posted by Gh0stB0nd@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 45 comments
Don’t you fucking hate people who will have a million applications & thousands of tabs open? Then they’re wondering why this or that isn’t working or going fast enough? 50 tabs, 50 excel spreadsheets, word documents, autocad files open, Navisworks, Chrome & Edge, plus Outlook documents.. ALL OPEN AT ONCE.
rosseloh@reddit
If I did I'd be a hypocrite, soooo.....
hegysk@reddit
Yeah, but eventually you realize your computer could probably use some free resources and you act accordingly.
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
They would think that, because they are in IT.
Why would the average user think that? Most technology they use nowadays, like their phone or their Smart TV never needs shut down and restarted because it's been used too much.
sethbartlett@reddit
As much as I agree with you, I do feel like people get the IT cop out and should know. “Haha sorry I’m not good with computers”, sure Janet, but this is an application you’ve used for 10+ years and you’re struggling to do basic printing actions. Checking the memory/resources, closing things out or even rebooting the PC is pretty close to seeing if there is gas in the vehicles they drove for the last 30+ years.
hegysk@reddit
I'd argue you don't even need to see resources, it should be common sense to realize your computer is getting slow maybe I should close 80% of stuff that's opened since the last reboot from weeks ago.
hegysk@reddit
You don't exactly have to be an automechanic to know you need to fill up your car from time to time and maybe top up some fluids. Yeah, maybe you can run out of gas to feel the car struggling to keep up or maybe you can just fill before you run out of gas.
If you work with a computer it's your work tool, you should know how to operate it.
That being said, I am well aware of how most of users handle their computers, it's just we should be putting pressure on them, ultimately slow laggy pc, lost unsaved work etc directly affects their productivity.
Arudinne@reddit
Before I switched to a M4 MBP with 48GB of RAM, I had a Dell Precision with 96GB of RAM.
IwantToNAT-PING@reddit
More RAM for the RAM throne.
Helpjuice@reddit
Just add the symptoms of using the software to the FAQ, KB, and have it auto reference a notice if they try and put a ticket in about it along with forcing them to go through a workflow troubleshooter before they can submit a ticket.
In terms of having a ton of stuff open, shouldn't matter if the machine has enough resources to handle it. If it is underpowered then they will have problems, but having it act up at 56% when printing is a major software issue that if irritating enough should end up in using a different vendor to solve the problem.
FederalDish5@reddit
What? I have to press a button to print? Cant AI do it?
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
That would piss me off even more. Plus.. It’s Monday when most of the office works remotely, the shift just started at 7. 🙄
babywhiz@reddit
mods are on one this morning I see.. :/
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
Folks getting on my ass lol
babywhiz@reddit
I’ve been here 13 years and the last 6 months my sysadmin posts have been yanked. I’m fully convinced Microsoft has bought it all out to run off the people that know things. We need a new place.
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
Can't stop laughing at the GIF.
xXSupaChocolateXx@reddit
Sounds like they may need a different printer driver tbh. Either you can do the research and install the one they need or install them all and let them decide which one they feel works the fastest. I’d go with option two.
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
Well this is apparently now the 3rd user having this issue and I told my coworker about it literally 5 minutes before I was going to leave Wednesday of last week and I told him to ask his IT team about it but he never asked, it never got fixed and now I'm fixing it. As usual, I'm not trippin.. This rant was just about this one end user really.
VA_Network_Nerd@reddit
Sorry, it seems this comment or thread has violated a sub-reddit rule and has been removed by a moderator.
Inappropriate use of, or expectation of the Community.
If you wish to appeal this action please don't hesitate to message the moderation team.
thoemse99@reddit
"But it works totally fine on my computer at home."
MicesNicely@reddit
But it IS printing, yes?
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
Well I told her that she'll have to restart her PC, because in PDF XChange it hangs at around 56% and the printer drivers are working because I sent a test page to the printer and it zoomed to the printer fast asf.
whoisrich@reddit
Unless you are printing that exact same document, it's not a valid test. I've experienced many specific documents that trigger driver and printer firmware bugs.
Adobe has an 'Advanced' option of 'Print As Image' to workaround these by sending a graphic instead of postscript. There is probably an equivalent for pdf xchange.
Rad_Dad6969@reddit
Can you have them open the PDF from a reader or does it have to be from the browser. In my experience printing from browser takes forever but when we set Adobe as the default pdf app and they print from there, it's a normal quick print.
zfs_@reddit
Sounds like you’re not actually doing any investigatory work.
If the user is noticing that it’s printing much slower than usual, something has changed. It’s your job to figure out what that something is, not to blame the user for having files open.
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
What makes you think I’m not already doing that? This post is just a rant.
Tatermen@reddit
Not to mention the first step in troubleshooting almost any computer issue is to reboot and see if it keeps happening, then you know it's a real issue and not memory exhaustion or some randomly borked background process.
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
Except they just said a few comments ago that they don't know how long it's going to take them to reboot, meaning they don't know if this actually fixed anything.
PurpleFlerpy@reddit
Users don't necessarily file tickets because there's been a change. They may file a ticket because it's reached a point of annoying them, without any significant changes. They may file a ticket because their kids pissed them off this morning and they need to take it out on someone.
Besides, a restart is a really good first step no matter the issue.
Warrlock608@reddit
I have one particular end user that keeps putting tickets in saying the scanner i installed at her workstation doesn't work. Every time the problem is she doesn't know how to do her job and the scanner works fine.
Some end users are just lazy and want IT to do their job for them.
Fatel28@reddit
This is generally why I never do anything for them.
Your excel macro or formula isn't working, but excel as a whole is fine? That's not an IT issue.
I can't remember where I heard it, but I often use the line "I'll put the wheels on your racecar but you're gonna have to be the one to drive it around the track"
As in, if your excel is broken I'll fix it. But I'm not writing your formula.
boondoggie42@reddit
I'm not having my tech spend 30 minutes heroically troubleshooting a one-off problem that a reboot will solve. Many users having the same problem? Sure, let's find the cause, but there is a not enough time in the world to find the bespoke solution just to avoid a reboot for every little problem.
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
Except OP didn't even verify that the reboot fixed the problem before posting this rant.
Fatel28@reddit
I agree with both of you. Reboot is a good first step. But if that doesn't fix it, don't dismiss the actual issue just because it's a problem (needy) user.
We had a ticket once where someone was trying to print 400k pages and it wasn't fast enough. It was printing fine, just not as fast as they expected it to.
Turned out the generic driver for that printer was just slow. We swapped to a printer-specific driver and it easily went 3-4x as fast.
IFarmZombies@reddit
LOL
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
You posted this before the issue was confirmed to be resolved?
alpha417@reddit
but it restarts every night when the shuts off on its own. It starts up again in the morning when she jiggles the mouse.
c'mon.
Desnowshaite@reddit
email to IT, cc'd in 63 managers, directors, CEOs and gods from different religious pantheons:
Subject: MASSIVE IT ISSUE!!!11!
"The server is being extremely slow. I cannot work and nobody from IT has responded yet to the ticket I submitted as critical priority 1 minute ago. It is CRITICAL for me to open this 16GB .csv file that is sitting on the shared drive that I access via vpn while I am on holiday on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. I understand it is 3am now and it is Saturday, but IT should sort their issues out and get back to me ASAP!!!11!!"
innaswetrust@reddit
To be honest, even after a restart PDF printing is often super slow
expiro@reddit
I hate the most. They fucking trigger my anxiety every time. Most fucked moment is that when they hear from that they should restart the computer :)) funny moment
skydiveguy@reddit
I have an end user that has complained about "slowness" and we have replaced their docking station, cables, reimaged their laptop.
Still complains about performance.
I replaced their laptop with a different one (I refuse to give them a brand new device) and when they logged in I watched them log into Chrome and immediately launch 3 different browser windows and in each window launch a saved series of 30+ tabs in each.
I explained that this is most likely their issue and they scoffed at me.
Launching task manager shows that most of their CPU and RAM use is Chrome.
I just ignore any tickets from them about performance issue now and my boss agrees with me.
Raigeki1993@reddit
"Can't you just give me a faster computer? I can get my manager to approve it"
Ziegelphilie@reddit
to be faaaaairrrrr I've come across offices with absolute shite specs for the average user
Gh0stB0nd@reddit (OP)
The company I work for… it’s a long long story, when I got hired on as Tech Support they immediately got bought out by a bigger company that has its own IT department but I stayed working for my own company & they bought in their own IT guys to handle the issues but the users in the office come to me & one other guy who works onsite for issues. After the merge, they changed my position title but it’s obvious that I’m still IT, I know more than the other IT guy plus he’s literally never here on purposely and gets away with it by making up lies. Literally bruh texted me this morning talking about he has fucking hemorrhoids but “he’ll be online if I need any help”. He literally just told me that after he said he’s going to the emergency room. Trust me I know because this is not how any IT support job should be but that’s how it is. I can only help users onsite right then and there and if I can’t figure out a fix then we’ll escalate a ticket to the bigger company. If all of that makes sense.
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
So...you're blaming the user for using their device?
How about telling us what was actually open on their computer instead of exaggerating?
benchartier@reddit
"What? I have to restart my machine? NO! I'm not going to do that. The last time I did that it took a whole afternoon to close and save everything!"