July 6, 2009

Delete the Internet



I got a call today from someone who just bought a new computer. He's not new to computers, it's just a new computer. He said he has video files on the new computer that he doesn't want any more. The conversation went something like this:

"I have all these video files on my new computer that I don't want, how do I delete them?"
"Er... just delete them?"
"How?"
"You know... like you always do? Drag them to the trashcan? Press the delete key?"
"Didn't work."
"Oh, you probably have to close the video first, do you see the video on the screen?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, so close the video first."
"How?"
"Er... the same way you always do? Click on the X on the upper right corner?"
"But when I open it the videos are there again."
"Wait, wait. After you close the video, drag the file of the video to the trashcan."
"I can't find the file."
"Eh... if you can't find the file, how did you open it?"
"It's there when I open the computer."

Oh, this went on for something like 30 minutes. I tried everything I could think of to help him delete the videos. Finally it occurred to me that maybe the video he's talking about is actually a DVD, and some kind of player program was automatically playing the disc.

"Try right clicking on the video itself, and tell me what it says."
"About Adobe Flash Player 10."
"What?!?!?!?!"
"That's what it says."
"You're playing an Internet video? Is this YouTube?"
"Yeah, YouTube! How did you know? So how can I delete the videos?"

I spent the next 15 minutes explaining to him what YouTube is, and that he can't delete videos off YouTube if he didn't upload them.

"But I don't want to see those videos."
"So don't open the website?"

Finally I understood the poor guy. Someone had put a shortcut to YouTube on his desktop. When he clicks on the shortcut, the browser opens and goes to the YouTube website. He was trying to delete those videos on the YouTube startup page, because he doesn't want them taking up space on his computer.

I need a drink.

No comments: