Sharky's picture
Sharky

Shark Tank

Now THAT'S tasteful

It's desktop migration time in this office, and a pilot fish on the team is working his way through the list of users.

"We used a script to back up the user's personal data to a network share and imaged the system with the new operating system," fish says. "The script we used searched the drive for specific files, like graphics files, and backed each type up into a single directory.

"The users would then log in and run a batch file to copy their data back to the correct profile folders, and we would return to tweak any settings or install any additional software not included in the image."

When he gets to the desk of one user who happens to be an amateur photographer, fish starts his script and, once everything is moving, heads off for lunch himself.

When he gets back, he discovers the user has already logged in, copied his data back, and even tweaked the system to his liking by enabling the desktop to use his photographs as wallpaper -- but then left his desk again with the PC locked, which means fish can't do the few final things required.

As fish is leaving a note asking the user to call upon his return, he's a bit shocked at what he sees on the user's screen.

"Because all graphics files were backed up to a single directory, he restored all of them to a single directory -- including some rather inappropriate and revealing (but tasteful) photos he'd shot of his wife, who also happened to work at the company," says fish.

"There they were in all their glory, slowly rotating through his active desktop background.

"I decided against leaving any evidence that I had been there and quickly exited the office. When I returned later, I didn't notice any of the unusual background images -- and never mentioned my previous visit."

Sharky's tastes run to true tales of IT life. Send me yours at sharky@computerworld.com. You'll snag a snazzy Shark shirt if I use it. Add your comments below, and read some great old tales in the Sharkives.

The Best of Shark Tank includes more than 70 tales of IT woe submitted by you, our readers, since 1999. Which all goes to prove, conclusively, that hapless users and idiotic bosses are indeed worldwide phenomena. Free registration is all that's needed to download The Best of Shark Tank (PDF).

What is Tech Briefcase?
TechBriefcase is a new, free service where IT Professionals can Search, Store and Share IT white papers and content like this. Learn more
Bookmark content
Speed up your research efforts with content across the web.
Search and Store
Find the white papers you need. Create folders for any topic.
View Anywhere
Open your briefcase on your iPhone, tablet or desktop. Share with colleagues.
Don't have an account yet?