The Wild Goose Chase

As with every 'good' IT Nightmare it all started with a phone call.

"IT Support" I answer one cold and icy evening.

A tumult rolls over the airwaves in a heavily accented voice. The guy is talking so fast I cannot understand a word he is saying. I wait for the torrent to end, every syllable merging into the next. I ask for him to repeat himself and it takes a good four attempts to figure out that he is having little issue with his speakers. In other words: No sound. I was wishing my phone was having the same problem.

I try to get him do a few small checks, but another heavy incomprehensible sentence, is the clincher. Armed with cables and a heavy heart I head over there in the cold; head down to the wind and nimbly avoiding the black pools of ice. It was going to be a long night. Turns out this is was going to be a walk in the sun compared to what was coming.

Please let there be sound

So, I get an irate phone call from a guy, furious that his "sound card" wasn't working. He was putting together a "very important" presentation and the numerous youtube videos he had embedded in to powerpoint where playing silently.

Automatically I asked (quite reasonably I thought) if he had turned the volume down on the PC or if it had been muted.

"Of course NOT, I am NOT that stupid." was the the reply. (No of course you're not!)

"Ok" I said "Please can you check your speaker connections. Make sure they are plugged in to the correct socket and that they are powered and switched on."