Feature Public Windows Fail

[Jsimenhoff]

Have you ever watched a slow moving car crash? The horror of carnage unfolding in real time, with nothing to do but watch until the process is carried out? Us neither, but we sure do love finding Windows errors in public! It's a quick peak behind the curtain into everyone's favorite OS that powers most of everything we do. It's also a frightening reminder of how long tech stays around, like how Windows XP still powers ATMs and public metros. Do you think Microsoft still pushes out security patches to these devices?

We're looking for your funniest, most banal, most widespread, in your face public Windows fails. Where were you most surprised to see the OS? How funny was the fail? We're starting this MegaThread to track just that. Post your best Windows fails that you spotted in public, and who knows, maybe the best ones will land up on the Tom's Hardware home page and Twitter feed.

 

[Colif]

No one has seen any??

There are plenty of examples online, they can't all be fake?

 

[britechguy]

I don't doubt that they may all be real, but it's like I say about support forums, you can't use these as a metric about "what's actually happening in the vast majority of situations" in the world at large.

Just like people come to forums like TH when they are having problems they can't solve, these epic fails show up and often "go viral" because they are the exception, not the rule. Virtually no one posts to TH to say, "Hey, everything's goin' just fine and has been goin' just fine for as long as I can remember," and not many would be interested in the same sort of material that shows your average PowerPoint presentation (or whatever) as they normally go off - without a hitch.

The power of skewed samples with exceptional interest to incorrectly shape opinions about the incidence and prevalence of certain events cannot be overstated. One has to recognize this tendency to avoid being "sucked in" and drawing utterly incorrect conclusions about what's typical.

 

[Colif]

I don't doubt that they may all be real, but it's like I say about support forums, you can't use these as a metric about "what's actually happening in the vast majority of situations" in the world at large.

Just like people come to forums like TH when they are having problems they can't solve, these epic fails show up and often "go viral" because they are the exception, not the rule. Virtually no one posts to TH to say, "Hey, everything's goin' just fine and has been goin' just fine for as long as I can remember," and not many would be interested in the same sort of material that shows your average PowerPoint presentation (or whatever) as they normally go off - without a hitch.

The power of skewed samples with exceptional interest to incorrectly shape opinions about the incidence and prevalence of certain events cannot be overstated. One has to recognize this tendency to avoid being "sucked in" and drawing utterly incorrect conclusions about what's typical.

I agree, I tell this to people who come here and have read all the horror stories. People without problems don't complain , and most users fall into this category.

anyway, lets keep this on topic before I get told off

 

[kerberos_20]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNQOOr9aR8

 

[dg27]

Just like people come to forums like TH when they are having problems they can't solve, these epic fails show up and often "go viral" because they are the exception, not the rule. Virtually no one posts to TH to say, "Hey, everything's goin' just fine and has been goin' just fine for as long as I can remember," and not many would be interested in the same sort of material that shows your average PowerPoint presentation (or whatever) as they normally go off - without a hitch.

There are about 44K airplane flights per day. The only ones you hear about are the 0.36 per million flights that end in a fatality.

 

[sorican]

It wasn't strictly in public. but for work, they're trying to roll out a software suite that I've been helping to develop for ages on windows 10. we were having problems with getting the business version to update when we told it to (and not when it wanted to.) the know-it-all MS guy who came out to explain it and 'teach' us how to do 'correctly' 1) failed to understand the problem, and 2) decided the best course was to run a lecture for four hours explaining stuff that the IT people already knew, and 3), halfway through his presentation, his laptop decided it was time for an update. (and apparently, he hadn't updated in quite a while, since it took a lunch break and then some to finish.)

when we came back, it was 'decided' that we didn't need his help after all.

There are about 44K airplane flights per day. The only ones you hear about are the 0.36 per million flights that end in a fatality.

I don't know. there was the guy who lit his underwear on fire. the plane landed safely, and nobody died. Okay don't shoot me. I totally agree with what your saying...but... that guy's good for a laugh.