My name is Steve Pressnell and I am an almost 57 year old computer technician.
I am currently on contract to Dell Computer Co. doing "refresh" work. The term refresh simply means that old computer equipment is being "refreshed" by new equipment.
Refreshes are performed in different ways, but for the most part, the process is similar. Typically, we technicians simply go to user's desks with new equipment and hook the old computer to the new computer with a cable using the network interface connections (NIC). The NIC is where you plug a cable that looks similar to a phone cable, but normally round instead of flat and has a larger connection. This connection is what is used to connect a computer to a wired network. The network can be a home or business network, or for a lot of people, it is simply used to connect the computer to the internet via a cable or DSL modem.
Using software, we perform a data transfer which copies the user's data from the old machine to the new one. This process does not copy "programs". It only gets the data that a user has created and saved to their computer's hard drive. The programs have to be reinstalled as separate processes and this is done in a variety of ways. They are sometimes installed utilizing the client's network or from CDs or DVDs.
Many larger corporations have a required set of software that has to be installed on each computer. This group of software can also vary by department within the corporation.
After the user's data has been transferred or "migrated" and the required software (programs) have been installed, we simply remove the old equipment and replace it with the new and hook everything up and make sure their data has been copied to their new machine. We make sure everything (software and hardware) is working properly.
Doing this type of work is not rocket science, but it can be challenging and hectic especially since one of the secondary goals is minimal down time for the user while assuring they can perform their jobs as efficiently as they could before you arrived.
The term computer technician can cover a lot of ground and include MANY other tasks besides what is outlined above, but this is the type of work that I have been doing for the last 9 months.
The project that I have been working on has been for the US Army Corps of Engineers national "refresh" project.
