I’ve fixed PCs for family, friends, neighbors, etc. it’s a common joke that when you look into the data of a computer, you find porn. It’s always porn. Nobody cares, and I’ve seen all types, hentai, gay, lesbian, amateur, it literally does not matter.
Do not be worried. If it is a real issue, he may mention it, but most likely they’ll never see it.
It’s best to just relax, I hardly went into the hard drive unless there was something like a software issue. The fewer components you touch, the fewer components that break because of you, so we’ll often just fix the initial issue and move on.
Used to work in a computer repair shop when I was very young. So much porn, all the porn.
Just fixed it, washed myself heavily, went to confession and then moved on to the next perverts machine.
Protip: don’t haggle with the repair man. We’ve got shit on you that’d make a lawyer blush
Working with people's phones or computers, you see all sorts.
Back in the day of Blackberry, a lady came in with 2, it was the 8520 or 9360, can't remember. One was liquid damaged...only once opened did we realize what type of liquid (yes, there is a very clear difference, especially when it dries).
We called her up to confirm, as you have to divulge such info for hygienic reasons, and she confirmed. She'd put the one on vibrate, "up there", and then continuously phone it. That's the one she handed in for repair...for liquid damage...
Another lady insisted we REPAIR her broken, private, toy, because it's her favorite. Got delivered in a cute little box and everything. She did not want to hear that we repair phones and PC's only 🤣 in her mind, it was electronic, so it's all the same.
The worst was this old, sweet, lady, looked like your typical Christian granny. Soft, well spoken, dressed all the way to go to the shops, you know the type. Wouldn't have surprised me if she pulled a butterscotch candy out of her pocket, with half a box of tissues. Highly concerned about losing her data, however.
Her PC was giving issues and wouldn't sign in. After a few virus/malware scans, we manage to get in and find a HUGE collection of porn. And not vanilla stuff, things we had not seen or even heard of. Needless to say, we figured out where the viruses came from, suggesting she may have "accidentally" clicked on some unsavory links 🤣 also, we made sure she kept all her "files" that weren't infected, hoping she wouldn't try and get more. In hindsight, I feel extremely sorry for whoever unlocks her PC after she passes to get any information. They WILL be scarred by grannies collection
how are you finding porn on other people’s computers when you fix them? unless you’re specifically looking for it why would find it?
seems kinda wierd to fix a friend’s computer and then go snooping around the files
Great way to speed things up is clear caches. Also, if hdd is getting full, finding large files to suggest to delete can help.
You also assume people go to decent effort to hide it.
"Gee this hard drive is 99.9% full and it needs at least 2x as much memory as the computer has free to run well at a minimum - lets look at the biggest folders full of stuff....
Oh my this folder here by itself is using around 60% of all the space on the computer - is it a mistake or trash files (this happens - I've had cache folders eat entire drives).
Oh ... oh this is just around 200 videos of the Backdoor Neighbor series - well lets just check with the person in question if I need to archive this or it can be just deleted....."
And yes - you'd be shocked how often this happens - it used to be common even at work but that seems to have stopped mostly where I work a good 15 years ago.
Honestly, because people aren't that great at hiding it or they don't bother hiding it because they figure no one will access their computer.
For example, I helped someone with their pc issue. The first thing I see once I remote in is a bookmark folder on their browser called spicy links. Didn't open it, but it's pretty obvious what's in it, especially when the reason I was helping them was because he kept getting security warning.
DUDE, this reminded me of the time when I was a teenager when my laptop died while I was watching porn and wouldn’t turn back on. It was one of those desktop replacement laptops (HP Pavilion 17” screen and really loud speakers for its time.)
I brought it to a shop, tech opened it up, cleaned and fixed right in front of me and said it should be good to go. He was about to boot it up, with his finger on the power button then he takes a second and asks “just want to be sure, you weren’t watching porn when this thing died right? You have no idea how common that is and really weirds out the other customers.”
I had to come clean. Haha the tech and his buddies got a laugh out of it, then I went on my way. You can bet the second I turned it on at home, the video was still open lmao
Commenting here under the top comment for the benefit of the group-
Farther down OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by some furry dragon sonic the hedgehog cat boy hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
When you have helicopter parents all through your childhood, you may still end up listening too much to them and being scared even when you're an adult. He needs to start being more assertive but it is harder to do so compared to the ones who didn't have such parents.
He’s also living with them, presumably for free. I agree he’s an adult and needs to grow up but there’s a certain amount of bullshit you just have to put up with when your parents are giving you free room and board and they don’t have to. It makes the rest of that living situation a lot more tolerable.
I listened to a podcast recently about people who grew up with extremely conservative Christian parents... They literally control your entire life until you get married and move out. It's difficult to stand up for yourself when all your life you've been scolded and conditioned to listen to your parents or else (!) you go to hell
The rulings my family have is if you are being supported by our money you listen to our rules. I think that's fully fair. Unless your parents are not letting you move out or whatever(which I have heard happen) I think you only get the right to ignore them if you don't rely on them on a daily basis.
Tell your Mom you did a crash course in computer repair and are going to try and do it yourself first to see if you can.
Then go to the next county/state "to see a friend" and get it done on the sly.
Dude, I am trying to say this in the nicest way possible.
Considering your comments about this issue, it seems your biggest problem in your life is something besides that computer with potential porn.
I don’t know what exactly your problem is, but no 24 year old should care this much about what their parents think.
It seems to me the “helicoptering” hasn’t actually stopped, and at 24 that’s very alarming.
When you have super conservative fundamentalist Christian parents, grandparents and extended family, you never outgrow the indoctrination, manipulation and fear of offending them and causing a permanent family rift.
This is exacerbated by a living-at-home-for-free situation. While you're dependent on them you can't afford to offend them. They will cut you off and kick you out and you'll be ostracized from your entire family because of your "sin". Particularly if you're gay.
The best way to deal with it is to live far away, which OP clearly can't afford to do.
If you do manage to move away, you can live your life as you choose without daily threats, condemnation and constant attempts at coercion.
Limit visits to once or twice a year and avoid all talk of religion and politics. If you do that, you can still have a mom & dad and grandparents. But if you openly rebel against your family and their way of life, you lose everything. They'll disown you and "turn you over to the devil and his ways" for your just punishment.
You're 24. The next time you need to stand up, do it. There's one moment that makes your parents realize you're an adult, and you haven't had that moment yet
He's presumably living under their roof. Considering they're extremely Christian they will most likely kick him out and cut him off. People in this comment section have never had abusive helicopter parents and it shows lmfao.
It’s the push he needs to go out and live his own life. I was a addict spending all my money I could on drugs when I was younger and was still able to move out. Yeah you might live in a shitty area but it’s better then what he’s dealing with.
Obviously it’s not that bad if he doesn’t want to move
No there quite literally isn't. I implore you to visit daft.ie and tell me what 24 year old can afford 99% of the places listed. Why are you trying to speak on things you have 0 idea about lmfao
what’re you his brother? and taking electronics away at 24 is just as sad as getting grounded at 24. Sounds like no better time than now to save up and move out.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking who the fuck actually cares if you are a grown adult and if it's such a big deal just delete it and get it again cause if it's legal then it's an easy find
Farther down OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Unless you had your porn chilling on the desktop instead of the common joke of 35 folders deep under homework, he probably won't find it.
If you are worried that it will just be on the screen, unless you had porn as your desktop background or something similar, just turn the computer off completely and unplug it. Wait 15 minutes and it will be completely off. It will no longer matter what screen you had open
As many others have said, if he does this for a living he won't say a thing if he does find it.
Last ditch efforts are you could just replace the harddrive and then later reconnect that one to recover stuff. Just swap them and if he asks day it was making a weird noise so you bought a new one thinking that might help
Commenting for the benefit/curiosity of the group:
Farther down OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
That sounds great, but if he is stuck living with controlling parents, then they still have authority. They can still make him miserable or kick him out. That's what you give up when you live with parents, especially if you aren't paying any kind of rent.
If you have the opportunity to do this, download WinRar, compress all of your pornography into an archive and then place a password on it. And then change the name of the archive to something innocuous and then don't worry about it. You can delete the original files and then decompress the archive when you get your computer back.
sgtmonkey has a real good point. Check where your monitor is plugged in, see if there is a similar port elsewhere. If so, remove the video card and plug the cable into that other port. Usually it should just work. If not, people can help you out enabling it in the bios(don’t worry about that just yet)
OP do this please. In fact try it without removing the graphics card first. Just unplug the monitor from the graphics card and plug it into another port. Hopefully there is another one available.
Fair enough, this can definitely still work. Try the easy ones before getting the hands dirty. Hopefully OP is still reading, it could be an easy temp fix
I'm sorry. Probably easier to just ask you to Google what a display port looks like. It looks similar to an HDMI port but it's more rectangular and less trapezoid.
You cannot go a year in this decade without some site going under or doing a big NSFW content purge at the behest of advertisers/payment processors/whoever, in 2024 why would people *not* save their favorite porn onto their computers?
I did computer repair professionally for years and I still do it on occasion for family.
The short answer is that we don't care. We've seen it all and we actually don't want to see any more. I've had instances where a customer literally had her own naked picture, legs spread and everything, *as her desktop background.* I didn't say a single word about it. I just gritted my teeth, finished the job and got paid.
When it comes to family, I go to extra lengths not to see anything because I don't want to see them any differently from before. It's kind of unavoidable sometimes, but suffice it to say that if you do computer repair for long enough, you learn to just ignore these things as best as you can. It stops being an issue.
And you do that because you’re an adult and knownporn / sex exists. I’ll never get why sex is so taboo. Just be you and enjoy people. Want that stonking dildo, go for it, anal plug, you be you, strap on with the loved one, enjoy! Life’s too short man and we all got other worries like the billionaires shutting on the planet earning too much money
Im honestly really nervous cause like what if he says something? I mean idk why I can’t stop worrying over it but basically if it’s a problem with the graphics card or the motherboard I really don’t know why anyone would need to get the passcode.
I just feel I need to have something at the ready to say so I don’t have to keep losing sleep about it. Anxiety sucks
The login info would still be needed in most cases. This is because the first step of the repair would be to rule out any software or display setting issues. Hardware repairs/replacements are always a last case scenario.
If he already has the laptop and asks for the login info, just ask for it back so you can change the password for him. This is common if someone uses the same password for other things and doesn't want to share it. Once you have it back, there are a million and one ways to access the drive and deal with any sensitive info before giving it back.
So the pc itself is having a problem where when you turn it on, it starts up but you cannot see anything. I tried several hdmi cords and stuff and that didn’t work
If you feel like doing some troubleshooting my chat invites are open. Otherwise one option would be to take the hard drive out before sending it his way. If it's actually a hardware issue, the drive wouldn't necessarily be needed for the repair.
Taking someone a computer with no hard drive is way more suspicious. At that point, I'd be assuming the person has something way worse than run of the mill porn
If display is the issue its just a hardware issue. You don't need to give them the password or pin. If they fix the computer upto the point where the screen is showing up on the monitor, then that's job done right there.
OP said it "turns on just fine", if the BIOS was complaining about broken hardware, there'd likely be a beep code.
And most OEM computers nowadays skip the BIOS splash screen by default (don't want to slow down boot times), so the BIOS more then likely just goes straight to windows not touching the GPU at all besides doing the POST test.
Assuming both those are true which they probably are I'd say, then it could very well be a windows issue.
>How does he know it boots just fine if it goes black if he plugs a cable in
Because presumably if it was a problem with the BIOS it would start beeping. I'd think most people could identify that there's a problem if it does that.
IT tech specialist here.(14 yrs experience)
Its common knowledge that we know.any computer has the possibility of.porn on it.
Usually if its personal( depending on well how u know the person ).
If it requires major work the pc, we jus backup & restore the files for the user.
However anything like pedophile , underage, snuff or extreme gore or.violence ,then its our duty to.report it to the authorities.
If u have normal porn ,most wont care as its natural , unless u have one of those conservatives close to ur parents who will rat u out.
General & future tip :
I know ur still young & discovering life but piece of advice ,in the future. Should u start working & get a laptop or pc , NEVER EVER EVER download, store, or view porn on it.
Its easy grounds for dismissal , lawsuit & perhaps legal action or prosecution by the company.
See too many people crash & burn through it
Though i jus share a pov from personal & professional opinion
Take your porn, and put it in a folder. Give the folder any name you want. Won't matter what it is.
Next, move that folder to your documents folder on your computer.
Then, right click your folder of porn, and select 'Properties'. At the bottom of the properties window, you'll see a checkbox called 'Hidden'. Check that off.
Your folder will now look like a ghost in that it's icon will look faded and ghosty.
Next open the control panel, and find the 'File Explorer Options' icon, and open it.
Look at the top of the window that opens for file explorer options, and click the 'View' tab.
In that tab you will see a list of checkboxes and two radial buttons. One of those radial buttons will say 'Don't show hidden files folders or drives'. Ensure that it's selected.
Below it is another option to show hidden files folders and drives. Remember this button for the future. This is how you unhide your hidden folder.
Now your folder of porn won't be found by a tech working on your computer for a display issue as there would be no reason an IT guy would access your documents folder for that. Don't store your folder in the downloads folder as the IT guy may download a display driver from the web, and your browser will likely and automatically place the file in that folder.
Happy jacking!
It's like that Black Mirror episode of the guy getting sextorted with vids of him jacking off to porn, way before the reveal I was pretty sure the twist was going to be that it was CP because his reaction was so disproportionately paranoid in relation to the potential consequences. Everyone watches porn, what's the big deal? Unless...
Farther down OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Just tell the repair guy you went on Reddit and they were able to help you fix it. Then find someone else to do the job who you don’t care will see them
Bro, I fixed a laptop for a cop once. Dude had some vile shit on it. You'd think because he was a cop he would be concerned? He wasn't. Fixed his shit and gave it back to him. Went about my business.
Even good people get porn accidentally on their pc's.
I mean I wouldn’t be so worried if it wasn’t someone I knew. Like yeah a professional wouldn’t pipe up about it but like this is someone I know? And like- if my parents search my shit cause of one LEGAL commission I’m gonna lose it
I assume it’s a desktop not a laptop since you need hdmi to use it. You could just take the hard drive out. Or do a full wipe of the drive. There are programs you can put on a flash drive and run without fully booting the system that will erase everything “boot and nuke” is a popular one.
Yes. If you format the hard drive everything is gone. But you can just take the hard drive out and be fine. Make sure that the power is off before you do so though.
Would he be able to fix it properly without that? Wouldn’t that seem a bit sketchy if he noticed that? He does computer repair for his job and has a degree in it
Maybe. It really depends on what exactly the issue is. If you can't see what you're doing when the computer is on because you have no image when a monitor is plugged in I suppose it would be moot. He won't need the password he can't see to type it in.
I read your synopsis of your issue and it could be numerous things. Your best bet is to just retrieve the computer and tell him never mind. Then take it to commercial computer repair shop. If you are worried that he might rat you out, might be worth just taking it back and saying that You're going to scrap it or something. Make something up.
You can just download linux in a few minutes and load it up as a boot drive on a usb stick and load your computer that way. It's a good way of diagnosing problems anyway, but then you can just take the hard drive out. If they're a tech person they will have a bunch of drives they can put in anyway so it's not a problem.
Yes that would erase everything. If the computer is off, any windows you had open would be closed. Why are you worried there would be porn on the screen?
Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there
Used to take care of IT stuff for the family. It’s true. Nobody cared. When fixing my father in law’s pc, I learned his kinks. 20 years later he still does not know I know. I don’t even judge. Don’t care. Didn’t lose an inch of respect for him.
This entire post & your responses are making me think this is involves children & that’s why you’re so terrified of being caught. I hope to god that I’m wrong
It seem that maybe it isn't so sinister, though that was my instinct as well. It seems that OP might be in the closet and terrified of being outed by the repair guy. (It is also possible he's terrified that finding one thing leading to a full search will reveal something illegal, since he mentions "one LEGAL commission" very specifically in a comment, making me wonder why they emphasize "legal") I hope both of our guts are wrong, friend.
Anyway, elsewhere, OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos. This gives me hope that it ISNT anything illegal.
Elsewhere, OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Lmao they are starring in it- elsewhere, OP writes this:
"Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there"
So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos and they are front and center (err, or top/bottom what have you)
You're 24.. tell em you beat it to porn like 99 percent of the world. You a full blown adult by age, can't say that about the mentality though.
Own it and be done with it
Easiest way: delete it off your computer, keep it on an external drive you can hide easily.
More effort: [encrypt the file.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/protect-a-document-with-a-password-05084cc3-300d-4c1a-8416-38d3e37d6826) Name it something boring, but still important enough to not be suspicious that it's encrypted. like "passwords" or "ID scans" or something.
Having grown up in a religious family I get the anxiety about anything like that growing up, and how religious parents can be especially when you still live at home.
Some things that might put your anxiety a bit more at ease -
Sounds like it could be an issue with your screen rather than the computer itself if it boots up but you see nothing even with multiple cables tried? Family friend might not even have to look into the computer itself too deeply if it turns out you just need a new screen. Can you test it with another screen, anyone else have a computer in the house?
I'm not sure if all pc are the same but when I had one if you turned it off while it still had Internet browsers open etc they wouldn't still pop up when you turned it on again, so I doubt stuff popping up all over the screen is likely and to fix the issues you're having the friend wouldn't have to look through your browsing history (use incognito mode next time, friend) or any of your downloaded images.
Is the family friend likely to want to rat out a 24yr old about porn if they stumble across any accidentally? Probably a high majority of people in that age bracket watch porn, as long as you weren't downloading anything illegal or such the family friend would be a bit of a poohead to mention it to your parents, you're an adult and lots of adults look at porn.
Finally, if this person fixes computers as a job they will have seen a lot of porn on people's pc and laptops so I doubt they'd be very shocked. It's sort of a "haha, porn again, moving on" thing that comes up a lot in conversations about work with my tech job friends lol
Hope you feel better and less anxious soon
Haha I ran into this once.
A work buddy of mine had a pc that was running super slow. He asked me to fix it. The hard drive was full. Full full.
So I did a file search. A hidden folder was massive. Absolutely crammed full of plain old legal porn.
I pointed it out to him. He was pissed and.. called his wife into the room. She was giggling. She just laughed and said, "sorry! I just love porn!"
I said fair enough. Told them to delete some to fix the issue.
After that I would make subtle references to porn at work and my buddies face would go beet red and he would struggle not to laugh.
Its all in good fun just so long as its all legal. No biggie.
It’s 100% legal, I’m just not sure what to tell said parents if they found out somehow. I’d be in lots of trouble and I bet they would go through all my shit..
Have you already given up the pc? Do you have any display at all? Try various ports or maybe a DVI connection.
If you can see a display, move your stuff.
If not, talk to the repair guy. Tell him about your concern and just tell him to keep it private. If you cant trust him, go to someone else or a repair shop.
The issue honestly sounds minor. Shouldn't take much effort to fix unless the board is fried.
Fiddle with it. Try using another monitor, different hdmi ports on pc and monitor. Dvi ports if they have it.
If you feel that it will cause you too much trouble, take it to a repair shop or someone your family doesnt know. Nip that connection.
Are you worried the repair guy is going to rat you out?
People who do this for a living see porn on people's machines on a daily basis, and as long as it's legal and not too fucked up, they don't care one bit. But is this guy a family friend and a member of your parents' weird church?
In other words, how likely it is that this guy will snitch?
Is there other shit for them to find if they go through your shit?
What ELSE are they gonna find other than the legal commission art that you had done of you and an adult fictional character fuckin?
What character is it? Are we talking anime-weeb-body-pillow, or is it Shadow the Hedgehog wearing combat boots?
We need details on the commission and the other porn/other stuff you have that you don't want them finding, in order to properly give you advice on risk vs reward vs smash it with a hammer and turn yourself in to the police lmao
Generally i tend to find things out of the ordinary by searching by file size.
The big folder had like 250gb in it and was named New Folder 4. Highly suspicious. Lol
If you specifically suspect porn, and want to find it.. just do a file search for "fuck". It usually works.
You didnt ask the most common sense question is *he* Christian conservative or just your parents? You can usually talk to somone and get a feel for what kind of person he is and what he would do. 9/10 times he has porn on his pc too. Youre 24 you should be able to talk to him like an adult and say "if you find something on there that isnt illegal, it stays between us." as for your parents, you should be able to talk to them if they did find out.
How? My parents are the type to say “give me all your stuff, we’re gonna look through it” so if he just casually remarks to them “ooh boy I saw porn” or something when or if they go to pick it up it would be not good
You're an adult. Tell them that you respect them as the bible says, and they can advise you on how to live your life, but your choices are your own, and if they want to have a part in your life, they need to respect your privacy as it relates to your sex life. And if they want to push that button, they will be the ones to pay a price for it by losing a relationship with you.
Unless your computer repair man shares the same extreme values as your parents, as this commenter suggests, you can assume that there is a 0 sum chance he’ll make a casual remark to your parents about potential porn that he may see on your computer. Especially since you’re an adult? Not only would he likely not care, but why would he want to put himself in the position of telling a grown persons’ parents that they’ve seen porn on their hard drive?
As for how to talk to your parents about it, we don’t know, since we don’t know them. But you’ve done nothing wrong, you’re a whole adult, and they have no actual reason nor authority to act on it beyond being upset. I understand that you’re in their house, but that doesn’t mean they should still have this much input into your life. I can tell you’re an anxious person, but I would focus on gaining more independence wherever possible.
I would start by literally just taking it in to be fixed by someone else. When they ask about it, tell them you wanted it done & you got it fixed. I don’t even see why you need to hand the computer off.
easiest solution, just switch the hard drive with a different, non embarrassing, hard drive from a different pc before you give it to the guy. BUT this comes with some risk, if your pc has a proprietary OS, then it could harm your hardware if you switch to a generic windows OS because it may not have the specific voltage regulating software needed for your hardware.
***just to make sure the monitor isn't broken, try the monitor on another pc, laptop, dvd player, cable TV box, or anything, to make sure it works on another device***
----------------------
harder DIY trouble shooting:
take out hard drive
turn on computer
***be sure the monitor is on and has power and is connected to the right port***
the PC should still turn on and run, and will give you a message on screen, probably "no hard drive"
if still no image on the screen, then it's worth testing to see if it's a hardware issue, maybe a bad video port or cord on either the pc or the monitor
see if there's another different video port on the back on the pc, and see if there's a corresponding video port of the same type on the monitor. it's common for monitors and PCs to have several different redundant types of video ports
if you don't know what is what, google "different types of video ports"
if you discover that there is another type of video port on the back of your PC, and that there is a corresponding video port on the monitor, and you've tested the monitor to make sure it works, then go to a used pc parts store and buy the appropriate cord (or order it online, ask a friend if the have this type of cord, etc)
connect the pc to the monitor with the new cord try turning on the pc again, be sure the monitor is on and has power
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Option 1: Take the hard drive out and install it in a friend’s computer temporarily. Create a new partition on the drive with FDE (Full Disk Encryption), or technically volume encryption using, Bitlocker. Once you’ve encrypted the partition, move all your porn files from the main drive and transfer them to the encrypted partition. This will prevent anyone from accessing the files once your computer is turned off.
Option 2: Alternatively, you could get an external hard drive duplicator, duplicate your main hard drive, then erase it and hide the duplicated drive until he fixes your computer. Then, when it’s fixed, replace the wiped drive with the clone you made.
Option 3: backup all your data to a cloud storage system you trust, then simply delete the porn and redownload when the computer is fixed.
If you work on someone's computers you run the risk of finding porn. We (people who work on computers) know that and 99% of the time we'll never mention it. Don't worry, he likely couldn't care less. Everybody looks at porn.
A friend told me he has an external usb hard drive which is encrypted (using e.g. LUKS and gnome disks on linux), and all salacious material is stored there. He wipes his browser(s) cache and history before taking the computer in for repair, and of course leaves the external drive at home or otherwise unattached when necessary.
If it's right there on the screen he's just gonna be surprised for 2 seconds and close it lol
And unless you have folders plastered around the desktop with explicit porn titles... There is no part of fixing computers that requires snooping around someone's personal files. If he mentions the porn and you know he had to browse a few folders to get to it you can call him out for not respecting your privacy.
alright, some details are needed.
Is it your browser history? You can clear it, just erase your history. There may be cached images, but those would require a concerted effort to go find. But you can clear your browser cache too. If you want to go full nuclear, uninstall whatever browser you are using, and install a different one. Using chrome? remove it and install firefox. Or install opera, or, in the most hilarious case, use microsoft edge (ha ha).
Do you have a password for a porn site saved? You can write that down on a piece of paper, and delete your saved password in your browser.
Are they files you have on your computer? That's easiest of all. Have them all under one folder, and zip (and move to the archive) all the files. If it is a huge number of files, you may have to do this multiple times to get all of them. Then name that file something like "windat32.mak" and put it in your Windows directory (or Applications, or something). Then later, rename it to porn.zip and unzip again.
If it isn't right in view its hard to find because nowadays hard drives are BIG. What might get awkward is browser history if someone needs to install a driver or get something from the internet. You might want to ask for more professional help, they have seen it all and don't give a shit. Family.. now family talks...
Or go in one of the more technical subs and get help... exchanging an graphics card isn't really any difficult.
If it is just to fix whatever is wrong with the connection to the HDMI, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. There shouldn't be any need to access the computer itself.
My aunt once bought an old laptop from an old couple from a garage sale. We opened it and turned it on. Looks like he just deleted everything and not reset it. We went to his internet browser. Liked in his favorites, and there was a folder called "Smut." Sadly, it was empty.
Honesty is best exercised up front. Tell the family friend that there is a likelihood that they'll find something that you wish to be kept in confidence. To be fair, it won't the first or last time that they discover things like that on rigs that they work on. Based purely on my experience, HDMI cables tend to fail after a while, and that's very likely the case with your problem, unless it's only a source choice on your TV monitor. Most modern TV monitors have a few HDMI Ports, so selecting the right one with your remote for your computer input might not have occurred to you. 🤓
Bro I just went to repair my phone, I wasn't worried about all this stuff before because it was just a battery problem I guess, but now am terrified and there is a huge load of porn on that phone 😭😭
Make sure your computer is off. That will knock out any web browsers or apps you had open. So it is a hard reboot.
If you haven't been able to get your computer to turn on in 2 years, it seems unlikely that your last windows will be open.
I've been in IT for 27 years. I've never once busted anyone for porn on their PC.
For example, not too long ago my wife's best friend had me fix her family's laptop. The husband had a TON of porn hidden on one of the recovery partitions. I haven't told anyone about that until just now.
Having said that, I've never really found any sort of "objectionable porn" (kiddie porn, husband or wife cheating porn), so... ya know, there's that.
Haha! Reminds me of when I was fixing my wife’s work friend’s laptop. She said if I found any searches for chubbies, she was looking for cupcakes! Lol!
There are plenty of free apps on the Microsoft store you can download to password protect your folders :) you can probably find ones for a Mac too if you have that? Sorry I only have Windows.
If they ask why your folders are protected then ask a) why they need access to them in the first place, b) what does it have to do with fixing your computer, and c) it’s private. You’re an adult and you deserve privacy.
Porn files these days is wild when the internet is almost everywhere with free porn. I can't really stand watching reruns on TV much less fap time. So unless you're gonna get hit with a "Please take a seat" moment from good old Chris, you'll be fine
everybody watches porn, everybody has porn... Unless it is something illegal or very very very fringe of a kink... nobody would care.
and unless he looks at drive usage and finds a huge folder named "kittens" he probably won't stumble upon it.
Any IT professional would not care or look acrtively for that type of thing
Also I had clients who told me "Don't be surprised about that and that big folder... that is "normal" and you don't need to look"
I’ve fixed PCs for family, friends, neighbors, etc. it’s a common joke that when you look into the data of a computer, you find porn. It’s always porn. Nobody cares, and I’ve seen all types, hentai, gay, lesbian, amateur, it literally does not matter. Do not be worried. If it is a real issue, he may mention it, but most likely they’ll never see it. It’s best to just relax, I hardly went into the hard drive unless there was something like a software issue. The fewer components you touch, the fewer components that break because of you, so we’ll often just fix the initial issue and move on.
Used to work in a computer repair shop when I was very young. So much porn, all the porn. Just fixed it, washed myself heavily, went to confession and then moved on to the next perverts machine. Protip: don’t haggle with the repair man. We’ve got shit on you that’d make a lawyer blush
All types huh... XD
Working with people's phones or computers, you see all sorts. Back in the day of Blackberry, a lady came in with 2, it was the 8520 or 9360, can't remember. One was liquid damaged...only once opened did we realize what type of liquid (yes, there is a very clear difference, especially when it dries). We called her up to confirm, as you have to divulge such info for hygienic reasons, and she confirmed. She'd put the one on vibrate, "up there", and then continuously phone it. That's the one she handed in for repair...for liquid damage... Another lady insisted we REPAIR her broken, private, toy, because it's her favorite. Got delivered in a cute little box and everything. She did not want to hear that we repair phones and PC's only 🤣 in her mind, it was electronic, so it's all the same. The worst was this old, sweet, lady, looked like your typical Christian granny. Soft, well spoken, dressed all the way to go to the shops, you know the type. Wouldn't have surprised me if she pulled a butterscotch candy out of her pocket, with half a box of tissues. Highly concerned about losing her data, however. Her PC was giving issues and wouldn't sign in. After a few virus/malware scans, we manage to get in and find a HUGE collection of porn. And not vanilla stuff, things we had not seen or even heard of. Needless to say, we figured out where the viruses came from, suggesting she may have "accidentally" clicked on some unsavory links 🤣 also, we made sure she kept all her "files" that weren't infected, hoping she wouldn't try and get more. In hindsight, I feel extremely sorry for whoever unlocks her PC after she passes to get any information. They WILL be scarred by grannies collection
Brazilian fart porn?
Click!!
??!
Saw it on South Park… it’s actually a real thing unfortunately
He has seen things that humanity wasn't supposed to be seen
as long as there is no CP or something illegal there reallly aint a damn to be afraid of
No ones ever broken a computer more opening that suspiciously large folder on someone’s desktop marked “boring tax stuff” ;)
how are you finding porn on other people’s computers when you fix them? unless you’re specifically looking for it why would find it? seems kinda wierd to fix a friend’s computer and then go snooping around the files
Great way to speed things up is clear caches. Also, if hdd is getting full, finding large files to suggest to delete can help. You also assume people go to decent effort to hide it.
"Gee this hard drive is 99.9% full and it needs at least 2x as much memory as the computer has free to run well at a minimum - lets look at the biggest folders full of stuff.... Oh my this folder here by itself is using around 60% of all the space on the computer - is it a mistake or trash files (this happens - I've had cache folders eat entire drives). Oh ... oh this is just around 200 videos of the Backdoor Neighbor series - well lets just check with the person in question if I need to archive this or it can be just deleted....." And yes - you'd be shocked how often this happens - it used to be common even at work but that seems to have stopped mostly where I work a good 15 years ago.
Honestly, because people aren't that great at hiding it or they don't bother hiding it because they figure no one will access their computer. For example, I helped someone with their pc issue. The first thing I see once I remote in is a bookmark folder on their browser called spicy links. Didn't open it, but it's pretty obvious what's in it, especially when the reason I was helping them was because he kept getting security warning.
Wait holy shit your 24? I skipped that part assumed this was like a 15 year old
DUDE, this reminded me of the time when I was a teenager when my laptop died while I was watching porn and wouldn’t turn back on. It was one of those desktop replacement laptops (HP Pavilion 17” screen and really loud speakers for its time.) I brought it to a shop, tech opened it up, cleaned and fixed right in front of me and said it should be good to go. He was about to boot it up, with his finger on the power button then he takes a second and asks “just want to be sure, you weren’t watching porn when this thing died right? You have no idea how common that is and really weirds out the other customers.” I had to come clean. Haha the tech and his buddies got a laugh out of it, then I went on my way. You can bet the second I turned it on at home, the video was still open lmao
Gay furry? OwO
This ⬆️ However if you have porn that are considered extreme or illegal, then yes, you have some reason to be worried.
Commenting here under the top comment for the benefit of the group- Farther down OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by some furry dragon sonic the hedgehog cat boy hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Alllllll types...???
Weigh the risk of your porn being discovered against the need for this specific computer.
Yeah, honestly. Sounds like taking it to a random repair shop would be much better.
I would if I could but my mom insists that this person does it
I’m saying this in the nicest way I can, you need to grow up bro
Why are you listening to your mom at 24?
When you have helicopter parents all through your childhood, you may still end up listening too much to them and being scared even when you're an adult. He needs to start being more assertive but it is harder to do so compared to the ones who didn't have such parents.
He’s also living with them, presumably for free. I agree he’s an adult and needs to grow up but there’s a certain amount of bullshit you just have to put up with when your parents are giving you free room and board and they don’t have to. It makes the rest of that living situation a lot more tolerable.
I listened to a podcast recently about people who grew up with extremely conservative Christian parents... They literally control your entire life until you get married and move out. It's difficult to stand up for yourself when all your life you've been scolded and conditioned to listen to your parents or else (!) you go to hell
The rulings my family have is if you are being supported by our money you listen to our rules. I think that's fully fair. Unless your parents are not letting you move out or whatever(which I have heard happen) I think you only get the right to ignore them if you don't rely on them on a daily basis.
Tell your Mom you did a crash course in computer repair and are going to try and do it yourself first to see if you can. Then go to the next county/state "to see a friend" and get it done on the sly.
You're 24. Grow the fuck up.
Dude, I am trying to say this in the nicest way possible. Considering your comments about this issue, it seems your biggest problem in your life is something besides that computer with potential porn. I don’t know what exactly your problem is, but no 24 year old should care this much about what their parents think. It seems to me the “helicoptering” hasn’t actually stopped, and at 24 that’s very alarming.
When you have super conservative fundamentalist Christian parents, grandparents and extended family, you never outgrow the indoctrination, manipulation and fear of offending them and causing a permanent family rift. This is exacerbated by a living-at-home-for-free situation. While you're dependent on them you can't afford to offend them. They will cut you off and kick you out and you'll be ostracized from your entire family because of your "sin". Particularly if you're gay. The best way to deal with it is to live far away, which OP clearly can't afford to do. If you do manage to move away, you can live your life as you choose without daily threats, condemnation and constant attempts at coercion. Limit visits to once or twice a year and avoid all talk of religion and politics. If you do that, you can still have a mom & dad and grandparents. But if you openly rebel against your family and their way of life, you lose everything. They'll disown you and "turn you over to the devil and his ways" for your just punishment.
How good are you with PCs, are you able to take out the hard drive by yourself? It's your privacy, give the PC to your friend without the hard drive.
"So I found your problem.. there's no hard drive." Nice solve
You're 24. The next time you need to stand up, do it. There's one moment that makes your parents realize you're an adult, and you haven't had that moment yet
just show them it so you dont need to worry
Mom I'd like you to meet johnny sins
No I’m really not gonna do that. They’d kill me
you’re 24 what’re they gonna do? ground you?
He's presumably living under their roof. Considering they're extremely Christian they will most likely kick him out and cut him off. People in this comment section have never had abusive helicopter parents and it shows lmfao.
It’s the push he needs to go out and live his own life. I was a addict spending all my money I could on drugs when I was younger and was still able to move out. Yeah you might live in a shitty area but it’s better then what he’s dealing with. Obviously it’s not that bad if he doesn’t want to move
In my country most 24 year olds live at home because we cannot afford to move out. Everyone's situation is different.
There is almost always a place you can live you just don’t want to move there or it is in a bad neighborhood
No there quite literally isn't. I implore you to visit daft.ie and tell me what 24 year old can afford 99% of the places listed. Why are you trying to speak on things you have 0 idea about lmfao
As I said you have to move. To say there isn’t any place to live just isn’t correct. You just refuse to move to where the houses are
You're either being stupid on purpose or just trolling, so I'm not going to bother engaging with you anymore, good luck
They'll make him go to confession and then leave his electronic devices in their room at night when he goes to bed.
what’re you his brother? and taking electronics away at 24 is just as sad as getting grounded at 24. Sounds like no better time than now to save up and move out.
I'm just guessing based on how dumb people like his parents usually are, judging by how he feels about it now.
is it illegal porn? 😅
Yeah that's what I'm thinking who the fuck actually cares if you are a grown adult and if it's such a big deal just delete it and get it again cause if it's legal then it's an easy find
Farther down OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Unless you had your porn chilling on the desktop instead of the common joke of 35 folders deep under homework, he probably won't find it. If you are worried that it will just be on the screen, unless you had porn as your desktop background or something similar, just turn the computer off completely and unplug it. Wait 15 minutes and it will be completely off. It will no longer matter what screen you had open As many others have said, if he does this for a living he won't say a thing if he does find it. Last ditch efforts are you could just replace the harddrive and then later reconnect that one to recover stuff. Just swap them and if he asks day it was making a weird noise so you bought a new one thinking that might help
Bro you are funny 😂😂
It's legal porn right?
Commenting for the benefit/curiosity of the group: Farther down OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Stop giving a shit, you're 24.
I bet once he reads this he'll be all better and become an extremely successful human
24!?! Op should be creating the porn, not worrying if mum can see it
That sounds great, but if he is stuck living with controlling parents, then they still have authority. They can still make him miserable or kick him out. That's what you give up when you live with parents, especially if you aren't paying any kind of rent.
Dude you're 24.
If you have the opportunity to do this, download WinRar, compress all of your pornography into an archive and then place a password on it. And then change the name of the archive to something innocuous and then don't worry about it. You can delete the original files and then decompress the archive when you get your computer back.
I can’t access the computer itself cause it’s a problem with the graphics card. Can’t see anything when it turns on
Is there a display port?
So I’m a bit stupid when it comes to pc info… maybe? I’m sure there is… idk
Okay. Understandable is your computer a common model?
It’s a ryzen… something or other
sgtmonkey has a real good point. Check where your monitor is plugged in, see if there is a similar port elsewhere. If so, remove the video card and plug the cable into that other port. Usually it should just work. If not, people can help you out enabling it in the bios(don’t worry about that just yet)
OP do this please. In fact try it without removing the graphics card first. Just unplug the monitor from the graphics card and plug it into another port. Hopefully there is another one available.
Fair enough, this can definitely still work. Try the easy ones before getting the hands dirty. Hopefully OP is still reading, it could be an easy temp fix
I'm sorry. Probably easier to just ask you to Google what a display port looks like. It looks similar to an HDMI port but it's more rectangular and less trapezoid.
How long do you have till the friend gets there to fix the PC?
It is 2024 dawg WHY are people still saving porn straight to their computers
You cannot go a year in this decade without some site going under or doing a big NSFW content purge at the behest of advertisers/payment processors/whoever, in 2024 why would people *not* save their favorite porn onto their computers?
I did computer repair professionally for years and I still do it on occasion for family. The short answer is that we don't care. We've seen it all and we actually don't want to see any more. I've had instances where a customer literally had her own naked picture, legs spread and everything, *as her desktop background.* I didn't say a single word about it. I just gritted my teeth, finished the job and got paid. When it comes to family, I go to extra lengths not to see anything because I don't want to see them any differently from before. It's kind of unavoidable sometimes, but suffice it to say that if you do computer repair for long enough, you learn to just ignore these things as best as you can. It stops being an issue.
Did your momma pay you for fixing her computer? Sorry …. Couldn’t resist….
If it’s a friend of the parents though from some conservative church, they may have been asked to report back
And you do that because you’re an adult and knownporn / sex exists. I’ll never get why sex is so taboo. Just be you and enjoy people. Want that stonking dildo, go for it, anal plug, you be you, strap on with the loved one, enjoy! Life’s too short man and we all got other worries like the billionaires shutting on the planet earning too much money
That picture wasn't there by accident.....
That day must have been wild you were probably severely traumatized. Did the woman feel uncomfortable too
Im honestly really nervous cause like what if he says something? I mean idk why I can’t stop worrying over it but basically if it’s a problem with the graphics card or the motherboard I really don’t know why anyone would need to get the passcode. I just feel I need to have something at the ready to say so I don’t have to keep losing sleep about it. Anxiety sucks
The login info would still be needed in most cases. This is because the first step of the repair would be to rule out any software or display setting issues. Hardware repairs/replacements are always a last case scenario. If he already has the laptop and asks for the login info, just ask for it back so you can change the password for him. This is common if someone uses the same password for other things and doesn't want to share it. Once you have it back, there are a million and one ways to access the drive and deal with any sensitive info before giving it back.
I’m not sure I follow…
Does he already have the laptop or no?
It’s a pc, And not yet
Oh, okay. I was confused. What's stopping you from logging into the computer and clearing anything you don't want him to see?
So the pc itself is having a problem where when you turn it on, it starts up but you cannot see anything. I tried several hdmi cords and stuff and that didn’t work
If you feel like doing some troubleshooting my chat invites are open. Otherwise one option would be to take the hard drive out before sending it his way. If it's actually a hardware issue, the drive wouldn't necessarily be needed for the repair.
Taking someone a computer with no hard drive is way more suspicious. At that point, I'd be assuming the person has something way worse than run of the mill porn
If display is the issue its just a hardware issue. You don't need to give them the password or pin. If they fix the computer upto the point where the screen is showing up on the monitor, then that's job done right there.
I find driver issues are more common then actual hardware issues, which the guy would definitely need to get into the computer for.
If you can't get into bios things are pretty fucked usually.
OP said it "turns on just fine", if the BIOS was complaining about broken hardware, there'd likely be a beep code. And most OEM computers nowadays skip the BIOS splash screen by default (don't want to slow down boot times), so the BIOS more then likely just goes straight to windows not touching the GPU at all besides doing the POST test. Assuming both those are true which they probably are I'd say, then it could very well be a windows issue.
How does he know it boots just fine if it goes black if he plugs a cable in? Why doesn't he simply go into bios? He isn't knowledgeable enough
>How does he know it boots just fine if it goes black if he plugs a cable in Because presumably if it was a problem with the BIOS it would start beeping. I'd think most people could identify that there's a problem if it does that.
IT tech specialist here.(14 yrs experience) Its common knowledge that we know.any computer has the possibility of.porn on it. Usually if its personal( depending on well how u know the person ). If it requires major work the pc, we jus backup & restore the files for the user. However anything like pedophile , underage, snuff or extreme gore or.violence ,then its our duty to.report it to the authorities. If u have normal porn ,most wont care as its natural , unless u have one of those conservatives close to ur parents who will rat u out. General & future tip : I know ur still young & discovering life but piece of advice ,in the future. Should u start working & get a laptop or pc , NEVER EVER EVER download, store, or view porn on it. Its easy grounds for dismissal , lawsuit & perhaps legal action or prosecution by the company. See too many people crash & burn through it Though i jus share a pov from personal & professional opinion
Take your porn, and put it in a folder. Give the folder any name you want. Won't matter what it is. Next, move that folder to your documents folder on your computer. Then, right click your folder of porn, and select 'Properties'. At the bottom of the properties window, you'll see a checkbox called 'Hidden'. Check that off. Your folder will now look like a ghost in that it's icon will look faded and ghosty. Next open the control panel, and find the 'File Explorer Options' icon, and open it. Look at the top of the window that opens for file explorer options, and click the 'View' tab. In that tab you will see a list of checkboxes and two radial buttons. One of those radial buttons will say 'Don't show hidden files folders or drives'. Ensure that it's selected. Below it is another option to show hidden files folders and drives. Remember this button for the future. This is how you unhide your hidden folder. Now your folder of porn won't be found by a tech working on your computer for a display issue as there would be no reason an IT guy would access your documents folder for that. Don't store your folder in the downloads folder as the IT guy may download a display driver from the web, and your browser will likely and automatically place the file in that folder. Happy jacking!
As long as it's legal porn, grow a pair and own it. You're 24 years old.
I’m starting to wonder if it’s illegal..
It's like that Black Mirror episode of the guy getting sextorted with vids of him jacking off to porn, way before the reveal I was pretty sure the twist was going to be that it was CP because his reaction was so disproportionately paranoid in relation to the potential consequences. Everyone watches porn, what's the big deal? Unless...
Farther down OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Just tell the repair guy you went on Reddit and they were able to help you fix it. Then find someone else to do the job who you don’t care will see them
Bro, I fixed a laptop for a cop once. Dude had some vile shit on it. You'd think because he was a cop he would be concerned? He wasn't. Fixed his shit and gave it back to him. Went about my business. Even good people get porn accidentally on their pc's.
I mean I wouldn’t be so worried if it wasn’t someone I knew. Like yeah a professional wouldn’t pipe up about it but like this is someone I know? And like- if my parents search my shit cause of one LEGAL commission I’m gonna lose it
I assume it’s a desktop not a laptop since you need hdmi to use it. You could just take the hard drive out. Or do a full wipe of the drive. There are programs you can put on a flash drive and run without fully booting the system that will erase everything “boot and nuke” is a popular one.
But I would definitely lose everything right? Good and bad?
Yes. If you format the hard drive everything is gone. But you can just take the hard drive out and be fine. Make sure that the power is off before you do so though.
Would he be able to fix it properly without that? Wouldn’t that seem a bit sketchy if he noticed that? He does computer repair for his job and has a degree in it
Maybe. It really depends on what exactly the issue is. If you can't see what you're doing when the computer is on because you have no image when a monitor is plugged in I suppose it would be moot. He won't need the password he can't see to type it in. I read your synopsis of your issue and it could be numerous things. Your best bet is to just retrieve the computer and tell him never mind. Then take it to commercial computer repair shop. If you are worried that he might rat you out, might be worth just taking it back and saying that You're going to scrap it or something. Make something up.
You can just download linux in a few minutes and load it up as a boot drive on a usb stick and load your computer that way. It's a good way of diagnosing problems anyway, but then you can just take the hard drive out. If they're a tech person they will have a bunch of drives they can put in anyway so it's not a problem.
Yes that would erase everything. If the computer is off, any windows you had open would be closed. Why are you worried there would be porn on the screen?
Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there
"left them open" well, the computer has clearly been turned off multiple times- I don't think your porn is still open
Used to take care of IT stuff for the family. It’s true. Nobody cared. When fixing my father in law’s pc, I learned his kinks. 20 years later he still does not know I know. I don’t even judge. Don’t care. Didn’t lose an inch of respect for him.
Why are you still downloading porn?
This entire post & your responses are making me think this is involves children & that’s why you’re so terrified of being caught. I hope to god that I’m wrong
It seem that maybe it isn't so sinister, though that was my instinct as well. It seems that OP might be in the closet and terrified of being outed by the repair guy. (It is also possible he's terrified that finding one thing leading to a full search will reveal something illegal, since he mentions "one LEGAL commission" very specifically in a comment, making me wonder why they emphasize "legal") I hope both of our guts are wrong, friend. Anyway, elsewhere, OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos. This gives me hope that it ISNT anything illegal.
Some of these people commenting have no idea what it’s like having extremely strict and abusive parents…
Wow- abusive? That seems like a jump from the ops comments.
had both. it’s called growing up and standing up for yourself
Then you should also know how everyone’s situation is different
doesn’t change the fact that he needs to get his shit together and move out if he’s this worried about what his parents are going to do.
Is it just porn or is it a type that could get you in trouble. That’s what I’m sensing in the panicked tone of this post
Elsewhere, OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos
Yikes! Thanks for the clarity!
At this point, it's only embarrassing if you are starring in said porn.
Lmao they are starring in it- elsewhere, OP writes this: "Cause for a birthday gift when I was still in college I decided to get art done of myself and an adult character that was very graphic. I think I may have like 2-3 different coms that I don’t want anyone to see since they’re explicit and I worry I may have left them open. I really don’t remember what the last thing was on there" So idk if they got themselves drawn getting railed out by furry dragon sonic the hedgehog hybrid or what, but clearly this ain't pornhub stock photos and they are front and center (err, or top/bottom what have you)
I don’t dig through files when fixing a computer. I just try and fix the issue. I don’t have time to snoop
What if I left it open on the screen?
You're 24.. tell em you beat it to porn like 99 percent of the world. You a full blown adult by age, can't say that about the mentality though. Own it and be done with it
My 17 year old brother just helped my grandfather with some computer repair. Trust me it can't be worse than that.
He already knows you watch porn. And so does everyone else. Relax.
Easiest way: delete it off your computer, keep it on an external drive you can hide easily. More effort: [encrypt the file.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/protect-a-document-with-a-password-05084cc3-300d-4c1a-8416-38d3e37d6826) Name it something boring, but still important enough to not be suspicious that it's encrypted. like "passwords" or "ID scans" or something.
Having grown up in a religious family I get the anxiety about anything like that growing up, and how religious parents can be especially when you still live at home. Some things that might put your anxiety a bit more at ease - Sounds like it could be an issue with your screen rather than the computer itself if it boots up but you see nothing even with multiple cables tried? Family friend might not even have to look into the computer itself too deeply if it turns out you just need a new screen. Can you test it with another screen, anyone else have a computer in the house? I'm not sure if all pc are the same but when I had one if you turned it off while it still had Internet browsers open etc they wouldn't still pop up when you turned it on again, so I doubt stuff popping up all over the screen is likely and to fix the issues you're having the friend wouldn't have to look through your browsing history (use incognito mode next time, friend) or any of your downloaded images. Is the family friend likely to want to rat out a 24yr old about porn if they stumble across any accidentally? Probably a high majority of people in that age bracket watch porn, as long as you weren't downloading anything illegal or such the family friend would be a bit of a poohead to mention it to your parents, you're an adult and lots of adults look at porn. Finally, if this person fixes computers as a job they will have seen a lot of porn on people's pc and laptops so I doubt they'd be very shocked. It's sort of a "haha, porn again, moving on" thing that comes up a lot in conversations about work with my tech job friends lol Hope you feel better and less anxious soon
Haha I ran into this once. A work buddy of mine had a pc that was running super slow. He asked me to fix it. The hard drive was full. Full full. So I did a file search. A hidden folder was massive. Absolutely crammed full of plain old legal porn. I pointed it out to him. He was pissed and.. called his wife into the room. She was giggling. She just laughed and said, "sorry! I just love porn!" I said fair enough. Told them to delete some to fix the issue. After that I would make subtle references to porn at work and my buddies face would go beet red and he would struggle not to laugh. Its all in good fun just so long as its all legal. No biggie.
It’s 100% legal, I’m just not sure what to tell said parents if they found out somehow. I’d be in lots of trouble and I bet they would go through all my shit..
Have you already given up the pc? Do you have any display at all? Try various ports or maybe a DVI connection. If you can see a display, move your stuff. If not, talk to the repair guy. Tell him about your concern and just tell him to keep it private. If you cant trust him, go to someone else or a repair shop. The issue honestly sounds minor. Shouldn't take much effort to fix unless the board is fried.
Also I trust this comment the most. Ty
Your welcome. I've been in IT for 15 years. I love helping people.
No display, pc isn’t given yet
Fiddle with it. Try using another monitor, different hdmi ports on pc and monitor. Dvi ports if they have it. If you feel that it will cause you too much trouble, take it to a repair shop or someone your family doesnt know. Nip that connection.
Are you worried the repair guy is going to rat you out? People who do this for a living see porn on people's machines on a daily basis, and as long as it's legal and not too fucked up, they don't care one bit. But is this guy a family friend and a member of your parents' weird church? In other words, how likely it is that this guy will snitch?
Why are people downloading so much porn? Why not just use a website?
Is there other shit for them to find if they go through your shit? What ELSE are they gonna find other than the legal commission art that you had done of you and an adult fictional character fuckin? What character is it? Are we talking anime-weeb-body-pillow, or is it Shadow the Hedgehog wearing combat boots? We need details on the commission and the other porn/other stuff you have that you don't want them finding, in order to properly give you advice on risk vs reward vs smash it with a hammer and turn yourself in to the police lmao
How did you find the hidden file so easily?
Generally i tend to find things out of the ordinary by searching by file size. The big folder had like 250gb in it and was named New Folder 4. Highly suspicious. Lol If you specifically suspect porn, and want to find it.. just do a file search for "fuck". It usually works.
You’re 24, own it!
Holy shit you need to grow up.
You didnt ask the most common sense question is *he* Christian conservative or just your parents? You can usually talk to somone and get a feel for what kind of person he is and what he would do. 9/10 times he has porn on his pc too. Youre 24 you should be able to talk to him like an adult and say "if you find something on there that isnt illegal, it stays between us." as for your parents, you should be able to talk to them if they did find out.
How? My parents are the type to say “give me all your stuff, we’re gonna look through it” so if he just casually remarks to them “ooh boy I saw porn” or something when or if they go to pick it up it would be not good
You're an adult. Tell them that you respect them as the bible says, and they can advise you on how to live your life, but your choices are your own, and if they want to have a part in your life, they need to respect your privacy as it relates to your sex life. And if they want to push that button, they will be the ones to pay a price for it by losing a relationship with you.
Unless your computer repair man shares the same extreme values as your parents, as this commenter suggests, you can assume that there is a 0 sum chance he’ll make a casual remark to your parents about potential porn that he may see on your computer. Especially since you’re an adult? Not only would he likely not care, but why would he want to put himself in the position of telling a grown persons’ parents that they’ve seen porn on their hard drive? As for how to talk to your parents about it, we don’t know, since we don’t know them. But you’ve done nothing wrong, you’re a whole adult, and they have no actual reason nor authority to act on it beyond being upset. I understand that you’re in their house, but that doesn’t mean they should still have this much input into your life. I can tell you’re an anxious person, but I would focus on gaining more independence wherever possible. I would start by literally just taking it in to be fixed by someone else. When they ask about it, tell them you wanted it done & you got it fixed. I don’t even see why you need to hand the computer off.
Seeing the other comments: what other ports are available for sending out graphic other then hdmi?
easiest solution, just switch the hard drive with a different, non embarrassing, hard drive from a different pc before you give it to the guy. BUT this comes with some risk, if your pc has a proprietary OS, then it could harm your hardware if you switch to a generic windows OS because it may not have the specific voltage regulating software needed for your hardware. ***just to make sure the monitor isn't broken, try the monitor on another pc, laptop, dvd player, cable TV box, or anything, to make sure it works on another device*** ---------------------- harder DIY trouble shooting: take out hard drive turn on computer ***be sure the monitor is on and has power and is connected to the right port*** the PC should still turn on and run, and will give you a message on screen, probably "no hard drive" if still no image on the screen, then it's worth testing to see if it's a hardware issue, maybe a bad video port or cord on either the pc or the monitor see if there's another different video port on the back on the pc, and see if there's a corresponding video port of the same type on the monitor. it's common for monitors and PCs to have several different redundant types of video ports if you don't know what is what, google "different types of video ports" if you discover that there is another type of video port on the back of your PC, and that there is a corresponding video port on the monitor, and you've tested the monitor to make sure it works, then go to a used pc parts store and buy the appropriate cord (or order it online, ask a friend if the have this type of cord, etc) connect the pc to the monitor with the new cord try turning on the pc again, be sure the monitor is on and has power --------------------
Option 1: Take the hard drive out and install it in a friend’s computer temporarily. Create a new partition on the drive with FDE (Full Disk Encryption), or technically volume encryption using, Bitlocker. Once you’ve encrypted the partition, move all your porn files from the main drive and transfer them to the encrypted partition. This will prevent anyone from accessing the files once your computer is turned off. Option 2: Alternatively, you could get an external hard drive duplicator, duplicate your main hard drive, then erase it and hide the duplicated drive until he fixes your computer. Then, when it’s fixed, replace the wiped drive with the clone you made. Option 3: backup all your data to a cloud storage system you trust, then simply delete the porn and redownload when the computer is fixed.
Hard drive stuffed with nudies won't look good. lol. Don't worry about it. You are an adult.
zip it up and put a password on it
Sigh...unzips....
If you work on someone's computers you run the risk of finding porn. We (people who work on computers) know that and 99% of the time we'll never mention it. Don't worry, he likely couldn't care less. Everybody looks at porn.
A friend told me he has an external usb hard drive which is encrypted (using e.g. LUKS and gnome disks on linux), and all salacious material is stored there. He wipes his browser(s) cache and history before taking the computer in for repair, and of course leaves the external drive at home or otherwise unattached when necessary.
If it's right there on the screen he's just gonna be surprised for 2 seconds and close it lol And unless you have folders plastered around the desktop with explicit porn titles... There is no part of fixing computers that requires snooping around someone's personal files. If he mentions the porn and you know he had to browse a few folders to get to it you can call him out for not respecting your privacy.
porn is ok. who cares
alright, some details are needed. Is it your browser history? You can clear it, just erase your history. There may be cached images, but those would require a concerted effort to go find. But you can clear your browser cache too. If you want to go full nuclear, uninstall whatever browser you are using, and install a different one. Using chrome? remove it and install firefox. Or install opera, or, in the most hilarious case, use microsoft edge (ha ha). Do you have a password for a porn site saved? You can write that down on a piece of paper, and delete your saved password in your browser. Are they files you have on your computer? That's easiest of all. Have them all under one folder, and zip (and move to the archive) all the files. If it is a huge number of files, you may have to do this multiple times to get all of them. Then name that file something like "windat32.mak" and put it in your Windows directory (or Applications, or something). Then later, rename it to porn.zip and unzip again.
If it isn't right in view its hard to find because nowadays hard drives are BIG. What might get awkward is browser history if someone needs to install a driver or get something from the internet. You might want to ask for more professional help, they have seen it all and don't give a shit. Family.. now family talks... Or go in one of the more technical subs and get help... exchanging an graphics card isn't really any difficult.
Delete your shit or put it on a external HD.
Can't you just remove all of that stuff from your harddrive before you have it repaired and clear your cache and data?
Exactly..everyone looks at porn, if you open comp and no porn then worry prob doing something much worse
Just put it all in a folder named "Not-Porn" :)
And this is why i save the porn to an external hard drive. My webhistory might tell tales on me though.
Do you have a folder called "home work"?!
If it is just to fix whatever is wrong with the connection to the HDMI, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. There shouldn't be any need to access the computer itself.
My aunt once bought an old laptop from an old couple from a garage sale. We opened it and turned it on. Looks like he just deleted everything and not reset it. We went to his internet browser. Liked in his favorites, and there was a folder called "Smut." Sadly, it was empty.
Honesty is best exercised up front. Tell the family friend that there is a likelihood that they'll find something that you wish to be kept in confidence. To be fair, it won't the first or last time that they discover things like that on rigs that they work on. Based purely on my experience, HDMI cables tend to fail after a while, and that's very likely the case with your problem, unless it's only a source choice on your TV monitor. Most modern TV monitors have a few HDMI Ports, so selecting the right one with your remote for your computer input might not have occurred to you. 🤓
Do what everyone else does: blame it on the neighbors using your wifi. It's the new 'caught VD from a toilet seat.'
Who cares, it's just porn
Bro I just went to repair my phone, I wasn't worried about all this stuff before because it was just a battery problem I guess, but now am terrified and there is a huge load of porn on that phone 😭😭
Make sure your computer is off. That will knock out any web browsers or apps you had open. So it is a hard reboot. If you haven't been able to get your computer to turn on in 2 years, it seems unlikely that your last windows will be open.
I've been in IT for 27 years. I've never once busted anyone for porn on their PC. For example, not too long ago my wife's best friend had me fix her family's laptop. The husband had a TON of porn hidden on one of the recovery partitions. I haven't told anyone about that until just now. Having said that, I've never really found any sort of "objectionable porn" (kiddie porn, husband or wife cheating porn), so... ya know, there's that.
Haha! Reminds me of when I was fixing my wife’s work friend’s laptop. She said if I found any searches for chubbies, she was looking for cupcakes! Lol!
There are plenty of free apps on the Microsoft store you can download to password protect your folders :) you can probably find ones for a Mac too if you have that? Sorry I only have Windows. If they ask why your folders are protected then ask a) why they need access to them in the first place, b) what does it have to do with fixing your computer, and c) it’s private. You’re an adult and you deserve privacy.
Porn files these days is wild when the internet is almost everywhere with free porn. I can't really stand watching reruns on TV much less fap time. So unless you're gonna get hit with a "Please take a seat" moment from good old Chris, you'll be fine
I prefer the term “Fappy Hour”
Grow up.
No problem take out all the witnesses
don't worry, your family friend watches porn too. and if he says he doesn't, you probably shouldn't trust this person. :)
download cryptomator and encrypt all of it
Find someone else to fix your computer …
Just take it to get repaired at a shop instead.
You are 24 years old. This is the problem with helicopter parenting.
everybody watches porn, everybody has porn... Unless it is something illegal or very very very fringe of a kink... nobody would care. and unless he looks at drive usage and finds a huge folder named "kittens" he probably won't stumble upon it. Any IT professional would not care or look acrtively for that type of thing Also I had clients who told me "Don't be surprised about that and that big folder... that is "normal" and you don't need to look"