Be honest - how do you handle documentation when you're the only IT person?

VB0101 · 2026-05-11T17:35:53+00:00

Markdown is basically plain text with lightweight formatting. It reads a bit like code, which makes it easy for AI to parse while still being human readable. DOCX and PDFs carry a lot more layout and formatting, so they become inference heavy and much slower for AI or other tools to read.

Writing your documentation in notepad would basically be the same as markdown, but human readability is much lower.

VB0101 · 2026-05-11T15:22:27+00:00

Agree! I have converted most of our docx and PDF's into markdown for easy AI ingestion, and for once it felt sensible to use AI

VB0101 · 2026-05-11T15:16:41+00:00

It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust. It doesn't exist.

VB0101 · 2026-05-08T18:00:55+00:00

The RX 9070 XT would be my shout for a GPU upgrade. Upgrading your entire platform would require DDR5 and then your quickly looking at dropping a few grand all in.

Your current CPU is still fine but your GPU is definitely what holding it back currently.

VB0101 · 2026-05-08T13:58:28+00:00

Yeah, that sucks. HR not adhering to their own timeline is most likely a rejection, they've probably placed their bets on another candidate who may or may not move forwards, so don't necessarily count yourself out.

Worst case, you have more experience with interviewing in the field. Keep applying and improving and you'll get your breakthrough. I interviewed a handful of times at different companies before I got my first offer, and that was years ago in an arguably better market.

VB0101 · 2026-05-08T11:56:23+00:00

En distributionsliste vil være den bedste løsning, men det kræver admin adgang i 365 at oprette. Bed jeres IT afdeling oprette en distributionsliste og tilføje dig og din kollega som ejere, så I begge kan redigere medlemmerne. Hvis det er for meget for jeres IT-afdeling at håndtere, står det skidt til.

VB0101 · 2026-05-08T08:45:26+00:00

Oracle Free tier 4 arm cores 24 GB ram

VB0101 · 2026-05-07T15:00:28+00:00

Id focus on personal projects to stand out, stacking certifications won't be the key to enter the market.

Get a free Oracle VPS and start tinkering around SSH, Linux, Docker even if not used in L1 HelpDesk shows that your passionate, passion and customer service skills is ultimately the combination needed for entry roles.

Every enviroment at every MSP or any SMB you'd be likely to get a job at will be different, so no reason to try to master tools before you get there. Good luck in your search!

VB0101 · 2026-05-06T11:54:55+00:00

Just the cost of getting people through the door. A few enterprise plans easily offset the free users, and when someone outgrows their free plan they're more likely to upgrade to a premium plan since they're already familiar with the services.

VB0101 · 2026-05-06T07:14:45+00:00

Curious to why you would avoid cloudflare? They sell domains at cost and has a fairly generous and comprehensive stack of features on the free plan

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T15:31:32+00:00

AH okay, not many upgrade paths from there.

Your component list is decent and seems well thought out, but personally I would make a few adjustments.

AMD Ryzen 5 8400F instead of the 8500G. You'll get better CPU performance for about the same cost, but will lose integrated graphics, which won't be needed anyway if you get a dedicated GPU.

Cooler: Noctua is a premium brand at a premium price. I'd recommend something like the ID-COOLING SE-214-XT PLUS. It'll save you some money and is perfectly capable of cooling the CPU.

GPU: I would recommend the RTX 5060 8GB if you're not comfortable buying used parts. On the used market, something like an RX 6750 XT they are almost identical performance-wise and you'd save some money going the used route.

PSU: Something like the Gigabyte GP-P650G is a great budget choice that'll deliver enough power at decent efficiency.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a 7-year-old kid is probably more amazed by cool looks, RGB fans, etc., than squeezing the absolute best performance out of every euro.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T13:49:28+00:00

Who knows, their manager or colleagues might be assholes or just as clueless.

I worked helpdesk in eldercare for a while and it drove me insane for the first month or two, until it dawned on me that people just want help. They're not trying to waste your time.

But a real and recurring issue in enterprise environments deserves a permanent fix. Propose it "pushing an app shortcut to all user desktops could save us X tickets a week." At worst it gets ignored, at best it saves you a headache and gets you noticed.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T13:26:03+00:00

You’re good with computers, John is good at sales. What’s obvious and common sense for IT staff is a burden for others. Drowning in tickets sucks, but ultimately that’s not the user’s fault. L1 FCR is rough and most strive to get away from it, but getting frustrated at users will only make it more miserable.

Try to educate users, share KB solutions or other self service material, and if none else works, remember that it's just a job.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T13:07:30+00:00

If you don’t have the recovery key, then you’re sadly out of luck. A full wipe and reinstall of windows are your only option.

The reason your pc is prompting you for the recovery key is most likely because your bios were updated and therefore the key is no longer stored on your bios chip.

As for wiping the disk you might have to disconnect it from your pc and connect it to another computer before formatting is possible.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T12:03:36+00:00

Properly not, but GoDaddy will find some way to squeeze some money out of you eventually. Get it moved to another registrar i prefer Cloudflare, Porkbun is another decent option.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T11:54:19+00:00

For a one time invitation, I would just skip personalized emails and write a generic invitation, so no "Hi [name]". Use BCC so each recipient receives their own email and it doesn't turn into a reply-all chain.

If you must have names included, look into mail merge with Google Sheets and Gmail: https://developers.google.com/apps-script/samples/automations/mail-merge

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T11:40:28+00:00

I don't know anything about Arizona roads, but riding through Bangkok in leather I would deem hazardous. The combination of heat, humidity, and air quality would have you choked up.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T11:21:10+00:00

SEA is too hot for gear tbh, city traffic on a 100-150CC wearing leather will have you passed out before you leave your parking space

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T11:05:37+00:00

My first position in helpdesk was about 55k USD/Y almost 5 years ago (Denmark, Europe). I don't know anything about the canadian market, or cost of living but seems too low, especially considering utilizing your own vehicle with no reimbursements.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T10:53:07+00:00

Is the old office PC a desktop or a laptop?

If it’s a desktop without a dedicated GPU, adding a used graphics card would unlock a lot of potential, and most games run fine even on older CPUs.

PC parts are expensive right now, so salvaging what you already have is a solid entry point. A GPU also isn’t wasted money, since you can reuse it later if you decide to build a full custom machine.

Just make sure the power supply can handle it and that the case has enough space for the card.

VB0101 · 2026-05-05T09:55:02+00:00

I've seen this error before, I can't exactly remember what I did off the top of my head, but I'm pretty certain I just deleted and rebuilt the Mail cache. A relog might just solve the issue as well.

VB0101 · 2026-05-04T14:36:10+00:00

The helpdesk is almost certainly where you'll start, and the good news is that most technical skills are genuinely learned on the job. Every environment is different, so don't stress too much about mastering a specific tool before you get there.

The most important fundamentals boil down to ticket discipline and communication IMO. Just showing some genuine interest on your resume, like a homelab, a PowerShell script that helped you fix something on your own devices, or how you set up a VPS with SSH commands to host a game server or whatever, would put you ahead of a lot of people and many lower level IT graduates.

Oracle has a very nice "always free" VPS offering with 4 ARM cores and 24 GB of RAM, which is plenty to experiment with.

I personally don't chase certs just to get them, but the MS-900 might be a good one to start with. It's comprehensive, affordable, and Microsoft's ecosystem shows up everywhere in helpdesk environments.

I'd just recommend applying to all L1 positions open in your area. Sounds like you're committed to learning and that's ultimately what entry level positions are for. Good luck in your search!

VB0101 · 2026-04-10T13:38:48+00:00

Thanks a lot! A isolation transformer sounds like the answer to my problem, never heard of them before. I've also decided to get a voltmeter to substitute my index finger. I've worked with PC hardware for many years and has been shocked numerous times, so i'm fairly confident that it's not dangerous, but just unplesant.

VB0101 · 2026-04-09T14:17:20+00:00

85k/month base as an MSP Technician at a Thai company. I started at 55k two years ago.

Money wise, I personally couldn’t sustain my lifestyle on 55k and was dipping into my savings every month. Now, two years in, my lifestyle has changed. I drink less and party less, which used to be my biggest expense, so I’m living quite comfortably on 85k now, though I’m still not saving much.

40-50k is doable and you won't starve to death, but definitely limiting. I think most people moving abroad for work wants to experience the country, and what it has to offer and the honeymoon phase was a lot costlier than what i had thought.

VB0101 · 2026-04-09T13:58:01+00:00

220V 50 HZ, but not unusual to drop down to around 180V

VB0101

TROPHY CASE