25 Of The Most Disturbing, Random And Gross Things Found By IT Guys On Customers' Computers

There are many threads on the internet where tech guys talk about what they have found in clients' computers - both inside and on the very desktop. Our selection today is based on this thread in the AskReddit community, where several hundred netizens answered the question: "People who work in IT. What's the weirdest or disturbing thing you've come across while fixing a customer's computer?"

Apparently, there could be a lot of interesting and sometimes completely paradoxical things, from a couple dozen big cockroaches to intimate photos right on the desktop, from cigarette butts to an unalive gecko stuck in a fan. And even to a live lizard that somehow got inside.

It's quite interesting that computers have been widespread in our homes and offices for decades, but for many people, they still remain something like a magic crystal ball - "it works somehow, but I don't understand how exactly." However, many years ago, the outstanding British science fiction writer Arthur Clarke wrote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

It turns out that people sometimes view the system units of their computers as trash cans or ashtrays (though what am I talking about - a friend of mine once used a CD-ROM as an excellent coaster for a cup of coffee). And then the poor tech guys have to get all that garbage out of there...

However, sometimes employees of computer repair companies have to deal with much more serious things if they suddenly find some illegal content on a client's laptop. Probably one of the most famous stories here is the fall of the former world star of punk rock, British singer Gary Glitter, who in 1997 simply took his laptop for repair - and it all ended with his arrest on charges of child exploitation.

Today, Glitter is serving another term in a British prison - but in his case, a simple laptop check unraveled a whole tangle of unsightly deeds, many of which turned out to be real crimes...

Anyway, sometimes there are pleasant finds as well. For example, another old friend of mine had been buying and selling second-hand laptops for many years - and, opening the CD-ROM of a laptop bought from some random dude, he found a couple hundred bucks hidden there.

However, it remains a mystery why he actually hid the money there and from whom he was hiding it, because the seller never left his contact information to be found...

In any case, this selection of stories, carefully collected for you by Bored Panda, can really combine education with pleasure: a great reason to smile or laugh, and an equally instructive list of what one shouldn’t do with their computer. Well, if you also have some similar interesting tales under your belt, please feel free to share these stories in the comments below.