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The article takes the floor. A conversation generated by artificial intelligence.
There are the classic bugs. And then there are the ones you never forget.
In our IT management work, we run into technical incidents every day… but also into completely improbable situations. Unusual IT bugs that make us smile, raise an eyebrow, or restart the diagnosis from scratch.
Because behind the command lines and system diagnostics, there’s the human, with their habits, oversights, and intuitions. Here are a few anecdotes from our team at Avepto, on the border between the absurd, the comical, and the educational.
The restart that repairs without explaining
“Have you tried restarting?” The question sounds banal, almost a caricature. It is still the first useful move.
On that incident, we reproduced the fault first, then gathered the clues: logs, firewall tests, network traces. Restarting the workstation was enough.
A restart puts the machine back into a known state. We record it in the ticket, then we look for what caused the freeze. Skip that step and the incident returns.
Moral: fundamentals first, even when the bug looks extraordinary.
The simplest question is the one we hesitate to ask
A client calls us: her laptop will not turn on. Not a sound, not a light.
When a machine refuses to start, we begin with the simplest checks, power included. So the question was asked straight away. The question came as a surprise, and a site visit was requested.
On site, the finding came in two lines. The cable was properly plugged in. The wall socket was no longer delivering power. Moved to a live socket, the machine started at once.
The real obstacle was a hesitation: not daring to ask the simplest question. Sound diagnosis starts by validating the basic assumptions, even the ones that look obvious.
The software that crashes… everywhere except on the boss’s machine
An application used every day crashed on launch, on every workstation but one: the boss’s.
We looked for what set that machine apart: drivers, DLLs, antivirus, GPOs, versions. The system logs pointed to no usable cause.
The difference came from a Windows update that disabled a component. The boss’s machine, on the Enterprise edition, had not received that update.
Half a day to isolate that difference. One command line to fix it. That is the normal order of things: the time goes into the diagnosis, not the repair.
A repeated question can become a strength
Some clients ask the same question often.
Rather than answer it one more time, we turned it into a short, clear resource. It lives in our support tool.
Since then, the answer goes out in two clicks. A question that keeps returning points to missing information, not to a distracted user.
Why these stories matter
These anecdotes make us smile. But they also show the true nature of our work. Because IT isn’t only code, cloud, and firewalls. It’s also:
- Listening
- Method
- Observation
- And a lot of adaptation
It’s often the simplest details that make all the difference. And it’s in those moments that you understand technical skill alone isn’t enough. You must read between the lines, understand usage, and stay humble.
The richness of a human approach
At Avepto, we believe in a more human IT. Every bug, every incident, every request is a chance to learn, improve, and sometimes… to laugh. And it’s often in these “unusual bugs” that we build the strongest relationships with our clients. Because they see us solve the unexpected, calmly, and without putting them in the wrong.
A craft of observation… and prevention
Beyond the anecdote, these cases also reveal a major issue: preventing recurring errors. That’s why awareness training for users, including the most basic, is part of our mission. The Swiss OFCS (Federal Office for Cybersecurity, formerly NCSC) publishes resources to avoid classic mistakes and sharpen basic reflexes. Security is also a matter of everyday habits.
Conclusion: bugs are part of the game
Yes, we’ve seen crazy bugs. And yes, sometimes the cause sits somewhere other than in the machine. But that’s exactly what makes our work fascinating. At Avepto, we don’t just sell technical skills. We offer trust, clear explanations, responsiveness… and, from time to time, a healthy dose of composure. And when an incident goes beyond the anecdote, method takes over: see how to turn IT incidents into opportunities.