Slashdot Mirror
Easing the Job of Family Tech Support?
DarkDevil writes "Ever since I was introduced to computers at a very young age, I've been the resident tech support for a household of 7 users. I've been in a cycle for the last ~8 years where something happens to my parents' computer, I spend a week or two trying to non-destructively fix the problem (and try to explain to the users what caused it and how to avoid it), and then if it's not easily fixed I'll reformat and start from scratch. Most often, the level of infection warrants a reformat, which usually ends up taking even more time to get the computer back to how my parents know how to use it. 4-8 months later, it happens again. Recently, I found ~380 instances of malware and 6 viruses. I only realized something was wrong with their computer after it slowed down the entire network whenever anyone used it. My question for Slashdot is: are there any resources out there that explain computer viruses, malware, adware, and general safe computer practices to non-technical people in an easy-to-digest format? The security flaws in my house are 9, 26, and ~50 years old, with no technical background aside from surfing the internet. Something in video format would be ideal as they are perfectly happy with our current arrangement and so it'll be hard to get them reading pages and pages of technical papers."
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/05/07/
This one is probably relevant as well
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/05/07/
There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.
lots and lots of suggestions -- and i may have missed it above - but just cut an image of the system, in a ready to use state. use that ghost thing, bam bam, youre done. next time moron get system all bitched, wipe it clean in about 10 minutes.
We're like rats, in some experiment! -- George Costanza
I had the same issues years ago. I bought a Mac for a video company I was starting and found OS X was a better world. So I instructed all the family I supported that any new computer they buy must be a Mac or I will no longer support them. 4 years later and I do maybe 3-4 couple of hours a year of "support", which consists only of installing a new program for them or explaining how to use something. No malware, no reformatting, no scanning for this and that, no trying to figure out why the machine has slowed down to the point it is unusable, nothing.
You can either continue to support Windows crappy systems or you can learn from your mistakes. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. The choice is yours.