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Ask Slashdot: How Best To Set Up a Parent's PC?
CodingHero writes "My mother uses a recent enough PC running Windows XP and has a broadband connection, but her primary method of interacting with the online world remains the AOL software. She also likes to download and use various seasonal wallpapers, screensavers, etc. Usually all this works fine and I don't get family tech support calls, but occasionally something big goes wrong. Since she lives 400 miles away, that means I get to provide phone tech support. While I can usually get something fixed through simple instructions, sometimes it's just too complicated to properly diagnose and explain over the phone (e.g., a trojan infection that anti-virus won't get rid of on its own). I'd like to set up the system so that her account is not an Administrator and that I can easily (and securely) remotely connect to fix problems, install stuff she really wants to use (after proper vetting of course), and so on. Moving to Linux or a Mac is not an option. Upgrading the system to Windows 7 and breaking the AOL habit, while seemingly the best course of action, is going to mean a lot of my time up front to explain how to do things all over again, time that I don't have a lot of right now. Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, what did you find was the best way to re-educate a parent and/or set up a method to securely and remotely manage a system, or at least lock it down to better protect it?"
Walking a parent through steps over the phone can be a frustrating experience. Even after moving my father to a Mac I still found myself having to deal with his issues for the first couple of months on a near-daily basis. Using TeamViewer helped this immeasurably. Free for personal use.
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Death will come, and will have your eyes
-- Pavese
"Recent enough PC running Windows XP."
"My mother uses a recent enough PC running Windows XP and .. Moving to Linux or a Mac is not an option"
Why are you asking here and not on a Windows forum?
AccountKiller
If you're willing to move her to Win7 and away from AOL software, why not just move her to Linux? The best thing I did for my parent's computer (they are 6000 miles away) is to replace their WinXP computer with one that runs Linux that's configured to open a web browser immediately upon startup - no login required.
The computer also ssh'es to my public server and opens a tunnel back to their computer so I can connect via VNC if needed.
When they got a new camera, I was able to remotely set up a script so If they plug in a memory card from their camera, it copies the images from the card automatically and uploads to an online photo album.
This covers 100% of what they use a computer for, and completely eliminated their recurring virus infections.
1. Install logmein (logmein.com) - the free edition is just fine.
2. Make your mom a standard user. Non-administrator.
3. Create an "Admin" account. Do NOT tell her the password.
It's working so far for my mother-in-law. Her old computer was so badly infested that I just gave up and gave her one of my spares. (She had no reload media.)
Now, even with her teen grandson surfing porn (yes, I caught him at it, yes, we had a long talk about it but I doubt he's stopped) it seems to be clean.
She has Windows 7. Maybe it won't work as well with XP.
The preferred solution is to not have a problem.
I know you said it's not an option.
But I converted my brother and a friend to Ubuntu. Both extremely reluctant to move. So I saved their old Windows hard drive, told them they'd never have to worry about a virus again, and that I would help them figure out anything they didn't understand. It's been a resounding success. Support calls have dropped from several per month to one every six months.
"downloading seasonal wallpapers and screensavers"
I can't think of a quicker way to get my Windows system infected. Seriously, if you're going to break the AOL habit, move her to an iPad or Linux. You won't regret it. Actually, you owe it to her and yourself.
Don't.
Have her buy something from Best Buy or wherever, and direct her to ask them for support.
Seriously, why do you want to be her 24/7 tech support? DON'T DO IT!
I was going to suggest the same, but then I thought 'he might actually like his mother'.
"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
Shame Linux isn't a option. Not only can my father not deal with an English only user interface, he has no sense of online security at all. So I installed Ubuntu with Chinese on a second hand P4 for his email and web-browsing habit. There is very little maintenance on my part because he doesn't do much of anything else. Occasionally I will go in and delete the unexecutable crap that gets downloaded unintentionally, but that's it. That was more than 3 years ago. Haven't had a serious problem yet. Haven't looked back since.
Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
I'll glady be my parents' tech support for as long as they live. Why? Because they were my complete life support for about the first 16 years of my life, setting me up with the opportunities to learn skills I need to make triple my parents' income doing "tech support" for nameless faceless companies like Best Buy. No way in hell am I going to tolerate my own mother to drudge her way through tech support at places like that.
I set up my mother with Ubuntu, and she loves it. She appreciates the "tidiness" of the desktop, and the simplicity of it all.
... and I popped on and fixed it. And then reminded her about the dragons.
I left her set up with the ability to sudo, but with the warning that "there be dragons", and to contact me.
I set up OpenVPN so I could always SSH on, and fix anything.
The only time I've ever had a problem was when my sister's Windows-using ex boyfriend tried to install something, and stuffed up the firewall rules. I simply talked her through sudo iptables
Years of trouble-free computing.
Get your own free personal location tracker
But what advice do you have for those of us who don't hate our mums?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
The article might as well be me... except it's 270 miles, and my dad does provide some front-line tech support. But my mom is still on AOL.
This Christmas we had her try various tech devices from smart phones to tablets (Android and iOS); the end verdict was she is still most comfortable in front of a monitor with a keyboard and mouse. Tablets worked OK for some of the things she wanted to do, but the lack of physical keyboard was problematic, esp. when it came to email. And it's also more comfortable for her to be sitting in a chair NOT having to hold the screen. Tablet screens also suffer compared to larger monitors when you're old and want a large font.
So while mom might end up with a tablet as an accessory, they are NOT desktop replacements. And don't solve the AOL problem either.
To the article submitter, what does your mom use AOL for? The AOL experience isn't necessarily much different than the browser experience, for certain activities, so you might want to try setting up Windows 7 and then seeing if the browser is "close enough".
Ultimately I got my mom a new PC (her old one was OLD and took days to boot (ok, 20 minutes)) and put windows XP on it. Fortunately she doesn't feel the need to download the screensaver du jour, so with virus software XP is OK and what she's familiar with. Did end up having to put AOL back on it but dad is working on weaning her over to a browser. If she makes that transition probably on to Windows 7.
paintball
Chrome OS just screams out for usecases like this.
Just consider, for a moment, that accepting one's parent's foibles is a kindness. Karma-producing, even. Just like not getting upset about baby drool.
Then remember that the reason this is such an effective infection vector is because there are SO MANY PEOPLE like this. There are entire industries creating wreaths, and window stickers, and seasonal decorations.
Now go back and attempt to consider the original question with more compassion for the ignorant user, and less snark for the helper. You can count it as your good deed for the day.
Yeah, I jokingly suggested getting something in trade for my tech support and Mom helpfully reminded me of who funded my college ;-)
People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people
Buy her two iPads.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Ditto. My mother couldn't even transition to a laptop, since she uses e-mail a lot and demands a full-sized keyboard (preferably far from a trackpad, since it's easy to touch or rub it by mistake and move your cursor and/or click to somewhere it's not supposed to). A tablet left her profoundly disgusted with the experience of typing on an unergonomical hard surface, so a PC it is. And, after lots of time spent maintaining her XP machine, I did the unthinkable: set up Debian stable for her. Works like a charm, breakage of whatever kind is nonexistant and I don't have to worry about viruses. It did take a while to set up initially (while I figured all her use-cases and adjusted the machine accordingly), but from there it has been smooth sailing.
For the submitter, that's what I'd add: any sort of transition will demand lots of your time, don't fool yourself. You can either try to instruct her, which will take very long, or pull an Apple and lock her machine down in a way that she can only use whatever you want her to. As long as you do a good job of predicting her needs, it's far less hassle in the long run.
A final thought: educating an elderly citizen to use VMs is easier than one might think.