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IT support for parents (1 Viewer)

PlayaHata

PlayaHata

Footballguy
My mom is 2 hours away and is definitely not technically savvy at all.  I'm buying her a new laptop and looking for what I should install on it for

  • Virus protection
  • Malware/Ransomware protection - This is a constant battle for some reason.  She is constantly getting infected with things like "Your computer has been breached, call Microsoft at 800-123-4567" and the like.
  • Ability for me to connect to her remotely and view/control her screen to assist with questions, install upgrades, etc.
Freeware would be preferred, but I'm open to good paid options too.

 
Giving her a 30 minute 'bootcamp' on scamming, malware sites, how things are done by scammers, etc. would go a long way.

Then put Advanced SystemCare onto the new laptop.  That'll be half the battle.

 
Is there any way to put her on a MacBook to try and reduce the virus/malware/ransomware stuff?

 
Does she only surf the internet? 

If so then Linux would work, it is the same as a Microsoft computer if all you do is turn it on and open a browser.

 
NutterButter said:
I would just get a chromebook for her.    Very unlikely to get a virus and so easy to just reset if some malware slips through.  
Click to expand...


This is definitely something that crossed my mind.  I'm fairly certainly that 95% of what she does is email and surf the internet to pay bills, etc.  I was worried about the ability to run Office apps, but I just searched and it appears you can still do that on Chromebook.  I'm definitely going to take a look at this - plus it's likely going to be cheaper anyway.

 
PlayaHata said:
This is definitely something that crossed my mind.  I'm fairly certainly that 95% of what she does is email and surf the internet to pay bills, etc.  I was worried about the ability to run Office apps, but I just searched and it appears you can still do that on Chromebook.  I'm definitely going to take a look at this - plus it's likely going to be cheaper anyway.
Click to expand...


Similar, but an iPad w/ keyboard would also probably work.

 
PlayaHata said:
This is definitely something that crossed my mind.  I'm fairly certainly that 95% of what she does is email and surf the internet to pay bills, etc.  I was worried about the ability to run Office apps, but I just searched and it appears you can still do that on Chromebook.  I'm definitely going to take a look at this - plus it's likely going to be cheaper anyway.
Click to expand...
A lot cheaper.   But the quality is still there for doing what they're intended for.  

 
PlayaHata said:
This is definitely something that crossed my mind.  I'm fairly certainly that 95% of what she does is email and surf the internet to pay bills, etc.  I was worried about the ability to run Office apps, but I just searched and it appears you can still do that on Chromebook.  I'm definitely going to take a look at this - plus it's likely going to be cheaper anyway.
Click to expand...
Remember, the Google suite of tools is capable of opening Word, Excel, Power Point, etc...

 
My mother-in-law has an IPad and gets all kinds of spam email messages. I think the games she plays also is part of the problem plus all the scum web pages she visits. Always complaining she got an email saying her Amazon account has been hacked and someone made purchases...but we keep telling her she doesn't have an Amazon account.I don't know if you can get good "ransom ware protection" without some type of subscription but I haven't checked lately.

 
Teamviewer free version used to work pretty well for remote connection.  I've been having a lot of trouble with it lately though for reasons I can't seem to identify.  

 
NutterButter said:
I would just get a chromebook for her.    Very unlikely to get a virus and so easy to just reset if some malware slips through.  
Click to expand...


PlayaHata said:
This is definitely something that crossed my mind.  I'm fairly certainly that 95% of what she does is email and surf the internet to pay bills, etc.  I was worried about the ability to run Office apps, but I just searched and it appears you can still do that on Chromebook.  I'm definitely going to take a look at this - plus it's likely going to be cheaper anyway.
Click to expand...


I just bought a chrome book for my mother-in-law.  They do not have internet, so I bought one that was "on sale" from verizon that has 4g built in.  Convincing her to get a cell phone was a battle but after she got one she fell in love with it and being able to catch up with friends and snoop on facebook etc.  I got her an android phone so I went with a chrome book to try to keep things a similar to her phone as possible, plus she doesn't need the extra stuff.  Luckily (or unlucky depending on how you look at it ;)  ) we live in the same town so it is pretty easy just to go to her house to help if she has questions or clean things up.

 
Some scary parts but they left out the kid orgy at the end so probably ok for the 13+ crowd.  All in all, could have been a lot worse imo.

 
Nick Vermeil said:
Teamviewer free version used to work pretty well for remote connection.  I've been having a lot of trouble with it lately though for reasons I can't seem to identify.  
Click to expand...
This is what I used on the in-laws PC. I retired from on-call IT so they’re on their own. 

 
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