• This topic has 40 replies, 29 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by daveh.
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  • guiding parents through computer stuff remotely
  • Pook
    Full Member

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    there’s quite a lot of free RDP type stuff out there?

    Even skype with a screen share might help?

    allthepies
    Free Member

    As above, remote desktop apps are the way to go for sanity to remain intact.

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    woody2000
    Full Member

    TeamViewer FTW – set it up for unattended access and away you go (they don’t need to do anything then)

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Oh god, that is painful. FWIW Google Chrome Remote desktop thingy used here. However just getting to the point of having a shared desktop can take a good half an hour on the phone!

    McHamish
    Free Member

    My mothers computer is completely different than any other computer in the world, and her OS and software don’t operate in the same way as any I’ve ever used.

    D0NK
    Full Member

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    what he said

    occasionally my dad calls me for advice while I’m at work, my colleagues have been pissing their sides hearing my end of the conversation and seeing how worked up I got.

    RaveyDavey
    Free Member

    My mum has a knack of getting fool proof sockets connected wrong. USB in the network socket anyone?

    seosamh77
    Free Member

    i taught my ma and da how to use computers no bother. (shitloads of) patience and telling them it’s ok to break it is the key.

    Pook
    Full Member

    Me to mum: “open your browser window”





    “I’ve clicked google twice and it’s not doing anything”
    “just be patient”
    “Oh I’ve clicked it again now”
    “Just wait, your computer is old and slow. This is what we need to fix”
    “I’ve clicked it again. Oh, it’s opened four windows and they’re all white. it won’t let me move my mouse now”

    AAAAGGGGHHHHHH

    cokie
    Full Member

    It took me 1 1/2 hours of being on the phone to my who was only buying a TRAIN TICKETS. A day travel card from Reading to London. Unbelievable how difficult it was. The worst bit was when she had go to the payment screen she got her details wrong, at this point she decided that she shouldn’t continue. Luckily I convinced her to try again. Third attempt done. Never again 😯

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    I ask my Dad to look for something on the desktop and he thinks I mean on the physical desk the computer is sitting on! It’s frustrating because he knows this stuff but just seems to go totally blank when I’m trying to guide him through something.

    large418
    Free Member

    Just Starting to worry that I am turning into one of those parents.

    The hours of fun I’ll have at the children’s expense! 🙂

    molgrips
    Free Member

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtIFbCj5ndI[/video]

    convert
    Full Member

    Teamviewer is now my new favourite best ever bit of software. The years if closing my eyes trying to imagine what they can see and ‘failsafing’ every single command into language they might understand are now behind me!

    D0NK
    Full Member

    I ask my Dad to look for something on the desktop and he thinks I mean on the physical desk the computer is sitting on!

    I had someone from admin (someone presumably employed with PC use being a requirement of their job) do this to me this morning.

    It’s frustrating because he knows this stuff but just seems to go totally blank when I’m trying to guide him through something.

    just like my dad, he just seems to act dumb when I’m on the phone.

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    working on an IT helpdesk some of the time really opens up your eyes to how some people view IT.
    Example 1
    “This piece of finance software is no good its rejecting zero values in the chargeable cost field”
    “Okay, I’ve tried it and it works for me, can you try again”
    “nope still coming up with an error”
    <lots of time later>
    “How are you entering a value of zero in the numeric amount field?”
    “I’m typing in ‘Z E R O'”
    <bangs head on desk>

    Example 2
    “I’ve reset your password to computer, with a zero instead of an ‘O'”
    “Which ‘O’?”
    <puzzlement>
    “err how do you mean which ‘O’, theres only one ‘O’ in computer?’
    “No there isn’t – C O M P O O T E R”
    <bangs head on desk>

    Too many more to mention.

    mudmuncher
    Full Member

    I use http://www.join.me to sort stuff on my parents computer.

    Easy to use and free.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    woody2000 – Member

    TeamViewer FTW – set it up for unattended access and away you go (they don’t need to do anything then)
    This, plus, when you set it up put a shortcut to it right in the middle of their desktop.
    My mother can now book hotels, flights, ferries etc etc with ease.

    She gives me her card details and I do it for her over the phone on my PC.

    BigButSlimmerBloke
    Free Member

    I’m lucky, my mum’s a total expert in IT.
    When I was moaning the cost and complexity of setting up an SQL server, she told me not to bother and that Access would be just as good.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    woody2000 – Member
    TeamViewer FTW – set it up for unattended access and away you go (they don’t need to do anything then)

    Thank You (altho tbh sorting out their comp when I go round for T, gives me something to do, rather than spending the evening being lectured by them about stuff).

    cranberry
    Free Member

    I’m lucky, my mum’s a total expert in IT.
    When I was moaning the cost and complexity of setting up an SQL server, she told me not to bother and that Access would be just as good.

    Is there any chance she is looking to adopt another son ?

    Teamviewer, as stated, is a life and sanity saver.

    In these situations, ipads and tablets are the devil’s bottom whiskers as you can’t access them remotely and have to go back to saying “the icon called settings” “yes there, is, it has ‘settings‘ written below it” “it looks a bit like a thingamybob” “oh ffs, if you don’t buckle down and do this missy I’ll be getting brochures for nursing homes.” “oh, found it have you!”

    *bangs head against the wall*

    allthegear
    Free Member

    Talked my parents into having an iPad each for this very reason. Not had to provide any “support” at all in two years.

    Rachel

    allthepies
    Free Member

    And they prop the door open just brilliantly.

    Pook
    Full Member

    Strange way to treat your parents all the pies

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Seriously, Teamviewer. Tell them to go to the website and select ‘join a session’. Get the ID and PIN, you install the full client, enter their details, win.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Cougar – Moderator
    Seriously, Teamviewer. Tell them to go to the website and select ‘join a session’. Get the ID and PIN, you install the full client, enter their details, win.

    I just tested ‘join a session’ and it downloaded exe software, to go thru the installation process. My parents would struggle with that or rather it would be a nightmare talking them thru it, so might be worth setting up their end first as well.

    allthepies
    Free Member

    That’s what I did. On a visit to said parents, setup and test the remote access software. Job done.

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    Try having parents living in Bulgaria, crap internet connection, dad who thinks he knows what he’s doing, deletes half the files in the OS, and mum who won’t listen.

    Ipad support on Wednesday took 2 hours on Skype to get them to force reset her ipad, and then to close all 500 apps she had open, so it won’t freeze up before I could get them to back up to iCloud. This hasn’t been done for 4 years! Trying to run on 250mb of memory. After the backup and the deletion of 450 apps, it now has 50gb of space and works like its new.

    AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

    Cougar
    Full Member

    In related news,

    My uncle used to ring me about once a month with computer problems. He was one of life’s fiddlers, can’t leave it alone and was a bugger for magazine cover discs. Calls would invariably along the lines of, “my printer wouldn’t print in red, so I reinstalled Windows and now…”

    Eventually I installed Acronis on his machine. Then when he bollockses it, he reboots, hits a function key, clicks “yes” and it’s back in the state I last left it. He never rang me again.

    somafunk
    Full Member

    I bought my parents an iPad a few years ago, their laptop has not been used in over 2 years so i never have to fear that late night phone call.

    daveh
    Free Member

    How do people support parents with a Hudl? Teamviewer no worky, any of the others mentioned above do the job? My end could either be PC or Android device.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    What support do they need?!

    soulbrother99
    Free Member

    Found the perfect music for it:

    IA
    Full Member

    Echo the above comments about iPads.

    However, slight issue in that my dad loves his iPad, but it’s a first gen and old enough stuff aint working so well as no-one targets it for testing etc. and no new updates. But as it “still works” he won’t replace it.

    For tech support, the trick is FaceTime calls, then get them to point the back camera at the other iPad*

    *only works with parents with two devices.

    gravity-slave
    Free Member

    “I can’t find my file”

    OK, no problem, let’s open Explorer and find it.

    “How do I do that?”

    Hold down the Windows key (followed by explanation) then press E

    “OK”

    What can you see now?

    “The screen is flickering”

    Weird, that shouldn’t be happening.

    “Can I let go of the keys now?”

    That was a long call, while we closed 1000 copies of Explorer then figured out Word was set to open .txt files instead of .doc

    beardo
    Full Member

    Need to be careful with team viewer etc.

    I had a call trying to help get photos off a phone with the father in law. After a bit of dicking about it started to work and presented…

    Him and the mother in law in the buff running round the garden. He did quite a decent job of trying to style it out while I bleached my eyeballs. You can’t un see things unfortunately.

    Founds all sorts of porn clogging their system up in the past too. Seems non of that sort of attitude has worn off on the misses though:-(

    Pook
    Full Member

    Teamviewer. Oh how I love thee.

    Thank you stw

    richmars
    Full Member

    All the above is easy.
    Try explaining the concept of a ‘cursor’. And how it moves around on an onscreen tv menu by pressing the up, down, left and right buttons on the tv remote.

    daveh
    Free Member

    What support do they need?!

    Just general use stuff really. Recent example was every email my mother sent was blank. We went through it in detail and she assured me she was doing everything properly as instructed but still blank emails. Would have been very useful to have been able to share her ‘desktop’ to see what she was doing. Control also potentially useful to demonstrate stuff eg closing apps.

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