Now Remembrance Sunday is gone

Can we have a special day to sympathise with those who have to give IT support to ageing parents

1.5 hours on phone to Mum when I should be working just to change Gmail password. Forty minutes of this lost to autocomplete as she typed the new one at the end of the pre-filled one.

Get a remote support app on there if it’s a PC.

I talked my Mum through changing her Gmail password last week, took about 10 mins and this was with her using her Chromebook which requires the Wifi credentials to be re-entered after a password change.

My mum disabled her touchpad somehow… I had to remotely fix using keyboard/tabbing windows/fields.

Now her Chrome installation has corrupted, fixing will involve disabling Google browser sync and creating a new profile, then copying bookmarks etc from the old profile.

I’m going over to do that one.

EDIT – Any recommendations for free remote support apps for Windows?

install teamviewer. job done.

Yup team viewer is your friend here.

+1 for Teamviewer ( and Prozac ).

I just wish there was a way of remote controlling an iPad.

Teamviewer installed, ta.

teamviewer looks ace, but not ace when it is not already installed, no way am I talking her through that

After many years I have finally got my parents on board with the idea of ‘google what you want to do, then ask me’. Increasingly I can no longer find the solution on the first page of search results. I feel this is progress…

Compared to the time it took me tonight to buy 3 sets of Lego using the Argos iPad app with a card not previously registered with Verified by Visa, your mum didn’t do too badly.

GoToMeeting allows a free 1 month trial and you can control the other PC through that.

Another vote for team viewer.

I can help my mother in law in Ireland from a beach in Thailand. No endless cups of tea though!