How to dummy-proof the PCs of friends and family - bryantnorigoind1941
BRR-RING! The phone rings at midnight, interrupting your sleep—or worse, your late nighttime Steam session with your gaming clan. Is someone sick? Did a automobile hit your trail? Is IT your pal, calling to tell you he got the munchies and discovered that, joy of joys, the McRib is support? Perplexed (and perhaps a bit hungry), you pick dormie your French telephone, and find out the ominous words:
Doubling as unofficial tech endorse for your family and friends comes atomic number 3 part of the dominio when you're a PC geek—and those cries for help ofttimes come all besides often operating theater at wrong times. Weekends! Holidays! Nights! All gone, used-up aside the fight against malware and missing Internet Explorer icons.
Information technology doesn't have to Be like this.
Kind of than squirting approximately and slapping Band-Aids on all the problems, get proactive! An ounce of bar is worth a pound of cure, as they say, and taking the clock time to set your friends' and loved ones' computers raised properly can dramatically cut back connected help-seeking headaches down the line. Not to sound too dramatic, but yes, these tips behind service you regenerate your nights and weekends.
Batten down the hatches
Before you do anything other, lock that puppy down with a security system suite.
If your friend Beaver State family member—henceforth referred to as "Grannie" for simplicity's rice beer—is uncoerced to spring for a exchange premiu security department suite, our Security measures Software package Showdown can point you to the best malware protection money can buy. Not everyone wants to pay for their Personal computer security, however, so let's walk through a way to get elliptic, fairly rugged security for free.
First, guarantee that the baked-in Windows firewall is enabled aside heading to Controller Instrument panel > Arrangement and Security > Windows Firewall > Turn Windows Firewall Happening or Soured. If it's off, turn it along. Yeah, there are other, Sir Thomas More customizable free firewalls available, just complexity is the enemy on Grandma's PC. Windows firewall keeps it simple, slow.
Once that's up and humming, install a free antivirus program that allows you to schedule scans at set times—which Windows Defender doesnot do. We recommend AVG Free, which came out tops in our Free Antivirus You Prat Trust roundup. Run over a pear-shaped scan to ensure you're start with a clean slate, so begin scheduling!
To schedule an automatic scan in AVG Free, open the program dashboard and select Computer > Settings > Schedules > Scheduled Scan. Set up a repetition scan schedule—weekly is fine—and check the Enable This Tax box (up at the top) before clicking Alright.
Make sure the software is set to update automatically, too. (AVG does this by default.)
I'd as wel suggest installing Google Chrome and setting that as the nonremittal browser, rather than Internet Explorer. Google Chrome attained the gold medal in our browser encounter. For protection specifically, its sandboxing feature is excellent. That said, Internet Explorer has stepped up its security courageous recently, so put on't sweat it if Grandma squawks about switching.
Keep in the lead with the Joneses
Antivirus ISN't the only thing you'll deprivation to keep updated, though.
Make believe sure all things Microsoft stoppage current by enabling automatic Windows updates. Head to Control Panel > System and Security department > Windows Update > Turn automatic updating on or off and select Install updates mechanically (recommended) from the drop-bolt down package. Check the boxes under "Suggested updates" and "Microsoft Update" every bit well, and then click OK.
What about everything that isn't Microsoft-related? Secunia PSI bequeath have you covered. This program keeps tabs along every last the software system on your PC, observance for updates and automatically installing them whenever possible. If it's non possible for whatever reason, Secunia PSI prompts you to update manually, helpfully providing a link to the appropriate page.
Making sure Grandma's computer backups are up to date is almost as important as keeping her computer updated. Backups work better when they're automated and as brainless as possible.
CrashPlan offers a toppingly peltate support service. If Granny doesn't want to spend $4 per month to save her information to the company's cloud servers, CrashPlan Free lets you spine up data to an international hard drive, operating theatre fifty-fifty another computer—perhaps yours—if both PCs have a working network connection.
Simplify the desktop
When you're finished securing Grandma's Microcomputer and keeping it present-day, you'll next require to simplify the user experience. Get down by downloading whatever browser plug-ins Gran is likely to pauperization—Flash, Java, Windows Media Player, and and so on.
Next, ask Grandma which programs she uses, then plop 'em foremost and center on the desktop. You have cardinal options, both found aside right-clicking the political platform under consideration: (1) Put down a shortcut on the desktop (Send to > Desktop) operating theater (2) drop the program into the taskbar (Pin to Taskbar). The Institutionalise to desktopcommand is also handy for creating shortcuts to frequently used folders, much as Documents and Pictures.
If Grandma's taken the plunge into Windows 8, you can pin programs to the modern UI Start screen. Approximately—merely not all—apps have a just-click Pin to Start option, arsenic seen at right. If you encounter one that does not, press the Windows key to open the Start screen, right-clink in an open space, and clickWholly Apps in the options bar that appears at the bottom of the display. From in that respect, you can right-get across connected whatsoever app and superior Pin to Part in the lower options bar to do precisely that.
Speaking of Windows 8, you should strongly consider installing a Start button replacement on Granny's reckoner if she doesn't respond well to change. Classic Shell is a solid escaped solution, while, for $5, Start8 just plain works.
Both include the familiar Start menu closure options, which are buried inside the Charms bar in Windows 8. If you decide to skip a Jump push replacement, I'd suggest creating a shutdown button to keep Grandma from fumbling through hidden menus.
After all that, Grandma bad much has to actively work at borking her PC—but bork it she necessarily will. While you're laboring idiot-proofing her electronic computer, you can set u few programs that testament bring up some of the hassle come out of future (and hopefully infrequent) tech support calls.
Soluto Lite seat help you execute basic tech patronise from afar. The program lets you remotely manage Grandma's PC, from futzing with browser defaults and add-ins to speeding ascending the computer's boot metre to monitoring for hardware and software package problems alike. (Soluto also lets you update software, but if you've been paying attention hence far, that shouldn't be requirement.)
It's howling for the simple things, and the non-slave Soluto Lite architectural plan lets you monitor equal to three PCs with up to three remote Sessions per week.
Soluto Lite doesn't have it off whol, though. Truly atrocious PC borkings will force you to roll up your sleeves and get unjust with deeper aspects of Grandma's computer.
That would normally require an on-place visit, but Google+ recently added Remote Screen background functionality to its video Hangouts—giving you the power to take full control of Grandma's PC from the comfortableness of your home, and carrying on a (digital) opposite conversation all the while. Just be sure to create a Google account for Granny, then jot down the parole and leave it where she North Korean won't snap. Other remote desktop services are available if Google doesn't float your sauceboat.
At length, something important to remember: Before you install whatever remote services on Gran's PC—including a remote backup option like CrashPlan—make a point you have her active consent to exercise so. If she says no, don't push it. And if she says yes, never, ever so, ever outrage that trust.
What did we miss?
Setting up Grandma's computer properly may take a trifle of time, simply every second spent in preparation now testament save you hours of concern down the line. Did we neglect anything? How do you like to set up your friends' PCs? Let United States live in the comments.
Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/451928/how-to-dummy-proof-the-pcs-of-friends-and-family.html
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