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Thread: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

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    So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    I am busy prepping my spare PC (Vista x64) to replace mum's old XP machine, and it would be nifty if I could hijack the thing easily over the internet in order to check on it/sort it out - that way I can bolt down everything and take care of any installs etc myself without needing to spend hours on the phone or go to Wales or risking her being caught out by some malware.

    What's the best way of doing this? RDP/VNC would presumably need some faffing about with IP addresses and so on, which I'm not sure I can be bothered with. Would it work well running them over Hamachi or similar?
    Are LogMeIn or GoToMyPC any good for this sort of thing? I'd like it be completely bullet-proof, require no user intervention at the far end, and ideally be free or cheap. Obviously, some solid security is also desireable.

    Hailp, as Penelope Pitstop would say.

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    Funkstar (04-05-2010)

  3. #2
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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    I use Logmein free for exactly this kind of thing, does the job nicely.

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    b0ned0me (05-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    teamviewer

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    b0ned0me (05-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    /\


    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
    "If you don't gaffer it, it will gaffer you" | "Belt and braces"

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    +1 for logmein free. I use it with a few family PCs I support.

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    b0ned0me (05-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    +1 for Teamviewer, can't get any easier - requires no installation at either end just get the person at the other end to DL and run the .exe tell you the codes over the phone, type them in on your and and you're done. Works great with NAT too.

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    Logmein free for me.
    Works a treat for getting on machines I have to look after 60+ miles away!

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    b0ned0me (05-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    I always experience sluggish performance with teamviewer. I like RemoteDesktop or logmein.

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    b0ned0me (05-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    +1 for logmein

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    b0ned0me (05-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    Thanks for the thread b0ned0me, I should get this set up with my mum's PC too. And potentially by better half's laptop too.

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    Thank you all for your help. I have opted for LogMeIn Free to start with, which should hopefully do the trick.

    It's got to be better than talking mum through logging into my work WebEx account so I could remote control it from there, while "Private Security" kept redirecting her browser every 5 seconds.

    So what else have I missed in terms of prepping a machine for use by a 69 year-old woman who struggles with electronic kitchen scales?

    Will having Windows Defender running as well as Nod32 cause any issues? It's very tempting to add layers of protection but I'm worried that will cause more trouble than it's worth.

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    At the risk of being controversial... (!) if all she is going to be doing is web browsing and e mail (Firefox and Thunderbird) then a nice Linux distro would do the job - and remote (secure) admin via SSH would be a doddle... just a thought.
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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    Yeah that's a good point; to a less experienced user a solid GNU/Linux OS should appear fairly similar to Windows, things only really start to change once you want to modify the system etc. In answer to your question Windows Defender is anti-spyware so running it with NOD shouldn't cause any problems, but that doesn't mean it definitely won't obviously. A router would be a good start, even a cheap one would add a hardware firewall between the PC and the web.

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    I like teamviewer for this use

    You call up your mum, get her to download the latest client, then read out the id & password

    You type them in on your end and you'll connect to the pc.

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    b0ned0me (06-05-2010)

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    Yeah that's a good point; to a less experienced user a solid GNU/Linux OS should appear fairly similar to Windows, things only really start to change once you want to modify the system etc. In answer to your question Windows Defender is anti-spyware so running it with NOD shouldn't cause any problems, but that doesn't mean it definitely won't obviously. A router would be a good start, even a cheap one would add a hardware firewall between the PC and the web.
    Trouble is, that would require me to be sufficiently competent to set up flawlessly + remote admin a linux box. And that's not happening in the next week, unfortunately.

    She is running with my old draytek as her ADSL modem router, hopefully that should keep the worst of the port scanners etc. away from the machine.

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    Re: So what's the best solution for remote-controlling my mum's PC?

    Teamviewer, we use it at work and my friends/family have out own made remote client, makes my life easier

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