Teamviewer? Fixing mum's PC in the UK, remote

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 4:28 pm

My mum is 86 and lives in the UK and emails me most days and follows my blog and also does a quite a bit of online shopping. She has a fairly new laptop (I vaguely remember it's an Hp, probably 17inch) running Windows 8 that my BIL has customised so she just gets the desktop which she was used to with her old computer. So it doesn't look like win8 but it is.

Quite often she 'messes up her screen' which usually means she has pressed some cryptic combination of keys - nothing major but it is really difficult for me to fix it remote.

So I am looking for solutions. There don't seem to be any OAP-friendly hardware/software solutions (I am prepared to get a new laptop for her if it helps) but then I wondered about TeamViewer.

I'm no geek so I need something that is not too difficult for me to use. Does anyone have a similar problem/solution? Jukka???? Apua!

Thanks.

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sky2 · Post by **sky2** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 5:57 pm

Hi Rosamunda,

Hope your mom is doing well. TeamViewer should be very easy to use. All you need to do is to explain her to install it on her computer. You can for example create a step by step installation guide with screenshots for her. Once she has it, it should be very easy for you to access her PC. Just make sure that if you need to give her computer access to anybody else, you are looking at it otherwise it can be quite dangerous.

If there's anything you need help with, you're welcome to ask me.

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 6:45 pm

I second what sky2 said.
TeamViewer is actually made for similar situations. The installation process should be quite straightforward. If you have a friend who can install it for her and give you the access codes, it's even better. Just make sure to teach her how to uninstall/disable it once you're done.

riku2 · Post by **riku2** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 7:55 pm

Rosamunda wrote:Quite often she 'messes up her screen' which usually means she has pressed some cryptic combination of keys - nothing major but it is really difficult for me to fix it remote.

My dad (aged 80) living in the UK does a similar trick with the UK. Pressing random buttons on the remote so that the picture ends up the wrong size or endless other problems. Trying to help on the phone can be somewhat difficult when he picks up the wrong remote to control the tv or unplugs "the tv" but the tv stays on! (he has pulled out the plug for something else). At this end of the phone I pull out my hair.

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:09 am

Rosamunda wrote:I'm no geek so I need something that is not too difficult for me to use. Does anyone have a similar problem/solution? Jukka???? Apua!

Windows has a built-in "Remote Desktop" functionality, as well as the related "Remote Assistance" function.

Then there's VNC (RFB) in different flavors (UltraVNC, RealVNC, TightVNC).

But I agree with the others in that TeamViewer is probably the easiest to set up.

zetorpilot · Post by **zetorpilot** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:35 am

Jukka Aho wrote: But I agree with the others in that TeamViewer is probably the easiest to set up.

... or would have been, if she hadn't "screwed up her screen" already

As you will possibly need someone with more technical ability to visit now anyway, why not investigate a service like task rabbit? I have no experience of this, but I was in the UK earlier today, and listening to R4 heard a little about the concept, and it sounded very interesting and useful.

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 2:08 am

Jukka Aho wrote:Windows has a built-in "Remote Desktop" functionality, as well as the related "Remote Assistance" function.

Then there's VNC (RFB) in different flavors (UltraVNC, RealVNC, TightVNC).

VNC has two issues:
- Varies from more difficult to setup than TeamViewer to extremely more difficult to setup.
- If Rosamunda's mum connects to the internet via a home router (which is the most likely case), then special configurations (port-forwarding) must be setup to bypass NAT restrictions. Sadly, none of the major VNC implementations supports actual UPnP (some support weird versions.. not gonna work with most routers).

Windows Remote Desktop definitely has the same NAT issue as VNC. The Windows Remote Assistance uses something called Easy Connect... whiiiich also uses a weird UPnP implementation.

Long story short, it's highly likely that you'll need a server-assisted solution like TeamViewer.

Edit: I've just remembered what a friend of mine has used to help his granny. It's https://www.join.me/
According to my friend, this one is a lot easier to setup and it's very old-people-friendly.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 11:52 am

Thanks guys! You are all brilliant. I knew I'd get some answers here.

A couple of days ago she messed up the screen but rebooted (a few times!) and then 'did something' and got it back to normal.

I'll be going over again next month and I'll install TeamViewer on her laptop and give it a go but I am also going to look at those alternative solutions like Task Rabbit. Zetorpilot, what were you listening to on R4? Can you remember which programme?

I'll for sure get back to you again if I have any problems.

Yeah Riku2, the TV is another problem but there's a young guy (in his 70s) down the road, who can usually fix that for her.

It's astonishing that there is so few products/solutions in the market for people who, due to their age or for other reasons, struggle with using technology. There must be jobs there in the service sector for people who like working with older folk. My mum can't hear very well, so hates using the phone. The bane of her life is calling a helpline or 0800 number or any kind of call desk and getting 'someone with a strong accent' because she really struggles to understand. And a lot of call handlers, wherever they are from, are not trained to accommodate their speech, they just read a script off a screen, regardless of whom they are talking to. :rant:

riku2 · Post by **riku2** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:23 pm

Rosamunda wrote:It's atonishing that there is so few products/solutions in the market for people who, due to their age or for other reasons, struggle with using technology. There must be jobs there in the service sector for people who like working with older folk.

Yes, the devices can be a nightmare to understand if you don't grasp the technology underneath. At least TV's now don't have a digital/analog button to switch between the two tuners, since explaining the difference can be quite hard (especially if some channels are broadcast on both systems). The same for BBC1 via terrestrial and BBC1 via the sky box - it's impossible to explain what is happening there to an old person. Another trouble point was the difference between using a credit card in an ATM and debit card in an ATM, since both give money but the charges are quite different.

zetorpilot · Post by **zetorpilot** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:39 pm

Rosamunda, sorry I can't remember the name of the programme, it was about self employment / changing work patterns, and would have been some time in the mid afternoon, if that helps. I was heading back to the tunnel then, looking back at my records for yesterday that would have been between 14:44 and 16:40, probably just before 15:00 as now I remember I had just dropped a colleague off at Gatwick.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 7:15 pm

I'll check the BBC podcasts, thanks.
I looked up Task Rabbit's website and the concept is brilliant. I hope it rolls out in the UK. I'm sure it will.

Querfeldein · Post by **Querfeldein** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 11:35 pm

It would have been this series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0656f2d/episodes/guide

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:02 pm

adnan wrote:VNC has two issues:
- Varies from more difficult to setup than TeamViewer to extremely more difficult to setup.
- If Rosamunda's mum connects to the internet via a home router (which is the most likely case), then special configurations (port-forwarding) must be setup to bypass NAT restrictions. Sadly, none of the major VNC implementations supports actual UPnP.

I don't trust UPNP at all (too easy to punch holes into your firewall without your knowledge or informed decision) so I usually switch it off on all routers I manage, be them mine or relatives'.

UltraVNC folks have an online generator for something they call "UltraVNC SC", or "Single Click":

http://www.uvnc.com/products/uvnc-sc.html

It does not remove the overall complexity of setting things up, but it removes it from the remote end... as the remote end will then be initiating the connection by choosing a preset destination (such as "Rosamunda") from a simple GUI interface with no need to enter any settings by themselves, and port-forwarding will not be required at that end at all.

Just mentioning that here because I have successfully used a custom-generated UltraVNC SC package to help people who have very little knowledge about computers and who I could not physically visit at the time of the problem. It was simple enough for them as it was just a single exe they needed to download and launch so I could get access to their desktop. It was not that simple for me, though, as I first had to configure a port-forwarding setup on my local router (to be able to receive reverse VNC connections into a listening viewer) and then create the SC package with correctly configured connection profiles. In order to receive such connections on a consumer-grade internet service you also typically need a Dynamic DNS setup so that you're accessible by a fully qualified domain name, instead of a plain, dynamically assigned IP address.

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:21 pm

Rosamunda wrote:My mum can't hear very well, so hates using the phone. The bane of her life is calling a helpline or 0800 number or any kind of call desk and getting 'someone with a strong accent' because she really struggles to understand. And a lot of call handlers, wherever they are from, are not trained to accommodate their speech, they just read a script off a screen, regardless of whom they are talking to. :rant:

Does she have a good phone accommodating her needs? Is it a landline or a mobile?

There are special phones for the hearing impaired with extra loud and clear sound (adjustable volume, also with induction loop support, sometimes tone adjustment as well), both for mobile and fixed landline use.

I bought one of these for my grandmother who has a very bad hearing these days:

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/H%C3%A4ger ... r326496000

They no longer carry that brand and model but there are a couple of others with similar specifications:

UK:
http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Doro-312C- ... r182434000
http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Doro-Phone ... r188234000

Finland:
http://www.clasohlson.com/fi/Telefon-Doro-312CS/36-3408
http://www.clasohlson.com/fi/Puhelin-Do ... 00/38-5769

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:18 pm

Thanks Jukka. Yes she has a new phone (landline) that is also an answering machine and I think it has volume control. I will check whether she needs an upgrade next time I go. She seems to understand me very well (and I use VOIP) so I think the problem is more to do with accents and some people just not being able to accommodate their speech and their language content for the listener.

Yep, Clas Ohlson is in the UK now.

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