The type of person who reads Tech N Life is the type person everyone goes to when there is a problem. That’s OK when they live in the same house, but you get Aunts and Uncles, even grandparents asking to fix the silly things. The easiest way to do this is with some free remote support software. Here are three I use daily:

LogMeIn

I use this mostly with established clients and ones I will regularly support remotely. Logmein provides a login area where you can save up all your clients connections. The free version is limited in how you can categorize these however it works fine as is.

One great feature is the ability to add notes to each PC. So you can put client specific details to help with your next remote session.

This works by going to the client computer and going to your LogMeIn account and choosing “Add this computer”. This will install some client software and just follow the prompts all the way to the end.

Now you can go to you PC and see it listed in your LogMeIn account. You can even initiate chat sessions with the user. One other benefit, is you can blank their screen while you work. Sometimes I do this because I don’t want to teach my clients how to do everything. That would be silly, no?

ShowMyPc

I use this when its either a new client or non regular client. Its a website where you both download a tiny piece of software and install it. The person you want to help clicks Show My Pc button and it generates a password. You click View A Remote PC and input the password.

Its important to understand what happens here because sometimes it doesn’t work. Especially the first time it is run, it needs to configure some ports on your firewall. This makes it appear as if nothing is happening. However the person you wish to support will get a windows security notice asking their approval.

Lets face it, if the person you were helping knew what they were doing, you wouldn’t be helping them. So don’t be surprise at how much the freak out at this security warning. It amazes me every time. I try to mention it to them before the install to minimize their shock. It’s actually quite funny. Anyway, go ahead and tell them to hit unblock on both pop ups.

Now you will get a connection. Immediately on their screen, you will see their ShowMyPc dialog box. Click on options and disable Vista Prompts. Otherwise you will get severed connections if you are doing any major support.

Teamviewer

This is pretty nice software and simple to use. I am slowly shifting towards Teamviewer  because some people just don’t even understand how to download software. I find Teamviewer a little more intuitive for novices. So you set up an account which is free for personal use. You will install some software on you PC and get that all set up. Then, when you want to support someone, you send them to the Teamviewer site and tell them to click on Join A Session. This will guide them through the install process which is really quick and they will then give you the passwords needed to connect. Once connected, Teamviewer gives you lots of great features.

So that’s it. You will quickly become everyones hero. But remember, with that, comes a price. The price you pay is everyone calls you everyday, so learn to be in control and encourage people to work things out themselves first.