Not sure how many people here get voluntold they're going to be Tech Support for the entire family, as I was, but we all know how much of a pain in the ass it is. And its not just on the fact that you have to venture outside, horrid as that place is.

I found this nice too, however, that will help us all. (And I toss it here, since its more support related, than PC/Software...) Soluto is billed as 'anti-frustration' software, which you may take to mean whatever you like. But I find that it is amazingly helpful. Bottom of the post has a video with the chief products officer of the company/project giving you a decent overview, though be warned that it is almost seventeen minutes long.

So, basically, once you install it, all you get on your PC is the service and the agent:



Outside of these, everything else runs in your browser, which is kind of nice. It basically means your can manage your own PC as well. If you need to install and/or update your mothers PC, but its turned off, it will all run the next time the PC is turned on and while idle, so very little bother to the users.

The website is easy as balls to understand, as well.

At the top you've got an overview of the target machine. Left to right you have: Individual's name, 'frustration leve', basic browsing info, background apps link to jump to the apps section below, PC details, and PC name.





Below the header, you get an apps section:



Note the Dropbox/Skype links at the top. These let you install and configure with user login details, all without ever touching the intended machine.

Below you've got a list of recommended programs you may want, a list of programs installed that may need to be updated, and the ability to do it all silently.

The background apps section may be one of the more interesting sections. On first install, this will be empty (if you dont restart the PC before you open the site again) and tell you to restart your PC. Once you do, it runs a 'timer' in the lower left corner, and then tells you how long it took to start windows.



It then gives you a list of what started up, how much time it added, suggestions for what you can and shouldnt disable to speed it all up. All managed through one site.

The frustration section gives you a timeline-like list of what programs have crashed, as well as a list below. Not really helpful in itself, but gives you an idea whats going on.

On an unrelated note, my sister described what happens on an app-crash as 'adorable':



I nearly uninstalled on that alone. :\



Internet section may be helpful to the people who go to their parents and find out they have ten million toolbars. The left colored boxes are for addons/toolbars. Green are "safe to disable", orange are "possible to disable", and blue are disabled.

Top are default browser, home page, and default search engine. Hate listening to your 90 year old father bitch about Bing? Change his engine to google. Right's info about your connection/ISP.



Security infomation's fairly good, as well. For the sake of displaying it, I disabled Windows Update. Only thing I dislike is that it doesnt detect my BitDefender install as a firewall.

Hardware section at the bottom is a bit more defined, giving fan/temp stats on some items. Hard Drives get a bit of attention, including defrag state. You also get some driver information as well.

You can download/sign up at Soluto. Free accounts get five PC slots. You can purchase more for $6 a month, up to a total of 55 PC's total at $300 a month. I don't see anyone needing that many, but if need be.

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EDIT: A note I forgot. All of this is done with absolutely no interaction with the PC itself. This is not remote access.

 

The opening paragraph, alone, nets you a massive thumbs up.

Massive.

 

What's worse is when you solve an issue or make their life better in some way, and then a month later they come back asking you to fix an unrelated problem that you must have caused when you touched their computer earlier.

This is cool, though. Currently I mostly use TeamViewer, but Soluto could help with a lot of the simpler tasks that just take up time.

 

Yeea. My sister has a friend like that. Left her laptop with her, sister asked me to look at it for something, she came back two weeks later "MAH SHITS BROEKED U BUY NEW..."

Cause its not the fact that you use Bearshare, ya cunt... :|

Also; notice I derped and forgot to add an img. The one my sister commented on being adorable...

 

Having a dad who teaches information science, a mom who does QA, and a sibling in CS neatly absolves me of any family claims as Tech Support, but I end up doing it for my asstarded friends. I'll look into this. Thanks.

 

You should all try being in MY shoes - a goddamn Luddite by any realistic standard, but when it comes to my extended family and their phones, tablets, and computers I'm basically the Dumbledore they turn to any time something goes wrong.

I finally gave up and told my wife I wasn't going to try to help her mother set up anything else from 300 miles away unless and until said mother-in-law took the initiative to set up her own fucking voicemail. I mean, if you're going to get rid of your landline and then keep your one cell number turned off 20hours a day, literally the least you should do is set up the DEFAULT voicemail box, right?

 

My father works in IT for >30 years, same for my mother, my sister studied the same CS-related stuff two years ahead of me, and I am still the go-to guy.
Luckily, it's declined, probably mostly because I moved away 200 km.

On topic: Nothing to add. Though I'd be interested in more testimonials

 

Massive thumbs up, Vash.

I was in mountainous rainforest this morning. Miles from any power grid or cell reception. Complete tranquility. Climbed to the top of a 40m viewing platform and weather station for a rest and some snaps when my phone goes off with a tech support call from a family friend back home 5,000km away. Even in the middle of nowhere they're still bugging me for help. I must've been in cell range for only a few minutes but he still got me.

This tool wouldn't help in that situation, but it'll be a godsend when I get back home.

Oh, the problem was a computer that crashed and was refusing to boot. How I was supposed to fix that over the phone I dunno. Surprisingly, that old standby of 'pull the plug for 60 seconds and try again' worked and I got back to enjoying my holiday.