Things to do to your Mom’s PC over Thanksgiving [ Edited ]

[AdrianKH]

This time last year I wrote a post called Things to do to your Mom's PC over Thanksgiving.  It consisted of some nice, useful things that you could do to improve your Mom's PC as a "thank you" for the splendid Thanksgiving meal she cooked for you (if you're feeling nice you can also tweak your Dad's PC too.

(If you're a Mom reading this, then print it out and leave it somewhere conspicuous!)

Well, it's a year on so I thought it was time to dust off that post, fix some changed/dead links and give it a quick rewrite.  Here a list of what the new post contains (updated post here):

1. Clean out the hard disk junk!


2. Error check the drive and defragment!


3. Get your Mom decent email address!


4. Set up an IM program!


5. Install a spyware scanner!


6. Install and configure a firewall!


7. Install Firefox 2.0, Opera 9 and Internet Explorer 7


8. Antivirus!


9. Windows Update/Microsoft Update


10. Backup!


11. Introduce your Mom to the wonders of RSS web feeds!

Go on!  You know it all makes sense!

Message Edited by AdrianKH on 11-22-200605:21 PM

[Choisya]

I'm a grandmom (in the UK) and have done all this Anything else?

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AdrianKH wrote:

This time last year I wrote a post called Things to do to your Mom's PC over Thanksgiving.  It consisted of some nice, useful things that you could do to improve your Mom's PC as a "thank you" for the splendid Thanksgiving meal she cooked for you (if you're feeling nice you can also tweak your Dad's PC too.

(If you're a Mom reading this, then print it out and leave it somewhere conspicuous!)

Well, it's a year on so I thought it was time to dust off that post, fix some changed/dead links and give it a quick rewrite.  Here a list of what the new post contains (updated post here):

1. Clean out the hard disk junk!


2. Error check the drive and defragment!


3. Get your Mom decent email address!


4. Set up an IM program!


5. Install a spyware scanner!


6. Install and configure a firewall!


7. Install Firefox 2.0, Opera 9 and Internet Explorer 7


8. Antivirus!


9. Windows Update/Microsoft Update


10. Backup!


11. Introduce your Mom to the wonders of RSS web feeds!

Go on!  You know it all makes sense!

Message Edited by AdrianKH on 11-22-200605:21 PM

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[AdrianKH]

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Choisya wrote:
I'm a grandmom (in the UK) and have done all this Anything else?

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AdrianKH wrote:

This time last year I wrote a post called Things to do to your Mom's PC over Thanksgiving.  It consisted of some nice, useful things that you could do to improve your Mom's PC as a "thank you" for the splendid Thanksgiving meal she cooked for you (if you're feeling nice you can also tweak your Dad's PC too.

(If you're a Mom reading this, then print it out and leave it somewhere conspicuous!)

Well, it's a year on so I thought it was time to dust off that post, fix some changed/dead links and give it a quick rewrite.  Here a list of what the new post contains (updated post here):

1. Clean out the hard disk junk!


2. Error check the drive and defragment!


3. Get your Mom decent email address!


4. Set up an IM program!


5. Install a spyware scanner!


6. Install and configure a firewall!


7. Install Firefox 2.0, Opera 9 and Internet Explorer 7


8. Antivirus!


9. Windows Update/Microsoft Update


10. Backup!


11. Introduce your Mom to the wonders of RSS web feeds!

Go on!  You know it all makes sense!

Message Edited by AdrianKH on 11-22-200605:21 PM

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Hi there!

Great stuff!

Here's something else you could do - open up the PC and give it a good clean. If you don't want to do that you can use a brush and clean the back of the PC around the power supply unit - that's bound to be mucky!

[Skyler97]

My wife had me talk on the Phone to my Mom in Law about her PC right before Christmas. She wasn't able to open her email. I went thru the usual trouble shooting for Outlook. Checked the account. Checked the pop server address, etc etc. Everything was OK.

Finally decided to drive over. Took my 8 year old over to visit with Mom-Mom while I looked at the PC. Outlook seemed to be fine. Just wouldn't connect to the mail server. I clicked on the Internet and Lo and Behold it wouldn't connect either. Her router was down. Rebooted everything and voila. Her email was back up.

I asked why didn't she tell me the internet was down too? "Oh I never use the Internet I might get a Virus. I just use Email." :-)

[AdrianKH]

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Skyler97 wrote:
My wife had me talk on the Phone to my Mom in Law about her PC right before Christmas. She wasn't able to open her email. I went thru the usual trouble shooting for Outlook. Checked the account. Checked the pop server address, etc etc. Everything was OK.

Finally decided to drive over. Took my 8 year old over to visit with Mom-Mom while I looked at the PC. Outlook seemed to be fine. Just wouldn't connect to the mail server. I clicked on the Internet and Lo and Behold it wouldn't connect either. Her router was down. Rebooted everything and voila. Her email was back up.

I asked why didn't she tell me the internet was down too? "Oh I never use the Internet I might get a Virus. I just use Email." :-)

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Classic! Thanks for sharing that story!