Every time I go to my parents’ place, my step-mother has a list of computer questions for me. I don’t mind–they’re generally easily solved and I’m happy to help. This Christmas’s tasks were all about getting the music collection and my old iPod sorted on their new PC (plus installing Firefox and the usual spyware detection ). I also installed a wireless hub so that I could have Internet access through their townhouse. My sisters were staying in the room with the computer.
Jeremy reminded me of this phenomenon when he referenced Ross Mayfield’s family tech support and Gina Trapani on how to fix Mom’s computer. I was also reminded of this Slashdot thread, which discusses the millions of people-hours spent fixing computers over the Thanksgivings weekend.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Ahh yes! You and me both. I don’t mind — And my father really appreciates it. The ones that drive me nuts are the friends that come back to me time and time again for the same issues because their computing practices are horrific… I’ve told some of them that they are just beyond help unless they start listening to my advice 🙂
I didn’t go home for Christmas, but I’ve done the tech support thing before. Thankfully, I don’t really need to do it anymore. I installed a free antivirus that automatically updates, an auto-updating spyware protection system, Firefox, and Thunderbird. They haven’t had a virus, or any problem at all, in over a year.
A few years ago, when I got really tired of my mother calling me for tech support, instead of the free tech support included with her ISP (and amusingly enough, I worked for the competition — although in an unrelated department) because she didn’t want to be talked about by the support people when they went home from work the way I used to relate some of my more amusing/frustrating customer stories.
Guess what, Mom. You are. Only now it’s with people who know you…
However, I fixed her: I installed VNC onto her computer. Now, as long as it boots up, I can just pop in remotelyand fix it myself, rather than giving her the usual “click here… now here… no, not there…”
phew
On Christmas Day i was moments away from formatting a PC so old its running Windows 98, its a six year old heap of junk that would struggle with Windows 2000 and the broadband they want to use(broadband set up appears to be a recurring problem for family)
Only by miracle and fluke of chance was i left to enjoy the couch and beer with everyone else:)
*I agree though, i get far more agitated when friends keep coming back to me for help fixing their actions*
Can’t wait for the next holiday so that I can get Flikr! Thx for the help. M
I do this same exact thing, not only for in-laws, but for the many tech-inept friends and neighbors. I keep an updated “tech disk” ISO and before I do one of these computers, I update it with the latest definitions and such, burn a new copy and head out. It’s easier than visiting a dozen sites to download while you are there.
One useful thing that I do right off the bat is throw the latest version of Stinger on there. It’s a free tool from McAfee that targets the “top 40” of the latest and nastiest viruses.
Also useful, with a 30-day free trial, is Ace Utilities which can help greatly with registry cleanup.
I also HIGHLY recommend creating limited user accounts, as this should greatly reduce the amount of damage in between visits.
This year, I only had to spend about 6 hours total on the inlaw’s computer over the xmas holiday weekend, most of that was installing their new wireless network and configuring all the computers to work together and print and share files etc.
I do it because I love getting the props from my father-in-law, a gruff older man who is from a time when women didn’t DO stuff like this.
I generally don’t mind the requests for help, if the person in question has at least done enough to help me help them. Calling up and telling me there’s “An error, or something” and offering “free coffee/beer/pizza” if I come fix it (oh boy, six beer for three hours of work? where do I sign up? Why isn’t EA_Spouse talking about this stuff, too?)
The thing that really REALLY gets me is the “Rule of Last Touchies.” I often have spare old hardware, and will hand it out to people who are obviously drooling over that optical mouse that I’ve got in a box marked “Stuff to Chuck.” So I install my old optical mouse for Joe User, and go home feeling good for getting rid of something I wasn’t using any way.
Six MONTHS later, I’ll get a call complaining “Ever since you gave me that mouse, my computer crashes when I overclock it by 40% and run HalfLife2 for nine hours straight,” with the added tone that it’s my fault, so I should come “fix it.”
Then I bought my “No, I will not fix your computer” T-Shirt from ThinkGeek.