ajGoes

Senior's computer will require them much more often than it used to, especially if he likes to install stuff. It goes without saying that you should do everything possible to avoid sharing the administrator password with him.

jsnydcsa

I must admit I didn't know that. But, I'm willing to deal. jsnydcsa's juniors littler one's also have laptops that ARE locked down. So, I'm used to dealing with bi-weekly admin logins to check on things and, as part of that I install updates (though I admit, I thought I could do it with the junior's logins). That said, I'm willing to deal. Have them turn on the computers as part my semi-bi-weekly phone calls to them (I'm a bad child, I know) and I can start the updates while we talk.

Loren Pechtel

Beware that TeamViewer might decide the level of activity you are talking about is more than home use and start demanding you pay.

StuckInYYZ

That and they stopped offering a free tier (went full on pay) with very little warning. They were my first remote access software other than VNC. Had to scramble to find something quick as I had a few far flung relatives I supported at the time.

Another solution would be Anydesk. I haven't used it myself yet, but I know a few who do and they all like it (they often have TV accounts as well, but are just trying to fly under the radar on activity)

SEA-Flyer

QuickAssist is built into Windows for doing remoting - no need for paid third party tool:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...7-21f6a9040bf3

StuckInYYZ

The downside of it is you can't really do unattended assistance with something like that. For example, one of my relatives overseas was having a problem with their laptop. It would reboot after 5-10 minutes of being powered up and repeat after every reboot. I told them to leave their laptop powered up as I had installed Teamviewer and could work on it while they slept. Got in, suffered a few reboots but managed to resolve the issue before they woke up. I could connect to the laptop ad hoc without their intervention. With QuickAssist they need to be there to provide access if the system reboots or gets disconnected. Since I'm on the other side of the world, that would have been difficult.

Keep in mind, With any remote access software, I have MFA enabled (and the service unloaded until required) to minimize access to anyone's computer.

jsnydcsa

Quick update, apologies for the bump.

1) Malaware Bytes installed and run. Some issues but nothing concerning. Most of the stuff seemed to be "phone home" items to call back to Mister Softee with/involving software updates.
2) Teamviewer and Malaware Bytes installed on the new laptops (the latter as part of a 5 device license)
3) 12+ hours moving emails over from old to new. Don't. Get . Me. Started. After years of attempts to get him do something about the digital clutter, it just wasn't happening.
4) Jameson's completed.

StuckInYYZ

Thanks for the update. Now curious as to what is on the old laptop (if anything)

jsnydcsa

He was actually using a desktop when he was phished. But, I didn't see anything "bad" IMO after Malware scan. His laptop was kinda just not used. I ended up wiping it is a fresh Win10 install. He "likes" the newer laptop just purchased. I'll use the old wiped laptop for some other purpose.

StuckInYYZ

I've repurposed a lot of older computers in the last year due to the pandemic. I've refreshed all my media-type boxes and scrapped a few older boxes (left a few to stream audio in lesser used areas of the house). Was thinking of leaving one for those scam callers to waste their time on, but a virtual machine works better for those.

jsnydcsa

So, Snr.'s had the laptop for less than 24 hours and he forwards me a phishing attempt totally believing it and asking for my assistance. Not with "stopping" the phishing but actually responding the phisher. This most recent attempt was explicit "Please have your personal information ready when you call...." UGH! Thankfully Snr. forwarded to me and I was able to call Snr. and stop him. I need more Jamesons.

gfunkdave

A lot of apps now circumvent this by installing in the user profile directory, so they don't need admin access to install. Spotify comes to mind as an example.

jsnydcsa

I should point out that TeamViewer informed me that they have 2FA.
https://community.teamviewer.com/Eng...viewer-account

So, I set it up that if ANYONE tries to log into their systems via TeamViewer I get an iPhone notification and I have to approve/deny it. Since, I'm the only one who would legitimately be logging in, I'm good with that.

Loren Pechtel

Hey, nice! I have left the control capability turned off as I very rarely would want it--I'm almost always the one controlling other computers. With that I'm going to see if I can turn it on. (Corporate account and I'm not the controller so I'm not sure what I can set up on my end.)

Argh--looks like I can't simply set my system to two-factor.