A laptop for the in-laws

[crokett]

Giving a laptop to the in-laws. They are non-users. Will put XP on the machine. I was looking hard at Ubuntu Linux but I don't know it well enough to support it remotely.

Will make them users, not admins. (I will reserve the admin account for me). Will install firewall, enable automatic updates and put Norton Ghost on along with a scheduled backup. Have I forgotten anything?

[LarryG]

Have I forgotten anything?

Just one little thing: change your cell phone number.

[bmyers]

Microsoft Antispyware. It's free and can keep other nasties out of there.

www.microsoft.com/spyware

Picasa ?

VNC if you installed XP home instead of Pro (remote admin)

Bill

[ironhat]

You might want to plan on remote access such as Log-Me-In, or others. It will save a lot of frustration when trying to get them to access various pages during troubleshooting. Good luck with that project. I was a good bit more than frustrated with long distance coaching (across town) on a Web TV unit - usually just had to stop by and help out.

Later,
Chiz

Edit: Oh sure, now I scroll down far enough to see the last line of bnyers post - sorry for the redundancy.

[bigdaddyjohn]

Ubuntu

I think your first idea is the best. I use Kubuntu exclusively. If you install it then use the "Remote Desktop Connection" (free of course with linux), you can mess with it before giving it to them. That way you can be familiar with it. All they would have to do to grant you access is simply send you an email from within Remote Desktop Connection. It's quite simple.

I have found that people who aren't the most computer savy (read, that haven't spent years fighting windows to the point that they have finally figured it out) usually find Ubuntu quite easy to pickup. Kids and the older generations (no offense intended) really don't have any problems getting in and starting right away.

This reminds me. I have a coworkers computer in the car that needs scrubbed today and Ubuntu installed for him. No more viruses for him. It's completely free, fast, efficient and provides updates without charge. The only programs I find difficulty using on Linux are Win based CAD programs. There are Linux CAD applications but I don't like them. I'm now using Codeweavers to run Vectorworks. I use it also for my poker fix.

Just my 2 cents.

bigdaddyjohn

[Thom2]

Just one little thing: change your cell phone number.

1234567890

[crokett]

John,

My concerns with Ubuntu are A - logistics for remote support, B - backup/recovery (I use Ghost on my windows machine) and C - the major reqeuirement (and reason they are getting the computer) is a webcam. Mostly it 'just needs to work' both for my sanity and theirs. I guess I could drop Ubuntu on it and play with it some to see how well it does work.

[scorrpio]

Far as I know, a 'user' XP account is extremely limited. Dunno what they'll use the laptop for, but user might be not enough.

[LarryG]

A user account can do basically anything except install new software or updates. Which brings me to ...

David, I just realized something ... with you reserving admin rights for yourself (good idea!), you will likely have to disable automatic updates for most programs. I know that some anti-virus software will update in the background, even with an ordinary user account logged on, but IME most apps that check for updates and try to install them (Quicktime, Acrobat Reader, etc etc etc) cannot do it and will generate an "Insufficient user rights" error message box. I don't know about auto-updates for Windows itself ... I never enable that, preferring to review the available updates myself before they go on the machine.