My mom's pc scares me

"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
04/12/2020 at 23:33 • Filed to: None

This file system has been through seven or eight machines, three hard disk migrations, and two windows upgrades (XP ->7->10 . There’s fifteen years worth of accumulated junk in here, and it’s all completely unorganized.

DISCUSSION (16)

Svend > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/12/2020 at 23:46

Lol. I feel your pain. I was asked to help a colleague fill out an accident form. There was something we needed to look up on her computer, I’m not kidding, it took forever to start up, the lag on it even after an hour was painful. The whole screen was covered in shortcuts and folders.

I asked her if she ever maintained it, etc... and she looked at me as if I had five heads.

I get the same answer with this one from people over 45+. Have you got computer protection?, 'ye', I got it when I bought the computer'. When did you get your computer, 'about nine years ago'. And had you been keeping up to date with updates and new anti virus software, same reply every time, 'what, what's that, what do you mean!?'.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/12/2020 at 23:47

My mom has an ancient Mac laptop that was my aunt’s, who died. So now she wants to keep it going. I don’t know anything about Macs, I hate them. I told her computers are not really a good choice for keepsakes.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Svend
04/12/2020 at 23:48

She’s good about virus protection (and smart enough to avoid those fake download buttons) but good god is she disorganized

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
04/13/2020 at 00:30

Keep it going in what way? I mean you could ‘keep it going’ if it’s used as a doorstop.

My favourite recommendation is when someone asks me if an ancient desktop PC can be upgraded... and I tell them “Sure, just fill it with cement, add a rope and use it as a boat anchor. Or cut a hole in the top, fill it with soil and use it as a planter”

fintail > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/13/2020 at 00:42

Back in the day I remember it wasn’t uncommon for me to just reformat my mom’s computer when I’d come home to visit. My god, the malware/spyware, she seemed to enjoy downloading garbage . Now she only uses an ipad, I am fine with that.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
04/13/2020 at 00:55

Yeah I told her, at some point it will really die, they aren’t doing updates for it.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > fintail
04/13/2020 at 00:57

Back in late days of XP, amirite??

speedy964 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/13/2020 at 01:20

I fill your pain. My grandpa can’t remember passwords. It’s a miracle that none of his accounts have gotten hacked as he uses simple passwords so he can maybe have a chance of remembering them. A couple of months ago, it took 3 days of back and forth calls to Amazon because he forgot his password and tried entering the wrong one enough times to lock himself out fully.

Nom De Plume > speedy964
04/13/2020 at 01:36

P assword manager backed up on a usb drive hidden in his house and at a relative’s. Safe passwords, easy access, much less worry.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > speedy964
04/13/2020 at 01:52

I recommend a program called KeePass. It’s a super secure password vault application. You can set it up to use a key file on a USB stick to unlock, so he doesn’t have to remember a master password. Once you’re in the program you can make organized entries of not just usernames and passwords but the urls and any notes that go with them.

Kinja'd!!!

Best part is that it’s freeware and never tries to install other programs or bug you for updates.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/13/2020 at 05:11

My mom’s isn’t too badass she was a teacher, do fairly organized, but her files are still not TERRIBLY well organized...

Her Firefox bookmarks are by far the worst...they are all just in the Bookmarks menu in one giant long string of bookmarks in random order with no folders...

fintail > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
04/13/2020 at 13:46

98 and XP, she had fun with both. Her first PC (she never used the computer back in the days when I was still at home and we had a Win 3.1x machine) was a secondhand Win98 I gave her around 2001 or so. A couple years later she upgraded to a cheapish Dell, I recall upgrading the RAM. She seemed to have a magnetic attraction to things like Gator and Weatherbug. I also had to tell her to stop installing AOL, as she didn’t use AOL as her provider. She is much better today, hard to cause issues with an ipad.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > fintail
04/13/2020 at 18:10

Yep exact same with pretty much everyone I had to support back in the day. Even my own XP machine started getting pretty slow by 2008 no matter how clean I tried to keep it. I switched myself to Mac about then and eventually everyone I supported. Hardly get any support calls anymore.

fintail > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
04/13/2020 at 21:07

I remember having issues with 98, reformatting it now and then just to help performance. I don’t recall XP being too bad, and 7 and 10 have been very solid. Still, for some users, it seems an Apple or Android tablet might be the best idea.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/13/2020 at 21:17

That's why I recommend anyone I know to switch to Apple products. I don't know if they work any better, but when they have issues, I can respond honestly, "I don't know how to do that, I've never owned an Apple product."

Nibby > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
11/16/2020 at 08:45