If you have ever dealt with a huge company that needed to provide you with technical support then you have probably seen or participated in a WebEx session.
WebEx is GREAT except for the fact that it costs a fortune to use. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be able to do what they do but I did not want to pay for it.
That was when I found a Free VNC product to kind of do what I needed. I became a huge fan on Single Click VNC for offering up tech support to my less technical friends and family. You can read this post from 2007 on how I set it up.
Technical assistance is something pretty common these days as more and more computers penetrate homes which have never played host to a Mac or Windows machines before. Personal computers are getting cheaper by the day; and many of us tend to give them as gifts to parents and grandparents in order to feel connected.
Most of the time, it just ends in disaster. There’s a learning curve, albeit not a very steep one, especially for Macs. Application installation and uninstallation is a swift drag-and-drop action (most of the time); and frequently used programs can be added to the Dock for accessibility. The tricky part is playing friendly with Windows machines. How many of you “family technicians” understand what I’m talking about?
Let’s see here… WHAT!?!?!? $700 just for remote support software?! Ever feel like that? You need to give remote support but don’t want to shell out 700 to a couple thousand bucks, luckily, you don’t have to.
With PcHelpWare from uVNC, you get a portable, free, customizable, professional remote support program. But do you get what you pay for or is this one of the best things in life that are free?
If you’ve been sick, gone, or needed to access any of your computers from another computer, you know how infuriating it can be. It can make you want to throw your mouse across the room, or worse. But before you turn to throwing mice, try some of these easier solutions to access and control your computer remotely.
Out of every remote access service I’ve used, this one is by far the simplest. You simply sign up for a free account at LogMeIn and download a small program on the computer you want to remote-control and presto. You can now remotely access that computer from any other computer with Java.
I love my friends, and I love helping them. But God knows they’re not all that great with following along with my tech support advice over the phone. You know exactly what I’m talking about and it gets frustrating for you too I bet.
Well, after my last Make Use Of article, I had a brainstorm: why not use the most painless remote control and viewing application and the best URL truncator together to get rid of my support headaches? I almost started tapping my fingertips together and muttering “exxxxxcellent…” under my breath.
It’s a two step plan.
Like any other geek I have an eternal love for gadgets, especially those shiny, slick and expensive ones. If you’re reading this, I am sure you’re in that category as well. Over time, I discovered a number of websites that I found extremely useful for my gadget mania. Some help me decide what to buy next, other for troubleshooting, and a couple to get rid of the old ones. Here you go …
Remote desktop access is nothing new - Windows has had it for years - but as with everything else, Microsoft is rapidly losing the monopoly by smaller companies determined to bring out their own alternatives. One such alternative is Crossloop.
I have been watching Crossloop for a while and so far I have been extremely impressed. Now that they have brought out a new version, I am now totally blown away. Profiles and details of your remote sessions makes this a serious tool in the remote access market.
Just last week makeuseof covered ‘HowTo’ sources, extremely handy services listing thousands of all kinds of user-contributed ‘HowTo’ guides. While these services provide an excellent solution for all ‘HowTo’ type questions, they’re of little help when it comes to other range of questions, i.e. What … , Where… , When … , Why…. , etc.
And that’s what this post is about: popular and totally free Question and Answers (Q&A) communities where users can
‘HowTo’s (HowTos, HowTo’s, or whatever you prefer to call them) are excellent problems solvers: they provide quick, easy-to-follow and non-overwhelming solutions to one or another problem that pop-up during daily routines. People love them, especially when they’re free, regardless whether it’s a step-by-step guide or a couple of minutes long video.
Good news, the amount of freely available, user-contributed HowTo’s out there is staggering. There is something for everyone: ranging from fun stuff i.e. how to make invisible book shelf, imitate gunshot wounds and even open up a Coke machine to more practical stuff i.e. how to negotiate a raise or tie a Tie. All categorized, commented and rated by users like you and me. Below you’ll find all ‘HowTo’ services we could find, as always all free, well-categorized and hopefully objectively ranked. Plus a bonus ‘HowTo’ search engine at the end. Enjoy!
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