setting up my mom's computer for remote support and file transfers

[aspenboy]

I live across the country from my mom and I'm getting her a macbook after her eMac just died. I'm getting it shipped to me and then I will set it up for her and put pictures and stuff on it for her.

I would like to make sure I can help her with things remotely when there are problems. I'd like to set up iChat screen sharing on her macbook, so that when I send it to her I can remotely take over her computer. I've never used it before, any advice on what to do? I was thinking of using Hamachi just to ensure that we don't have router issues.

Any advice on the best way to make this seamless? Does anyone use photocasting on iPhoto? I think this might be a good way to share pics with her, but I don't have a .Mac account. Are there other good ways to share data such as files and photos with her?

any help would be greatly appreciated!

thanks,

Chris

 

[madog]

If both have Leopard (which will make everything much easier), you can use iChat to screen-share to another user and remotely manage their Mac through it:

Select a buddy, and then open the Buddies menu and choose one of the screen sharing options.
To share your own screen, choose “Share My Screen.”
To share your buddy’s screen, choose “Ask to Share.”
If you’re sharing your buddy’s screen, you can switch between viewing your screen and your buddy’s screen. You can also copy files between your computer and your buddy’s by dragging them from one desktop to the other. Both participants can do anything on the shared desktop such as opening folders and creating documents.
During screen sharing, iChat automatically initiates an audio chat so you can talk things through.

In iChat, click the help menu and click iChat Help, type "screen share" into the search field and it will show you possible port forwarding options and everything else you may need to know.

If not, I would check out Microsoft's Remote Desktop software for Mac. I've used it to successfully connect to and control another Mac (albeit on the same network, more options such as port forwarding get involved with non LAN based control) and it's free and mostly works. Other than iChat's screen sharing-control feature in Leopard, their Remote Desktop client software is much more expensive as opposed to MS's free version. Kind of strange, I know....

Or you can check out VNC ("chicken of the VNC" for Mac) to do something similar (enable Screen Share in System Prefs/Sharing), although I will not get into the setting up part of it as it can be tedious at first. Scope out the webs for info.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-desktop/default.mspx

 

[madog]

To host an iChat Theater presentation:


Unless the item you want to present is an iPhoto album, choose File> Share a File With iChat Theater.

If you want to present an iPhoto album as a slide show, and you have iPhoto ‘08 installed, choose File> Share iPhoto With iChat Theater.


Choose the items you want to present.

Text files, photos, and other files: Select one or more files. The first file appears in the iChat video window. You control the slide show from a toolbar outside of the video window.

QuickTime movies: The movie opens in the iChat video window. You control the slide show from a toolbar outside of the video window.

iPhoto ‘08 album slide shows: The iLife Media Browser panel opens. Select the photo album you want to share. The first photo opens in the iChat video window, and iPhoto opens so you can use its controls for advancing through the photos.

Keynote slide shows: The first slide opens in the iChat video window, and Keynote opens so you can use its controls for advancing through the slides.


When you see a message asking you to start a video chat, highlight a buddy in the buddy list and choose Buddies > Invite to Video Chat.

If you have a video camera and have already started a video chat, this message is skipped.


When the presentation is finished, close the control window.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

get her an imac unless she needs the portability. older (no offense) family members tend to like bigger screens and ease of use. again, this is just my thought. can't you share pics using email? (add as attachment, zip them up first). if the file is to big, upload to box.net (free account) and have her download them.

 

[aspenboy]

thanks for the input all.

We both have leopard and the quick tutorial on iChat screen sharing is helpful.

I thought about the monitor screen size issue and I think I'll just get a 20" LCD monitor for her. It's not quite as slick as the iMac would have been, but it makes it easier to move her computer and even bring it when she visits for tech support.

thanks again