Is there an easy way for me to remotely access my mother-in-law's computer? Maybe a website that has detailed step-by-step directions? Bear in mind that I have no idea how to do this, so I need a "remote access for dummies" type of instructions. She has a G5 iMac and DSL. I also have DSL and we are both with the same ISP, if that makes any difference. I need to be able to do routine updates and maintenance, things like downloading the latest Firefox or doing software updates.

Thanks in advance.

Rhonda

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2007 03:10PM by rgG.

The instructions could be quite detailed. Rather that write it all out, I'm going to ask if you can answer a few questions to find out how detailed I should get.

1. Does she have a router?
- Do you have remote access to the router?
- Do you know how to setup port forwarding on the router?
2. Do you know what "ports" are?
3. Which version of OS X is she running?

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These might be good instructions.
I haven't read them, but I have found Lifehacker tutorials to be pretty useful for other things.

[lifehacker.com]

Thanks Seacrest, I will look at those.

Mavic,

She does not have a router. Her DSL goes directly into her Ethernet port on her iMac from her DSL modem and is the only thing connected.

I know what ports are as far as having looked at the port configuration on my airport set-up, but that is it. I have an Airport Extreme with one eMac connected via Ethernet and several other Macs connected wirelessly.

My mother-in-law is running Panther, what revision I am not completely sure.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

i've had a few posts recently on VNC. If you search VNC and Jardster, you should get some very good info.

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Thanks jardster, I will.

That link that Seacrest gave was a good one, too. I didn't realize that it was relatively simple. I will want to make sure that I don't open up her computer to hackers though. So I had better read up on it a bit more.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I did the search and saw the link to Bosco's Screen Share. I may give that a try. It looks pretty simple.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Boscos screen share is incredibly simple, but not super fast -- there is some screen delay

when she first installs it, walk through the preferences together and have her change them to "always allow" -- that way you can drive her mac even if shes not there

i have been using this with my mothers machine for years

she calls me, tells me what its doing and i jump on at night when shes asleep and fix it

the only thing you cant do is restart, unless you put boscos in her startup items...

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Thanks jdc. I'll have to install Bosco's the next time I go over. My mom-in-law can't install anything. She can barely check her email and a few web sites, so I can configure it then. I am behind a router, but since she isn't, I should be able to call her without changing any of her settings, I hope.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

have her download it, start application from the disk image, give you her IP and then say "allow" when it comes up on her screen

do it over the phone the first time, then when you get access, move the app where it needs to go, etc -- you just cant set preferences from your mac

since she has no router, all you need is her IP and you are done

PM, me and you can drive my machine if you want...

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Reminds me of that Beatles song "Baby you can Drive my Car".

Thanks for the offer. I'll PM you.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I'm finding this thread extremly interesting. My 88 yo Mom has constant troube and we live 675 miles apart. I'm forever trying to walk her through repairing damage she does all the time, like throwing icons away, opening useless new folders, etc. I keep getting calls like, "Marty, I lost Mail, what do I do?", when she normally just has removed the icon from the dock.

I'm also going to look into remote access. Thanks all.

Quote
rgG
She does not have a router

Good. In that case, get Desktop Transporter:

[www.devon-technologies.com]

It couldn't be simpler.

Thanks AA. Another one to try.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I like Bosco's Screen Share and actually paid for it when it was a shareware product. Unfortunately, I had to switch solutions or run twice as many client applications when I needed to control Linux boxes as well as Macs. Switching to VNC made everything work under a single client from OS X, OS 9, and even from 68k Macs.

Now that I have Windows, Linux, and Mac boxes, I still stick with VNC. If you can grok the setup, you will be ahead of the curve. You need a single client application on the controlling computer and a VNC server for each device needing to be shared. Opening ports on the computers running the VNC server is required if using a firewall and port forwarding is generally needed if using a router. Sounds complex, but about the same as the other solution's suggested.

Good luck because you cannot really go wrong with any of the suggestions (although, my knowledge is only limited to anecdotal third part accounts on Desktop Transporter.

Haven't had time to check all your links listed, but I need to do the same with my mac to my dad's pc in his office.

Will these programs only do mac to mac? Any better suggestions for mac to pc?

(He uses a real computer at home )

VNC will work cross platform. If I am not mistaken there is a VNC client for the newton. You could actually control your OS X computer remotely with a Newton. Pretty cool.

I've used an old PowerBook 520c running Mac OS 8.1 and System 7.5 to control my old Ubuntu box with VNC.

You can do remote desktop from a Mac to control a Windows computer. However, Bosco's Screen Share may be easier as it works OS X to OS X, OS X to Windows XP, and Windows Xp to OS X.
[componentx.com]

Remote Desktop may be faster, but only works when going from your Mac to Windows or from Windows to Windows. Or from Linux to Windows. The point is that it only is useful for controlling Windows.
[www.microsoft.com]

Desktop Transporter is Mac only.

Again, VNC will do nearly any platform you can think of. Not sure what the best server may be for Windows (TightVNC maybe), but I use Chicken of the VNC to control things. You may have to try a couple of viewers to see which one provides the best compatibility.


Nathan

Thanks!!! Such a complete answer . . .

Quote
mspace
Thanks!!! Such a complete answer . . .

No problem.


Nathan