Simple, Free Web Remote PC Control?

MeatballCB writes "Hey folks. Being the 'technical' guy of the family, I often get calls from friends and family members when they're having PC issues. Most of these folks are not technical, so trying to troubleshoot problems over the phone can often be a challenge. Anyone know of a simple-to-use and (preferably) free service that would allow for remote viewing/control of their PCs? I know there's WebEx and GoToMyPC, but I hate to pay for something I'd use once every two months. I also know about VNC, but trying to walk someone through opening up ports on their router that thinks their Internet is broken when their homepage gets changed is not realistic. Anyone know of anything that would be easy to set up and use?"

Re:LogMeIn

[andy666]

Often, if I am eating chinese food for dinner, lomein, for example, I'll use logmein to login to my work computer. The manual in german was very controversial, as it was called "logmeinkamp". Then there was the porn that it came with as a "trojan", titled "Me Log is In ".

back orifice

[Anonymous Coward]

I seem to remember back orifice did a pretty good job of remote controlling widoze boxes. :)

Re:$125.00 per hour

[Dan541]

April the 1st has already been, your a few months late.

Re:LogMeIn

[Tibia1]

Wait a second, you told this guy to post this story, didn't you? You're all from logmein, taking part in a ridiculously good adveratising scheme... and your probably paying th- [gets shot]

Re:$125.00 per hour

[mrmeval]

Format the drives, damage the install disks and walk away because strangling the ability of drama queens to get on the internet is a social responsibility.

Re:$125.00 per hour

[Anonymous Coward]

It fixed my problems instantly when I quoted them my rate. I got tired of being abused by people who refused to learn how the system worked. This was a directed refusal they take pride in. I made my point that I was not longer their slave. Now they get to pay someone who likes the abuse. I would point out the relationship has a whiff of BDSM but they'd not understand that either.

Just tried that on my wife. Now have a black eye. Thanks, b@st@rd.

Re:logmein.com

[davester666]

Do you guys REALLY dislike the idea of going upstairs to help your parents with their computer so much that you need to use some complicated remote control setup instead?

And the exercise from climbing the stairs will do you good as well!