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?"

Microsoft Live Mesh....

[mitchdbx]

I have a similar issue and have found that MS Live Mesh, and I think that it is a great solution to your issue. It will allow you to control any PC in your mesh from any other PC, and remotely via a web browser. You can easily share documents on each of the machines as well, a nice solution for backing up your own data. Finally, you have he software works on Windows and OSX; however, you can only sync files to a Mac. It would appear that they are working on being able to control a Mac remotely.

Re:LogMeIn

[fm6]

Deployment link? Have you actually used this software? To use the free version of logmein, the person you're trying to help has to log in using your password, then download and configure the client to work in your account. It's doable, but it requires some non-trivial handholding.

Perhaps you're thinking of LogMeIn Rescue. I've never used it, but it's probably as simple as they claim it is. (This company appears to have pretty high standards.) One little problem: it's not cheap [logmeinrescue.com].

Re:Remote Assistance

[asdf7890]

None of that is needed. For the client, ItJustWorks. The hardest part is if they don't use Messenger already (as otherwise they have to find the RA client tool and get the invitation file to you by some means such as email) otherwise it is no harder then "ooh, Dave is online, I'll ask him to look, open chat, click 'activity', click 'request remote assistance', done." and the last two clicks I can talk them through over Messenger if they have forgotten where the command is. Of course it doesn't work if Messenger isn't working for some reason, but any remote admin tool requires a certain level of "the system is working" to be useful.

Re:$125.00 per hour

[Anonymous Coward]

For family, make that $250/hr.
You've got to put up with the extra BS, that's worth something.
Like asking for your help and then saying, are you sure you know what you're doing?

I've had relatives ask me to develop s/w for near free. They suggest I could then co-market it with them. Jeezzz.