Do Your Own Tech Support

In my extended family, I am the tech support staff. I'm OK with that fact most of the time (unless the call for help comes in the middle of an important game or someting). There are, however, things that we all could do that would make things easier for whoever that person is in your life that you call when your computer is not working as it should.

CrossLoop is a tool that allows you to give remote control of your desktop to someone via the Internet. When my mom calls me for support, we can both log on to CrossLoop and I can control her computer from my computer. I can see her screen, access the programs on her computer, etc. which makes technical troubleshooting SO much easier. Definitely download this and get your tech support go-to person to do the same!

Most of the problems that I find on other people's computers are caused by spyware and that's why you need to download AdAware. AdAware is used to scan your computer of malicious files, spyware, etc. and clean them off. If you don't know what spyware is, it's junk that you don't want on your computer that you pick up as your surf around the internet. At best, it slows your computer down. At worst, it can completely freeze your computer, log your key strokes, all kinds of stuff that's bad. Get this one for sure and use it at least once per week.

Spyware Blaster is another spyware related program that you need to get. This program addresses/stops spyware BEFORE it gets on your machine. Running AdAware is great to clean off anything that you may already have but you need SpyWare Blaster running to keep the stuff off in the first place.

The last piece of software that you should get is called CCleaner (it used to be called Crap Cleaner - seriously). This is a program that scans your computer and gets rid of alot of dead files that you don't need anymore. It also cleans up your cookies (pieces of software that websites put on your machine so that they can 'recognize' you when you come back), gets rid of temporary internet files (some sites save some of their content on your local machine so the site will load faster), etc. This is a good tool for cleaning up disk space and keeping things in good working order.

All of these programs are free and all of them are essential tools that I use when I do technical support for people. If you are scared to use them, drop me a note and I'll walk you through it or connect to you using CrossLoop and show you how to do it. Either way - get them for yourself and you should notice improved performance. Good luck!