{"id":18187,"date":"2015-12-16T11:07:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/?p=18187"},"modified":"2018-10-05T14:12:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T20:12:18","slug":"it-at-home-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/2015\/12\/16\/it-at-home-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"IT at Home for the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that magical time of year for all technically minded folks: sysadmins, IT pros, nerds and gamers.\u00a0 It\u2019s that time where you get to go home to family, gather around the fire, and fix their computers.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right; it\u2019s not about the turkey or the giving of presents, it\u2019s about cleaning toolbars off grandma\u2019s computer.<\/p>\n

For those of you who go through this annual ritual, here\u2019s a few things to make the process easier for everyone:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Facelift:<\/strong> SSD, memory, larger screen.\u00a0 One of the cheapest ways to give aging hardware a boost is getting easier every day.\u00a0 SSD prices are bombing like your boss\u2019s jokes at the holiday party, RAM has been cheap for a while, and bigger screens are always cheap around the holidays.\u00a0 Replacing an HDD with an SSD will make them think you gave them a whole new computer.\u00a0 For moving the boot drive, I recommend Paragon Software\u2019s Migrate OS to SSD software: https:\/\/www.paragon-software.com\/technologies\/components\/migrate-OS-to-SSD\/<\/a> That way you don\u2019t have to do a fresh install, and you can just leave the migration running while you eat dessert.\u00a0 Combine that with a USB to SATA cable: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00HJZJI84<\/a> and you only have to open up the case once to swap the drive out after the migration is complete.\u00a0 While the case is open, slap in some extra RAM so that when Chrome tabs gobble up all the memory their computer doesn\u2019t grind to a halt.\u00a0 And finally those aging eyes will benefit from the jump to a larger screen.\u00a0 27 inches seems to be the pricing sweet spot lately.\u00a0 And you can take home the replaced screens to use as second, third, fourth and fifth monitors for yourself while playing Fallout 4.<\/li>\n
  2. Auto-reset the internet.\u00a0<\/strong> How tired are you of asking people if they\u2019ve tried turning it off and on again?\u00a0 For one aspect you can now automate the process.\u00a0 They make plugs that detect when the Internet connection goes down that automatically power cycle the cable modem and\/or router: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/PI-Manufacturing-Internet-Controllable-Automatic\/dp\/B006PPISCG<\/a> That will save you from having to explain to your parents which device they have to try turning off and on again when the Internet goes out.<\/li>\n
  3. Setup easier remote access<\/strong> \u2013 Have you ever had this conversation: \u201cGo to the address bar.\u00a0 That thing at the top.\u00a0 Type in: H-T-T-P-colon-slash \u2013 the one that leans to the right, not the left, now another slash.\u00a0 Yes the same direction as the last one.\u00a0 Now L-O-G.\u00a0 No, G as in Get a clue\u2026\u201d\u00a0 You get the picture.\u00a0 While you\u2019re home, why not setup a shortcut on the desktop that goes directly to your preferred remote support website?\u00a0 That way grandma knows what to click on when you have to remote in to uninstall the latest toolbar she installed.<\/li>\n
  4. Install antivirus that allows central management<\/strong> \u2013 obviously I\u2019m going to recommend Webroot: https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/us\/en\/home<\/a> But no matter what you choose, it\u2019s nice to have something that has a central online console. This allows you to see whether mom\u2019s computer has run a scan in the last decade and how many viruses your younger brother managed to catch while visiting those sites he likes to go to.\u00a0 With Webroot you can also kick off scans and reboots from anywhere you can get online.<\/li>\n
  5. Protect their credit<\/strong> \u2013 everyone\u2019s had their information stolen at this point so you might as well put a freeze on your credit.\u00a0 Mom and dad probably aren\u2019t getting a lot of loans these days therefore this won\u2019t be a big inconvenience for them.\u00a0 \u00a0Here\u2019s how to go about it: http:\/\/www.consumer.ftc.gov\/articles\/0497-credit-freeze-faqs<\/a> This just means they\u2019ll need to call in and unfreeze with their password before they get any more lines of credit, and it will stop the bad guys from taking out loans in their name.\u00a0 Because face it, they already have all of your personal information.\u00a0 Protect your inheritance.<\/li>\n
  6. Install an ad blocker and privacy protection<\/strong> \u2013 ads are a huge vector for malware these days.\u00a0 I like uBlock Origin<\/a> to stop ads and Privacy Badger<\/a> to stop companies following you around the web with tracking cookies.\u00a0 Put those browser extensions in place and teach mom and dad how to turn them on or off for individual sites for when they break core functionality.<\/li>\n
  7. Get them on a better browser<\/strong> \u2013 if they\u2019re still using Internet Explorer then you should be ashamed of yourself.\u00a0 Protip: change the existing IE icon on the desktop to open up Chrome or Firefox instead, so they don\u2019t have to learn to click on anything new.<\/li>\n
  8. Power protection<\/strong> \u2013 get some cheap UPS and surge protection so that any desktop devices & cable modems won\u2019t go haywire if the power blips: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eaton-Electrical-3S350-External-UPS\/dp\/B00906CH8S<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Setup online backup<\/strong> \u2013 I like Backblaze: https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/<\/a> $5 a month for unlimited storage on each computer.\u00a0 Now your baby pictures aren\u2019t in danger of going up in a puff of magic smoke.\u00a0 Restores are easy and you get email reports letting you know that the backups are successful.<\/li>\n
  10. Get better wireless<\/strong> \u2013 Ubiquiti has awesome and affordable prosumer APs that will give you a signal from two streets over: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ubiquiti-Networks-Enterprise-Unifi-UAP\/dp\/B00HXT8R2O<\/a> No longer will the neighbor\u2019s Wifi interfere.\u00a0 I use one to cover an entire three-story house from top to bottom.<\/li>\n
  11. Connect the house with powerline Ethernet<\/strong> \u2013 save the wireless for devices that move.\u00a0 For anything static, from streaming devices on your TV to media servers, wired is the way to go.\u00a0 Powerline Ethernet is now rock solid and you can turn your whole house into a hub by plugging these into any outlet: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter\/dp\/B00AWRUICG<\/a> No running cables throughout the house required.<\/li>\n
  12. Stop bundleware<\/strong> \u2013 next time dad installs an update, you don\u2019t have to worry about uninstalling a toolbar with this one simple trick: http:\/\/unchecky.com\/<\/a> This software automatically unchecks the bundleware checkboxes so that you don\u2019t have to use a cattle prod to train family to uncheck anything.<\/li>\n
  13. Install a password manager<\/strong> \u2013 anything to get people to use good passwords without having to teach their aging brains to remember anything new.\u00a0 If you use an online password manager, then you can automatically change their passwords and update the password manager for them whenever there\u2019s a report of a breach on a site your family uses.<\/li>\n
  14. Follow Swift on Security on Twitter.<\/strong>\u00a0 A parody account that is both funny and useful.\u00a0 Taylor Swift\u2019s Infosec alter ego will keep you up-to-date on the latest security news and breaches, all while serenading you with the latest hits: https:\/\/twitter.com\/swiftonsecurity\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Hopefully this list will help you get through the holidays at home without having to resort to hiding in the basement.\u00a0 Make a few of these changes and it should make the next year of family tech support that much easier.\u00a0 May the force help you live long and prosper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s that magical time of year for all technically minded folks: sysadmins, IT pros, nerds and gamers.\u00a0 It\u2019s that time where you get to go home to family, gather around the fire, and fix their computers. That\u2019s right; it\u2019s not about the turkey or the giving of presents, it\u2019s about cleaning toolbars off grandma\u2019s computer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":18189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2985],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[3453,6309,23243,3753,5405,19069,4295,3489,19065,20937,19061,3609,4933,6265,8315,19063,3469,6163,19067,8077],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18187"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25889,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187\/revisions\/25889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18187"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}