Best remote computer access to support elderly parents?

[Littlefish]

My 80+ parents moved to be closer to DH and me about 2 years ago. They have settled really well into their new home and have made local friends.

They are both computer literate(ish) but over the last 6 months, dh and I have ended up having to go round on an increasingly regular basis to sort out computer issues. The vast majority of these are because my dad has just clicked on things to try and sort it out himself!

Can anyone recommend a remote access software we can install on their computers to allow us to fix things without needing to go to their house?

DH and I work every day and sometimes struggle to get to my parents in the timescale they would like!

We are also planning to set up a separate administrator account on dad’s computer so that he can’t get to the settings, in the hope that this will stop the inadvertent meddling!

What type of computers do you and your parents have? Windows 11, MacOS, something else?

We put Teammviewer on my parents’ laptop and set the desktop so it had two icons - chrome and teamviewer.

You can set it up so the code for the laptop is always the same (otherwise it generates a new code every time) so you can log in easily.

Basically whenever I got a tech support call I would say open teamviewer (and then when the reply was “it’s opened my email” I’d say “no the other one” and then you have full remote access from your side and can do whatever is needed.

The free version was good enough for us, you don’t need to pay for it.

Fab tip. I too seem to have turned into remote tech support.

Sorry, that information would have helped, wouldn’t it! Mum has got Windows 11 and I think dad is Windows 10, but it might be 11.

Currently his computer keeps disconnecting from the WiFi, randomly. I suspect there might be an update he needs, so that’s today’s job!

I didn’t realise there was a free version of TeamViewer! That’s the one that a friend recommended to us. The version I saw was £15.90 per month. If there’s a free one, I might give that a try first. Thanks!

I don't think Windows 10 is supported anymore so that might not be helpful.