Big Trev

I’ve had occasion in the past to provide remote support to people, and I’ve used this particular product before. Then I forgot what the hell it was called, so now I’m writing a blog post about it for me to look up when I forget it again!

It’s a service called LogMeIn. Basically, there’s a small client that you get the person you’re supporting to download and install, and once that’s done, they give you the username and password and you can remote desktop to their machine over the internets. I’ve found that it works nice, heaps better than the Remote Assistance “feature” in Windows, which I don’t think I’ve ever got working.

Apparently it even works on those “Apple” thingies.

The free version is available here: https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/

Given my recent Flash woes, I’ve come across this: http://flashblock.mozdev.org/

It’s been around for a while, and I’ve heard of it before, but haven’t got around to installing it until now. You can just add it through the Addins dialog in Firefox, and instead of your browser displaying all the crappy Flash content on every page (which is usually just ads anyway), it replaces it with an icon that you can click to selectively open.

In a completely unscientific test with Youtube, I’ve found it’s at least improved my experience. Maybe not quite 100%, but a LOT better.

For a little while now, I’ve been recommending Avast to family/friends who need antivirus for their Windows machines. These are instructions so I can point people towards how to install and maintain Avast, so I’ve told you to come here and find this post, you’re at the right place!

Installing Avast:

To install the free version of Avast:
1. Click here to download: http://files.avast.com/files/latest/avast_home_setup.exe If that link is broken, let me know.
Alternatively, go to the Avast website free version download page - http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html .
2. Once the file is downloaded, install it. Just follow the prompts, you can leave everything on defaults.
3. When it asks for the Registration Key, you’ll need to do the steps below

Getting your registration key for Avast Free version:
1. Click here: http://www.avast.com/eng/home-registration.php
2. Choose one of the 3 links up the top of the page:

- I’m a new user and I need a registration key for avast! Home Edition
- I’m a registered user, but I lost my registration key
- I’m a registered user and my registration key has expired, I need a new one

3. Follow the prompts, put in your details. They are a legit company, so don’t worry about providing your email address - I’ve never got any spam off them.

If Avast is saying that the registration is expiring/has expired, then you just need to follow the above steps to get a fresh key, which will cover you for the next 12 months.