Long distance

[Prep]

I need help for someone that is 18000km from here and he is using XP Home, a bit of a tall order. As I’m on 98SE, and without problems, it is rather difficult to assist him. I’m trying to get him to use SC and sending him bit by bit pics of the Preferences, ie still in the setup stage. I’ve been writing mht instruction manuals to help him but it is heavy.
That is already extremely difficult as he is on AOL, and my IP does not allow any emails to be sent to AOL. Another story. He is 80+yrs old and to crown it all Wilma is around the corner.
His first report is that after he’s done some selections, upon reloading SC all the settings revert back to the original defaults. This must be XP or Administrator issue? Am I on the right track?

[mouser]

yes you are.

sc tries to stores its options in its directory so it does sound like the problem could be that he doesnt have permission to write to that directory.  you could have him just move the entire screenshot captor directory to one of his normal directories (or even his desktop) and run it from there to solve the problem.

another alternative to solve your larger problem of helping him might be to install a remote control application that would let you just log into his machine remotely and help him set up his computer directly.

[Prep]

Thank you mouser, now I have the answer but to get to the solution may just be a little too high tech. Murphy's Law in total command.

As for remote help - I suppose you do require telepathy or should it be parapsychology to keep everybody happy all of the time, you're spot on. That would have been the perfect solution. I've been surfing heavy lately for such facilities and found SkyFex but still worried about all the security risks.
By now I'm completely OT but at least I know where to go...

[mouser]

www.gotomypc.com seems like the focus on being easy to use.
i've also noticed some of the ads here are actually being useful (omg - did i just say that?)

open source people think highly of realvnc i think, but it may be a bit too technically challenging for a novice.

[m_s]

I have been using LogMeIn for awhile now - it's free and very simple to use: www.logmein.com

[Prep]

Thanks folks for the tips, I'll surely check them. Much appreciated.