How to... Become Your Household's IT Helpdesk

Are you the person your friends and family call on when their PC is broken? Wayne Williams shows you how to provide the best support.

If you know your way around a PC and other hardware, you will inevitably be asked to help less-tech savvy friends and family members when they run into problems. This can involve long phone calls, home visits or even a spot of remote access. It’s not always people outside the family home who need your time and expertise, however. Many homes have more than one PC, and each user – whether it’s your partner, children, siblings, grandparents or even lodgers – may require your help at some point. In this Weekend Project, we look at some of the tricks IT professionals use that can help you look after your PCs at home.

Restrict Windows accounts

Many IT departments place restrictions on how employees use their computers. Typically, they’ll stop you installing your own software, accessing certain websites (such as Facebook and Gmail) and sending enormous files. It’s annoying, sure, but the IT department has the company’s interests at heart – and, after all, you’re there to work, not use your PC for fun. More importantly, the support staff don’t want you doing anything that might cause them extra work, such as inadvertently spreading a virus across the network. 

You can take a leaf out of the IT department’s book and lock down your home computers in the same way. This lets you control when your children (for example) can use a PC or access the internet, as well as manage which sites they can and can’t visit.