Ask HN: How to support an elderly friend on Vista in 2023?

2 points·bloqs··4 comments

I've recently been blessed with the task of helping someone elderly with their computer. Sadly, they are quite some distance away, and using Windows Vista still. Is there any way any remote support app provider still maintains a working program for Vista?

They have it connected to the internet and I genuinely couldn't believe it.

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VNC will work, but yes, it is time for a new machine if the hardware is as old as the operating system.

Vista has Remote Assistance built-in, but I don't know what the compatibility is like with newer versions of Windows.

> it is time for a new machine if the hardware is as old as the operating system.

Under the reasonable assumption that they are a typical "elderly user" then the hardware itself is likely more than capable of handing their use, and were it not for Microsoft artificially imposing requirements that obsolete lots of older hardware, all they would really need is an OS upgrade.

A machine from that generation is running DDR2 or 3. Likely running spinning rust. Has serious CPU vulnerabilities that will never be addressed. With an OS that isn't supported by any major browser and is not getting new root certs.

You could argue that a PII running Win 9x could equally do the job, if they can find a working web browser, but no one is going to say that's a great idea "because Microsoft stopped supporting PIIs!!!1111".

fTPM being a requirement (fTPM being common among Intel and AMD consumer CPUs for just a couple years short of a decade) in Windows 11 is a non-issue.

Unfortunately that is very dangerous for them. They should probably buy a new computer, or use one at a public library.

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