If you can get to the Internet, Ventura County Computers can make a housecall without leaving our office -- and you don't have to bring your computer into the office, either. We have a support tool that allows us to see your desktop and make changes. This is a highly secure method of allowing someone to work on your computer. You run the program, you see what is being done, you can end the session at any time and nothing is installed on your computer. When the session is over, nothing is left on your computer -- no settings changes, no registry changes, no scripts added to Internet Explorer, nothing.
If you need online help, first call Ventura County Computers at (805) 289-3960. Then click on the VCC Helpline link and save file to your hard drive (probably Desktop). Run the application, telling the security warning you know and trust the source if asked. Give us the 6 digit number that comes up and we'll enter it in at our end and have control of your computer.
For extra security you must give permission for us to install any software. We'll talk to you, telling you what we are doing and answer questions.
If you want more information about our online tool, we use a customized version of UltraVNC SingleClick. More information is available from the VNC Website.
Toby Scott and Michael Shalkey host a monthly Question & Answer session in Camarillo for Channel Islands PC Users Group (CIPCUG.org), which are published in CIPCUG's monthly newsletter, The Outer Edge (TOE). On their website they have issues of TOE going back to 1999.
Rick Smith runs occasional computer clinics for CIPCUG and publishes a monthly column in TOE entitled, "Rick's Rants." Again these are available in TOE on the CIPCUG site.
Toby is closing in on his 150th Q&A podcast (think Internet radio) where he answers questions posed by CIPCUG members on their Facebook page. You'll find the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cipcug/. Click on the dates below and you'll see the questions in print. Click on the CD graphic on the bottom if you want to hear the answer to the questions. These podcasts are quite popular, not just among CIPCUG users, but also among quite a few computer clubs around the world.
Toby writes frequent help articles. These are on the Help Pages index on the right.
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Visit the CIPCUG user group website for the best self-help resource in the county.