Single biggest source of malware and viruses bar none are advertisements. Especially ones from popups. There is almost no single action that can accomplish a reduction in malware than installing ublock origin on all of their browsers.

For some at least, a tablet might be a better option than a PC. They are inherently going be more locked down, preventing most malware by default.

Otherwise, if the goal is to use what they have, you can limit what can be done on a PC substantially by having people use a standard/limited user account instead of the Windows default of using an admin account. With a standard account you (mostly) can’t install new software and a lot of malware won’t be able to run as a result. See link below on how it can be set up.

https://www.ricksdailytips.com/limited-windows-account/

The downside is you’ll get calls when they can’t install software instead.

If you have $$ to spend - a full version of Malwarebytes on every PC will help tremendously. The free version is just as powerful, but the paid version will take a more active role in blocking/scanning.

I feel your pain - my mom’s got dementia, and this at least keeps her laptop from getting infected every week.

I used to do tech support for Bitdefender and I can say that outside of a handful of people from our team, we actually didn’t care for it as an antivirus. The free version in itself was more or less didn’t really do much anyway, at least at the time.

You can still use it for them, but I find that Windows Defender does a good enough job on its own - it’s also what I set up for my mom (almost 70) on her laptop + a very basic crash course of what to avoid (don’t click on links from strangers, if you get a message like “Is this you? The person in this video looks like you” don’t even look at it, and so on) and other basic internet safety tips.

Just in case, I’d maybe recommend setting up sometime (maybe once a month?) where you just run a scan on their computers to make sure everything’s alright; I’d recommend Malwarebytes for it, I remember it was what we used for remote interventions too, actually. I’m not sure if it’s doable by yourself, but maybe you can rope someone else into helping you with it.

Worst case scenario, you can always just set up parental blocls for them, actually. Set up what they can and can’t access and so on.

Never ever ever click on a link sent to you via email. Email is the same thing as voicemail. You have a message and now you will go yourself to your site that you type in or have bookmarked. Never ever ever click on a link.

There is software that you can freeze the current state the os is at when you install it and it resets the pc each time it restarts. It still allows you to store data on a separate drive.

​

Ive seen it used in schools and senior living homes. Ill try to find the name when I get home.

If they/you can afford it, something like a Firewalla would work well. I would also look into changing the DNS like others said. Perhaps a simple raspberry pi with pi hole on it.

Also thank you for helping these people out. It is hard for them to know what is going on when they weren’t brought up with it. It is even harder to train them to do something different from what they have been doing for so long at that age. I hope you find something that works for each of their cases.

As much as it pains me the answer is iPads

Set them up as a regular user, have an admin account with full privileges with a password they don’t know.

Brave browser.

It’s based on chromium but has ad blocking and forced SSL connections built in.

You could change the DNS settings on their pc’s to use Cloudflare (1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2) or Quad9 (9.9.9.9 and 149.112.112.112) They both provide some degree of content filtering by blocking malicious domains.

OpenDNS does free, customizable content filtering but you need to sign up for an account… https://signup.opendns.com/homefree/

Not going to be a 100% fix but it should help reduce the amount of malware getting delivered.

Don’t give them admin rights. Set up the admin account then set them up with a non privileged user account. Can’t install malware if you don’t have the rights to.

something a company i worked for that set up mom and pop coffee internet cafe stations with was deepfreeze https://www.faronics.com/products/deep-freeze/standard

It’ll drive you nuts but if you’re seriously wanting to help out of the goodness of your heart…

Set them all up with a remote connection that you can access. Then tell them to text or call you anytime they have a question or problem. Stress that it’s important that they contact you right away so that the problem doesn’t compound and make it that much more difficult and time-consuming to resolve.

I’ve owned my own repair/consulting business for almost 20 years. About 60% of the work that I do throughout the week is free for seniors or those that are mentally challenged. I couldn’t do it if I was married but sometimes I do wish I hadn’t started… with the cost of living rising I’m going to have to cut back on my free support which is unfortunate both for the people I’ve been helping and for me. I got a lot more satisfaction out of helping people that need it for free than I do making money… but for he doesn’t pay the bills.

Good luck and good for you for helping those that can’t afford to help themselves.

…

Side note, I’ve found that as far as Windows computers go. Getting people set up with Windows defender with all the bells and whistles turned on is in general good enough and unlike all the other paid services out there doesn’t pop up constantly with upgrades or questions that only leads to a phone call to you. Most of the time you, AKA me, would spend a minimum of 15 minutes on the phone explaining while remotely connecting to their computer and getting rid of it or doing the update or upgrade. At the end of the call, most of the time, it was a waste of my time explaining because they still don’t understand.

Therefore, you will save yourself time using just Windows defender and for the large majority of the people you’re helping it will be more than enough.

The one thing I’ve spent a little extra time teaching people how to use is the pop-up blocker ublock on Chrome. I’ll occasionally have to go over it with them or remote in and show them how to unblock pop-ups on certain websites but other than that most of them seem to remember. A good pop-up blocker plus Windows defender seems to be more than enough for most of the people I help.

Or, get them to use a Chromebook… well within most people’s budget and much safer than windows. Apple computers are sure nice but way out of the budget of most of the seniors I help.

Rant: It doesn’t help though when relatives buy them iPhones and iPads and expect them to figure it out or pay someone to help them 🙄

However, I do have a few seniors that used Apple products since they came out and are pretty good with them. That’s like less than 1% though 😅😥

Reboot Restore RX