All in all, our plan (see Part 1) worked pretty well. Mom had to wait a few days after her new Dell was delivered for an appointment with Alyx, her computer consultant. During that time, Time Warner patched up a couple of loose ends and Dell delivered an additional box that had gone missing (I never did find out which one it was). As with most new computers, a large amount of effort went into moving data over from the old computer. The old HP had a CDRW drive, so everyone agreed that transferring the data to CDs would be the easiest thing. Not so fast, it said in an old wheezing voice. No CD’s for you!

Prompting my mother to write:

Belatedly naming my old computer: Remember Hal from “2001″. This computer is named after it. Hal is in charge and Hal does whatever he wants to do, disputing my authority. He is about to get the ax.

At the end of an evening’s work, Alyx had the new Dell set up with a working Internet connection and access to Gmail. There were no old files transferred yet but a plan was in place to get a couple of USB memory sticks to use for the transfers and later as backup devices.

A very important piece of the setup was making sure that I could access the new computer using LogMeIn, a remote desktop control service. There was a little miscommunication here and I had to send written instructions to my mom on how to get this service connected. It’s a credit to LogMeIn that their setup process is simple enough that in just a few steps, their software was installed and operating. Of course, it helped that the required accounts were already in place on their system. With this service in place, I now had access to a computer that was light years ahead of the old one, with a brand new name.

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL MACHINE. My sentences are over a foot long. The screen is bright and the size of an IMAX…. I’M LOVING VERONICA!!!

Whenever I set up a computer, one of the last steps is to organize the Start menu and remove as many shortcuts as possible from the desktop. All of the programs groups that are related to the system go into a System Tools group, including the many Dell “helper” programs. The idea is to remove clutter and display only those programs that will be used on a regular basis. Everything else gets moved into lower level groups, accessible from the Start menu.

A key strategy in the success of this project was not to try and change too much at once. Yes, Veronica is a new computer but she’s running the same operating system and many of the same programs that Hal was. There is very little that’s new in the basic operation of the computer; startup and shutdown, running programs, browsing the Internet, etc. I’m sure that Mom will find differences along the way but she knows that she has resources available to help her on down the road.

My mother has decided to replace her 8 year old HP Pavilion with something that doesn’t suddenly stop responding for minutes at a time and can play online videos without stuttering. Since we no longer live in the same city, I can’t go shopping for one with her but I told her that we could still get her set up with a new system.

I haven’t tried this before but I think there are two keys to making it work. We’ll have someone on my mom’s end with some technical skills, a woman named Alyx, who does computer consulting. She will be able to get everything unpacked, plugged in and running. Once that’s done, she will also set up a remote desktop connection, using LogMeIn. This service is set up on her current computer and it has been a huge help when I need to see her screen or make changes that are too hard to describe to her. The free version of this service does everything that we need.

Once I have control of the new machine (bwahahaha), my plan is to do a very minimal configuration using Firefox, Open Office and a few helper programs. She has used online mail for some time (and just recently switched from Yahoo! to Gmail), so there will be no need for an email program. There will be lots of space left on that 250GB hard drive!

The machine we’ve ordered is a Dell Vostro 200 Slim Tower. It came standard with more power than she’ll really need (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz, 2GB RAM) but it also came bundled with a 20″ LCD monitor at a very attractive price, including free shipping, so we were sold. A few tips for ordering a computer online for someone else:

• Set up a separate account. I already have an account with Dell but it was much cleaner to create a new one for my mother, using her address and credit card information. When doing this, make sure to opt out of any advertising “opportunities”. It’s not nice to spam your mother.
• The person you’re ordering for probably won’t understand the technical specs of the system being ordered (that’s what they have you for) but they do need to know about any accessories or software that will be included. Since we’re working long distance, I sent quite a few photos to my mom to show her things I that I had in mind, including one of the business end of a USB cable, so that she could check to see if she already had one.
• Keep the configuration simple. Opt out of as many add-on programs as you think you can get away with. Dell is now very good about not loading your system up with trial-ware but in most cases you have to make the choice during the ordering process. My mom’s computer will come with nothing installed except Windows XP Home (Vista – bleah!), Adobe Reader and an online backup program.
• After the order has been placed, make sure that the person has access to their account, so they can track its progress. Also, ask that they forward you any emails that come from their account until after the computer is delivered.

In our next exciting episode: delivery and setup!