This afternoon I read a short article on Life Hacker about adding a remote desktop application to Google+ Hangouts. The article suggested that you could use the application to fix someone’s computer for him or her. I would prefer to take the “teach a man to fish” approach and use Google+ Hangouts to walk someone through the process of fixing a problem. To do this all you would need to do is start a Hangout or join a Hangout then have the person you’re helping turn on the screenshare option. It will take more time to fix someone’s computer problem this way, but if you teach them how to do it then you might not have to do it again. You may also give the person you’re helping the confidence to try to troubleshoot their own problems in the future.

If you haven’t tried Google+ Hangouts, the video below provides a comprehensive guide to getting started.