Home for the holidays¶
home_for_the_holidays — 4 modules, a 1-phase, 13-step guide.
Who this is for¶
You are the family's tech person, you are visiting, and you have one afternoon. Somebody's laptop has been getting slower for two years, has no backups, reuses one password everywhere, and nobody knows what to do if they get locked out.
This is the least alarming profile in the set and arguably the most useful one: it is preventative, and it ends with a document that helps after you leave.
What to run¶
Budget about two hours for the guide. Mark steps off as you go so you can pick it back up after dinner:
What the tool does¶
Four checks — this profile is deliberately light on scanning and heavy on the checklist.
| Module | What it answers | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
disk_space |
Is a filesystem running out of room | macOS, Windows, Linux |
disk_smart_check |
Is the drive reporting early failure signs | macOS |
malware_scan_indicators |
Known malware indicators on disk | macOS |
automatic_updates |
Are OS and app updates actually turning on | macOS |
disk_space is configured at sensitivity: normal here — this is a
maintenance visit, not an investigation, and a wall of warnings would make the
afternoon worse.
Three of the four are macOS-only
On Windows or Linux you get disk_space and not much else from the modules.
The 13-step guide is entirely platform-independent and is the substance of
this profile — so the visit still works, you just do the storage-health and
malware parts with the platform's own tools. If the machine is Linux,
pair the visit with the
Linux security checkup.
What stays human-led¶
Twelve of the thirteen steps. That is the point: this is a profile about a person doing maintenance with someone, not about a program doing it to them.
The one phase, thirteen steps¶
Phase 1 — The Family Device Checkup, about two hours.
| # | Step | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Run a full device health check | the tool |
| 2 | Clear out old temp files and caches | you |
| 3 | Install pending OS and app updates | you |
| 4 | Set up a password manager | you |
| 5 | Migrate saved browser passwords | you |
| 6 | Enable two-factor authentication | you |
| 7 | Review logged-in devices and sessions | you |
| 8 | Set up automatic backups | you |
| 9 | Review social media privacy settings | you |
| 10 | Remove unused accounts and apps | you |
| 11 | Set a strong lock screen | you |
| 12 | Confirm disk encryption is enabled | you |
| 13 | Write the "Help Me" reference document | you |
Step 13 is the one that matters most after you leave. A short document, kept somewhere they can find it, covering: how to get into the password manager, where the backups are, what to do if the machine will not start, and who to call. Most of the value of the visit evaporates without it — a password manager nobody can get into is worse than no password manager.
Steps 4–7 are the security core. Password manager, migrate the browser's saved passwords into it, 2FA on the important accounts, then sign out the devices and sessions nobody recognises. Do them in that order; enabling 2FA before there is somewhere safe to keep recovery codes creates a lockout waiting to happen.
Step 12 is worth insisting on. Disk encryption is free, already built in, and is the difference between a stolen laptop being an expensive inconvenience and being an identity-theft event.
What it will never ask you for¶
Nothing here needs a credential from them or from you. The tool does not want their Apple ID, their email password, their bank login, or a 2FA code. Every account step happens in their browser, on the provider's site, with them driving — which is also better teaching. If you set up a password manager, its master password is theirs, is typed into the password manager, and is never seen by this tool.
Do not set up their accounts for them while they watch. The person who has to use this in six months should be the one who set it up.
Afterwards¶
A redacted case is a decent "here is what I checked and what I found" record to leave alongside the Help Me document — or to compare against next year's visit.
If the checkup turns up something that looks like an actual compromise, stop and switch to digital security reset.