Reply to: Remote control software

[Pondlife]

Another vote for Logmein.

[superfishnz]

I would go with LogMeIn or Teamviewer.

Remote Assistance or VNC can work but you are most probably going to have to do some port forwarding to get it work or open some ports on the router so it can be some work.

LogMeIn uses standard port 80 and 443 ports which are the same ports used for web surfing and HTTPS connections and these are generally opened by default.

Hope that helps.

[stek]

Another +1 for LogMeIn. The initial install is the only slight hurdle but it's not hugely complicated - best thing is for you to register for the account, then I think you'll need to give him the email address/password so when he installs the client application it gets linked to the right LogMeIn account.

Once installed you just visit their website, log in, and the computer should be listed and it will tell you whether it's online or offline. If online you can connect straight from the browser (you'll need to know the username/password for a local account on his computer though).

Also I'd recommend you use Firefox for this, as there is a decent plugin which you'll be prompted to download from the LogMeIn website which makes the remote control experience much nicer - Chrome and IE just rely on Java and IMO it's slower and the picture quality is much worse.

There's a plugin for IE too and Safari (Safari on Mac anyway).

[CodeCobbler]

VNC

[Scrag Meister]

I thought there was something similar built into MSN Messenger.

Remote assistance through MSN.

[Willapp]

Whatever happened to VNC? That used to be fab and once installed, the user didnt need do anything!

I would say the likes of LogMeIn have superseded it, especially as they offer a very functional free version. Can't say I've used VNC much but whenever anyone suggests remote access/control software my first instinct these days is LogMeIn purely because it's easy to install/configure, doesn't require any fiddly network config like a VPN and does pretty much anything the average user would want.

I think you need the PRO version to transfer files etc, but IIRC you can't do that with VNC anyway...

[doodab]

Whatever happened to VNC? That used to be fab and once installed, the user didnt need do anything!

I was going to suggest that but you'd need to set up a network connection / VPN as well. I use OpenVPN for that and it works well but it's not a point and click setup.

[RasputinDude]

+1 for TeamViewer

[scooby]

Whatever happened to VNC? That used to be fab and once installed, the user didnt need do anything!

[Willapp]

Another +1 for LogMeIn. The initial install is the only slight hurdle but it's not hugely complicated - best thing is for you to register for the account, then I think you'll need to give him the email address/password so when he installs the client application it gets linked to the right LogMeIn account.

Once installed you just visit their website, log in, and the computer should be listed and it will tell you whether it's online or offline. If online you can connect straight from the browser (you'll need to know the username/password for a local account on his computer though).

Also I'd recommend you use Firefox for this, as there is a decent plugin which you'll be prompted to download from the LogMeIn website which makes the remote control experience much nicer - Chrome and IE just rely on Java and IMO it's slower and the picture quality is much worse.

[BoredBloke]

windows remote assistance comes installed with windows and requires him to be connected to the net and accept your request to remotely assist and then (if i remember correctly) shows him a black screen while you take control and do what you need to do.

logmein requires a one time piece of software to be installed and allows you to take control of his machine whenever you wish (as long as he is connected to the net), the advantage I find is that both parties can see the screen and so that he can view what you're doing which I find helps when explaining stuff to the user, it also allows you to take control whenever their machine is connected to the net which is great if it's an always on machine and you want to instlal updates etc. when the user isn't around.

I personally find for fixing my parents pc issues logmein is far less hassle, alllows me to demo any changes and make changes/sort stuff out when they're at work or in bed.

I'm tending to side with the logmein one. It sounds a bit more simple for me to arrange.

[ctdctd]

I use Teamviewer to remote support an elderly Uncle.

Works fine with no intervention needed at the other end to connect once set up.

HTH

[chef]

windows remote assistance comes installed with windows and requires him to be connected to the net and accept your request to remotely assist and then (if i remember correctly) shows him a black screen while you take control and do what you need to do.

logmein requires a one time piece of software to be installed and allows you to take control of his machine whenever you wish (as long as he is connected to the net), the advantage I find is that both parties can see the screen and so that he can view what you're doing which I find helps when explaining stuff to the user, it also allows you to take control whenever their machine is connected to the net which is great if it's an always on machine and you want to instlal updates etc. when the user isn't around.

I personally find for fixing my parents pc issues logmein is far less hassle, alllows me to demo any changes and make changes/sort stuff out when they're at work or in bed.

[SimonMac]

Remote desktop assistance is installed on all windows machines be default, all he has to do is press F1 and email you the file that is created, I make it even simpler by having a shared dropbox folder that they put the file in and I get straight away.

[BoredBloke]

I need something that will be easy to install at his end (as he will be doing it!) Do both of these fit the bill?