need GenControl alternative for Windows 7

I have implemented both a disable Remote Input (View Only) as well as a Disable Local Input Option for the program.

One limitation I am finding so far is that the Disable Local Input Option does not appear to work on Windows XP machines. I think this might be a bug, or a limitation in the software. It does however work with Windows 7/8. Disabling Remote Input works on all platforms.

I will post a release link here soon.. I am in my final testing stages.
 
Hello...

First, thanks so much for RemoteControl! I was lost when GenControl stopped working, and I was unable to find a suitable replacement... then I decided to search again, and lo and behold, here you are!

One potential problem, and one Feature Request though...

First - I just had someones computer I connected to where the screen wouldn't refresh... she was seeing things on her screen that I couldn't see...

Second - I have a computer I connect to that has dual monitors... any chance for a button/option for switching between the two monitors, instead of automatically showing both side by side (it makes everything extremely small)?

Other than these minor issues, it is working very well for me so far...

Thanks again!

Charles
 
libertytrek said:
Hello...

First, thanks so much for RemoteControl! I was lost when GenControl stopped working, and I was unable to find a suitable replacement... then I decided to search again, and lo and behold, here you are!

One potential problem, and one Feature Request though...

First - I just had someones computer I connected to where the screen wouldn't refresh... she was seeing things on her screen that I couldn't see...

Second - I have a computer I connect to that has dual monitors... any chance for a button/option for switching between the two monitors, instead of automatically showing both side by side (it makes everything extremely small)?

Other than these minor issues, it is working very well for me so far...

Thanks again!

Charles
Click to expand...

I know how you feel about the multiple monitors. By default i have the program set-up to span both screens. You can easily resize it using the edges of the VNC Window... Thats something i do quite often.

I am not sure if i can do anything about the above.. i will have to look into it and get back to you.

About the VNC not refreshing properly... i have seen that sometimes and from what i can tell this is a limitation of the VNC program and NOT mine. I used to see this quite often with Java program windows. Is this what you were experencing? If not, is it only happening with one specific program window or multiple windows?

Thanks
 
Muad'Dib said:
I know how you feel about the multiple monitors. By default i have the program set-up to span both screens. You can easily resize it using the edges of the VNC Window... Thats something i do quite often.

I am not sure if i can do anything about the above.. i will have to look into it and get back to you.
Click to expand...

No problem... its more an annoyance than anything, since the only workstation I remote into that has multiple monitors is mine at our other office (everyone else only has one monitor). It would be much more annoying if everyone had multiple monitors though. ;)

About the VNC not refreshing properly... i have seen that sometimes and from what i can tell this is a limitation of the VNC program and NOT mine. I used to see this quite often with Java program windows. Is this what you were experencing? If not, is it only happening with one specific program window or multiple windows?
Click to expand...

No, it is happening with the entire Desktop, and if I recall we only had Firefox open...

Anyway, hopefully it won't happen much... I'll report back if it continues to happen and/or I can provide any more clues about what may be causing it...

Thanks again!

Charles
 
Anyone have a similar tool for running under GNU/Linux? I run a Arch desktop at work but sometimes need to provide remote assistance for Windows users. I've just been running Muad's app from a Windows terminal server, and I've started to write a script that uses winexe to launch a canned vnc server on the remote host, but I ran into some issues and before I spend too much time on it, I figured I'd check to see if something was already out there.

Thanks
 
Aaargh!

I decided to change the Security setting to 'AlwaysOn', and now I get an error message about upgrading the VNC Server, or changing the security setting, but for the life of me cannot figure out how to change the security setting back!

Help!

Otherwise, I'm loving RemoteControl!
 
Ok, got confused - was searching the local registry for tightvnc, when it is realvnc that is used for the viewer.

Found the setting, and I'm back in business...

Might be a good idea to allow the user to change this directly from the App under the 'Options' meny *before* a connection is established, rather than only allowing this to be changed *after* a connection is established...

That or fall back to a prompt to change the setting, if some dummy (like me) decides to muck about with this setting and prevents themselves from being able to us it... ;)

Anyway, thanks again for RC, it has been working like a champ in our 50+ PC domain...
 
Even better - allow the use of a .cfg (or .ini) file to store prefs, instead of using the registry. Also, allow it to be stored anywhere - this way I could store the file on a network share, and therefore the list of recent hosts would follow you around, instead of having a different one on each workstation that you use.

I use a roaming domain admin account, and have the RemoteControl app on a network share, so just storing the config file in the same location as the app itself would be all I'd need.

Thanks again Muad'Dib for hacking on this and getting it working so well! Haven't had another occurrence of the video refresh problem I had that one time, so guess it was a fluke...

Charles
 
Oh - and Merry Christmas (or Happy Festivus, or whatever you celebrate) and Happy New Year to all!
 
libertytrek said:
Even better - allow the use of a .cfg (or .ini) file to store prefs, instead of using the registry. Also, allow it to be stored anywhere - this way I could store the file on a network share, and therefore the list of recent hosts would follow you around, instead of having a different one on each workstation that you use.

I use a roaming domain admin account, and have the RemoteControl app on a network share, so just storing the config file in the same location as the app itself would be all I'd need.

Thanks again Muad'Dib for hacking on this and getting it working so well! Haven't had another occurrence of the video refresh problem I had that one time, so guess it was a fluke...

Charles
Click to expand...

This would be nice. Just a simple config file that has the settings and whatnot in it would be awesome.
 
libertytrek said:
Ok, got confused - was searching the local registry for tightvnc, when it is realvnc that is used for the viewer.

Found the setting, and I'm back in business...

Might be a good idea to allow the user to change this directly from the App under the 'Options' meny *before* a connection is established, rather than only allowing this to be changed *after* a connection is established...

That or fall back to a prompt to change the setting, if some dummy (like me) decides to muck about with this setting and prevents themselves from being able to us it... ;)

Anyway, thanks again for RC, it has been working like a champ in our 50+ PC domain...
Click to expand...

Do you have RealVNC viewer installed on the device that you are using my program on? If I were to guess I would say yes because otherwise this shouldn't happen.

What I did in the past was I added a check to see if the registry keys already exists for RealVNC viewer. I did this because I was tired of using my program and it deleting my RealVNC viewer settings that i use outside of my program. If my program detects the VNC viewer keys, then it only deletes what it uses in the registry for RealVNC viewer. This is only what is changed by the program itself and not by the user. So if you were to go in and change the viewer settings while connected to a host with my program and make some changes those changes would not be deleted upon exit.

This would be considered a bug and I will have to strategize on how to take care of this. For now people who use this program will just have to remember not to change the Viewer settings manually. :( This only applies if you have RealVnc viewer installed.
 
/usr/home said:
This would be nice. Just a simple config file that has the settings and whatnot in it would be awesome.
Click to expand...

I have touched on this in the past, and I have no plans on releasing with a ini or cfg file for the application.
 
I absolutely love your program and it is very helpful. One thing though, it is not working for me when trying to connect to windows 8 computers, I saw you were going to release a new version a month ago. Did this ever happen? Would absolutely LOVE a new version with working windows 8.
 
I do have a much newer version im finishing testing on.. however even the older versions work with Windows 8 just fine.

The problem with Windows 8 is that the firewall rule for remote WMI access is disabled by default. I am betting that when you attempt to connect to a Win8 device that you get an error about not being able to connect to wmi?

This is a limitation of the way my program works and it is just the way it is. You either have to allow this rule manually in the windows firewall, or use GPO to do this for you.

The rule is: Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI-In)
 
I'm looking forward to seeing what's changed! Thanks again for continuing work on this awesome program!
 
Thank you for this amazing work!
It works extemely well.
1.6.5 works great accross the board. WinXP and Win7
Big thumbs up!

1 Request.
Is it possible to release a -User Prompt Only- version, along side another full release?
--Primarily to prevent abuse like spying.
--Event logs are great but remote computer management makes it easy to delete them.

1 Question
Do you have any plans to release the source code?
--For any license issues and education.
 
Thanks guys .. i am glad that i am not the only one that finds this useful.

Im not keen at the moment to compile another executable to be set to prompt only all the time. I see your point though.. i just dont want to maintain another set code just for that.

I do also see the risk involved with using the event log to track who connected etc.. If we wanted to get crazy secure i could do it all kinds of different ways.. however i feel it does an "ok" job with out sacrificing speed and implementing further complexity.

I do have plans to eventually release the source code.. but this is still my baby and i will continue to have issues letting go for awhile ;)

Thanks
 
This is a big request, but would multiple connections per single window (even if multiple instances run, hidden, in the background) be too large of a pain? SCCM's implementation takes up too much real estate when retaining aspect ratio for large resolutions is at play. Tabs would be handy, too, but may detract from keeping high resolutions more easily viewable on low resolution hosts. Your auto-hide toolbar could be a nice location. Maybe a drop-down menu button which shows the number of active connections by default, then clicking/hovering shows the active connections you can switch between. An option to initiate new connections in that menu, close connections without switching to that view (an 'x' on the side, similar to browser tabs), and even have another run in a separate window would be excellent, although manually running a second instance works just fine.
 
1.7.0 Release

Here are the changes:

1.7.0:

1.) Fixed possible crash due to event log not being available yet on the remote system.
2.) Added background worker for Windows 7+ RemoteRegistry Service since its a time consuming function.
3.) Upgraded TightVnc Server to 2.6.4.
4.) Upgraded RealVnc Viewer to 5.0.4
5.) Fixed some code in Active Directory Browser that could cause a crash when selecting different objects quickly.
6.) Added Known Issue about changing VNC settings while using the program.

1.6.9:

1.) Added a couple more background workers for the WMI and "HaveAccess" checks while connecting. This was to help with Main UI freezing.
2.) Disabled clicking list while connecting / cleaning process was taking place.

1.6.8:

1.) Implemented a new Option under Options menu for Disabling Local Input.
2.) Implemented a new Option under Options menu for Disabling Remote Input (view only).
3.) Changed Screen refresh interval from 1 second to a half second.

1.6.7:

1.) Found an issue where i was trying to remove the SAS registry key from the remote computer AFTER i had already stopped the remote registry service.
2.) Now sets Remote Registry service to "Manual" if its currently disabled. Sets it back to disabled when cleaning.
3.) Implemented a new way to start/stop the Remote Registry service on the remote computer. I save the state of the service (like if its stopped and\or disabled) and make sure that its put back the same way it was before we changed anything. So for example, if the service was already set to manual but was stopped, we make sure that its still manual and stopped when we are done using this service.
4.) Updated How it Works page with new methods above.
5.) Fixed a Ghosting issue with the tooltips that was still lingering around.

1.6.6:

1.) Fixed issue with Change Domain "Find" unhandled exception when not selecting anything.
2.) Added message to Change Domain "Find" when no additional Domains or Domain Trusts are found.


VirusTotal: (PCTools detects as "HeurEngine.ZeroDayThreat"??? )

Code: 
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/21559fefbef129cf0ab30fd237bc1b2739d2a19bc0250387b4618925520e3c1c/analysis/1361988068/

Download Link:

Code: 
http://depositfiles.com/files/1d6igfkqy

As always please provide feedback! Thanks!
 
Thanks for the new version!

Installed here and seems to be working great (apart from the XP Disable Local Input option, which you mentioned before wouldn't work).

Keep up the good work!
 
Hello, thanks for excellent program! Works really good for Windows 7 environment.

But there is one inconvenience. Every time when I connect to other PC desctop wallpaper switches on something embedded on. To return back wall paper user has to log off log on. It is very inconvenient. Could you check this??
Thanks again for your great job.
 
asnikhov said:
Hello, thanks for excellent program! Works really good for Windows 7 environment.

But there is one inconvenience. Every time when I connect to other PC desctop wallpaper switches on something embedded on. To return back wall paper user has to log off log on. It is very inconvenient. Could you check this??
Thanks again for your great job.
Click to expand...

My program should not modify or touch the wallpaper. Are you sure that my program is causing this?

Do you have a screenshot?

Thanks
 
Hello.
I have tried on several PC's. They are members of AD. Every time when I start VNC with use of your tool (my user has admin rights, remote user doesn't), wallpaper changes on some default setting. I can give one screen, but in other case wallpaper changed on default windows 7 wallpaper.
LINK on picture (http://postimage.org/image/jyi0z1q5d/ )
 
Could be, but in case of this tool I don't have access to this option.
 
Last edited:
Do you use any other VNC programs on your admin machine or on your user's machines?

RealVNC Viewer? Server? TightVNC Server/Viewer?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
No, it were fresh recently reinstalled PC's without pre-installed VNC clients of other vendors.
 
Yeah, my program doesn't change the windows background... Im not sure what could be going on there.
 
Could you advice if I can check somehow whether option "VNC RemoveWallpaper setting" turned on or not?
 
Here are a couple of things you can try:

Before using my program:

1.) Do you have any registry settings on your admin machine in the following area:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\RealVNC\

2.) Do you have any registry settings on your users machine in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\TightVNC\Server\

While using my program (ie. while connected)

3.) What is the value of:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\TightVNC\Server\RemoveWallpaper

On the users machine? (it should be 0).

Otherwise I don't have a clue.

I can fill you in on something I did find though.

Say for example your wallpaper is set to C:\windows.bmp. Its working fine, but you want to change it to a different picture. So you overwrite C:\windows.bmp with the picture you want to use.

Doing the above you will notice that your desktop background does not change immediately. It wont change until the background is refreshed. This can be done for example by rebooting. When you initiate a VNC connection using my program, the background is also refreshed. So if you hadn't rebooted yet, but then someone connected to your machine using some form of VNC, the background would change to your new image at C:\windows.bmp.

Does that make sense? Could something or someone else be changing the background before the connection is made?
 
I also have the problem that @asnikhov is having, but it is intermittent. Usually I see the same kind of behavior with ordinary TightVNC or RealVNC on every computer. I think it has something to do with the way VNC polls changes in the display. Usually I have to just minimize the screen for a minute or patiently wait for the display to re-poll.

I joined the forum to be among the countless IT pros out there who just want to thank Muad'Dib for his efforts. I work in an environment with users who have multiple screen setups. This is the first program I have ever used that has actually allowed me to see the user's ENTIRE desktop on all screens. I absolutely LOVE that feature. Man! I wish you could make like a console so I could view multiple users simultaneously!
 
Good day Muad'Dib,

Thanks for the great program, do you have an update for Windows 8 yet?

Regards,
Billy
 
Hello,

Let me first say your utility is awesome! I am running into an issue however. I have been testing this remoting into some Windows 7 Pro workstations that currently are running TightVNC 2.5.1 as a service. Your utility connects fine and works great but when I exit, the cleanup routine also removes the existing service!

Is there anyone to change that behavior? We also have session sharing enabled by default, is there a way to do that as well?

Thanks in advance!

Jay
 
jbush001 said:
Hello,

Let me first say your utility is awesome! I am running into an issue however. I have been testing this remoting into some Windows 7 Pro workstations that currently are running TightVNC 2.5.1 as a service. Your utility connects fine and works great but when I exit, the cleanup routine also removes the existing service!

Is there anyone to change that behavior? We also have session sharing enabled by default, is there a way to do that as well?

Thanks in advance!

Jay
Click to expand...

I wont be enabling session sharing by default.. although I may consider this at a later time. (will require lots of time and code changes)

I can see the issue with TightVnc. This is because of the way that I uninstall the service. I am not sure how I can get around this right now; for multiple reasons.

Let me ponder this for awhile and I will get back to you. Sorry for any inconvenience.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

How about a different option to use the existing VNC client if it exists? I am looking at your utility so that we do not have to use WRA since it requires user input. I prefer the way your tool validates admin rights to the machine, rather than providing each user with VNC passwords. In other words (I don't think that was very clear... ;) ) Can you add an option to use an existing TightVNC client, providing a command line option or something to provide an exisitng VNC password?

Thanks!

Jay
 
jbush001 said:
Thanks for the quick reply.

How about a different option to use the existing VNC client if it exists? I am looking at your utility so that we do not have to use WRA since it requires user input. I prefer the way your tool validates admin rights to the machine, rather than providing each user with VNC passwords. In other words (I don't think that was very clear... ;) ) Can you add an option to use an existing TightVNC client, providing a command line option or something to provide an exisitng VNC password?

Thanks!

Jay
Click to expand...

It would be painful and would really deviate from the scope of this project.

I understand your need though... and I am sorry that I cant accommodate it with this program. Sounds like you are looking for something fairly customized.
 
Not at all, I was just throwing out another option. BTW, do you have a command line reference for TightVNC viewer?
 
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