Remote Help software?

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TechieSooner

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I'm not very familiar with VNC... Do any of them allow the person sitting at the computer being controlled to see what's going on?
And do I have the capability of specifying (on some particular machines) to black the screen when I connect to them?

Basically I'm looking for something I can install on all my machines, so if anyone has an issue I can SHOW them- not just fix it (like RDP doesn't let me show them).
But at the same time if I am working on something on mine remotely- I don't want someone walking by and seeing what I'm working on.

And upon disconnect or connection lost, can you set it to auto-lock the machine??


That all said- what do you recommend for VNC server/client?
 
With what I've use VNC for, if I'm on a computer and a person connected to me starts doing stuff, yes, I can see what's going on. I'm pretty sure this is universal.

I'm not sure about the ability to black out the screen, however. You could just turn off your monitor. :p
 
I just use www.showmypc.com

Right now it is free and very easy to use.

Steps involved:

Download software and run

Have client download software and run

Have client click on Show my pc now

Get #'s from client

Done, your in.
 
TechieSooner said:
I'm not very familiar with VNC... Do any of them allow the person sitting at the computer being controlled to see what's going on?
And do I have the capability of specifying (on some particular machines) to black the screen when I connect to them?

Basically I'm looking for something I can install on all my machines, so if anyone has an issue I can SHOW them- not just fix it (like RDP doesn't let me show them).
But at the same time if I am working on something on mine remotely- I don't want someone walking by and seeing what I'm working on.

And upon disconnect or connection lost, can you set it to auto-lock the machine??


That all said- what do you recommend for VNC server/client?
Click to expand...
I use LOGMEIN to work on my PC. I usually just turn my monitor off before leaving for work. That way no one sees what I am doing (kids, wife).
 
l3ender said:
With what I've use VNC for, if I'm on a computer and a person connected to me starts doing stuff, yes, I can see what's going on. I'm pretty sure this is universal.

I'm not sure about the ability to black out the screen, however. You could just turn off your monitor. :p
Click to expand...

Any recommended package?

Almost wanting something that auto-updates or something. I know alot of this Beta/Open Source stuff has bugs they work on, hate to roll it out to everyone and then have to uninstall/install the new version to get them fixed.

Puterguru said:
I use LOGMEIN to work on my PC. I usually just turn my monitor off before leaving for work. That way no one sees what I am doing (kids, wife).
Click to expand...

Also, Logmein has the ability to blank the monitor when you connect. That's where I got the idea, and wish for VNC from.
 
I've been using TeamViewer lately, though I used crossloop prior to that. Both work very well and are a simple install/connection process.
 
xlt92explorer said:
I've been using TeamViewer lately, though I used crossloop prior to that. Both work very well and are a simple install/connection process.
Click to expand...

Can I set a specific port to listen on?
That's one of the things I'll be using for the VNC route is I can connect to the same IP, different ports, for each different server/computer I need.
 
No help on the blanking screen from me (I use RealVNC). As for the listening port, you can assign a port from the router and keep the default port on the computer. That way, not much needs to be configured on each computer. So you would connect to PC1 with IPAddress:0 and PC2 with IPAddress:1 and so on. This is what I do with my setup.
 
Do any of these options, especially TeamViewer or CrossLoop work if I want to view a home office employee's computer without any configurations to their home routers? Most of my employees work out of their home offices, and it would be nice to find something that works all the time. These people do have a VPN connection into our network, so that should help.
 
DeaconFrost said:
Do any of these options, especially TeamViewer or CrossLoop work if I want to view a home office employee's computer without any configurations to their home routers? Most of my employees work out of their home offices, and it would be nice to find something that works all the time. These people do have a VPN connection into our network, so that should help.
Click to expand...

LogMeIn... if you like it.
I just don't like it for my purposes here. Too cumbersome.
 
I have Logmein installed on over 400 computers and it has performed fantastically. And you can't beat the price (free).
 
XP has built in support to allow you to remotely administer a machine. Just have your users choose help and support, and click on the tools heading. In there you will find an option to invite others to help them. Once they fill out the form, they can email it and it will allow you to remotely control the machine while they watch what you're doing.

It's free. You shouldn't need to install anything, either. You may have some security permissions to iron out, but it does work very well. My biggest gripe is that ESC breaks the remote control session...
 
I haven't tried Logmein, but have used Remote Admin 2.0 and 3.0 and they were very good. I've also used Tivoli Remote Control and work very closely with the developers. While TRC is not as fast as Remote Admin, it does support the "Privacy" mode you're speaking of where the user is unable to see what's going on (wether the screen is on or not). It's also a Java based console to control the remote machines with, so you can use it on just about any platform (the client comes in both Win and *nix flavors though).

Remote Admin and TRC both have features that one or the other support while the other doesn't, and neither are free.
 
Demon10000 said:
XP has built in support to allow you to remotely administer a machine. Just have your users choose help and support, and click on the tools heading. In there you will find an option to invite others to help them. Once they fill out the form, they can email it and it will allow you to remotely control the machine while they watch what you're doing.

It's free. You shouldn't need to install anything, either. You may have some security permissions to iron out, but it does work very well. My biggest gripe is that ESC breaks the remote control session...
Click to expand...
I go by the theory that users are too stupid to initiate anything like that by themselves. It has to be simple.

Oakoen said:
I have Logmein installed on over 400 computers and it has performed fantastically. And you can't beat the price (free).
Click to expand...
Hmmm... Until they cap it off without much warning someday ;) That's been my main fear.
Can I push it to multiple machines?
 
TechieSooner said:
I go by the theory that users are too stupid to initiate anything like that by themselves. It has to be simple.
Click to expand...

So you go into help and support initiate a support request. They get a message, they click yes, you are now seeing what they see.
 
TeamViewer does not allow you to set the ports, instead it gives you a id number and password that is unique to that instance. Then on your side it ask for the id number and password to connect. It also gives you the option to only allow LAN connections through the IP address. They also have a manager that keeps track of all of the clients you have and you can just go in and click on one and then connect to it. Also with the manager it gives you a log of when and how long you were connected for. I like it better then logmein.
 
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