Remote Desktop

[Bahumat]

Hi all,

My friend has gone to Uni and is not the most computer literate. I installed Logmein on their machine, however the trial ran out

Are there any free programs that you can recommend so I can access their machine?

 

[SheepCow]

The one that's part of Windows? What version of Windows are they using?

 

[soze]

Hi all,

My friend has gone to Uni and is not the most computer literate. I installed Logmein on their machine, however the trial ran out

Are there any free programs that you can recommend so I can access their machine?

Downgrade log me in from pro to free. Or use Teamviewer that is free as long as you don't support too many machines.

 

[yaruar]

Hi all,

My friend has gone to Uni and is not the most computer literate. I installed Logmein on their machine, however the trial ran out

Are there any free programs that you can recommend so I can access their machine?

ssh tunnel -> remote desktop

Windows Remote Desktop

 

[nath]

Teamviewer is the most quick and easy way to provide remote support. Get him to download the "join a session" file on the site TeamViewer - Free Remote Access and Remote Desktop Sharing over the Internet and you get the free version on the big green button. He gives you the code and passkey and you punch it in - bam, done.

 

[inactionman]

VNC?

 

[nath]

Those of you suggesting something other than TeamViewer surely have never used TeamViewer. Nothing beats it for speed of setup and ease of use for dullards.

 

[old.Osy]

You guys are recommending Team-Viewer, which requires someone present at home to provide pin number - of no use to this guy, who obviously needs to access his own machine from uni, without any other interaction.

Of course, he could setup the server bit of team-viewer to keep the same pin - but how smart is that, security wise, considering the pin is a 4 digit code.

What I use is Bitvise's Tunnelier, which does exactly what yaruar suggested, in a more GUI form, plus it has more options and gimmicks, and it can launch the remote desktop (mstsc.exe) executable automatically, for that added simplicity. He can also setup his desktop as a proxy for a browser of his choosing on a uni computer, which is also nice, considering he can bypass uni firewall for browsing.

What he needs are two bits from Bitvise:

1. Bitvise Tunnelier (to be installed on the uni computer)
2. WinSSHD (to be installed on the home computer)

I would assume that the uni uses a proxy to provide access to the web, and I would also assume that it only allows basic connectivity, such as 80, 443, 25 and so on.

He can use either 80 or 443 to establish the tunnel, all the "security" admin would see is a SSL connection to some IP, he won't be able to peek in further than that - realistically, 443 SSL connections are normal, so he would not get suspicious.

Get me more details on the uni setup, and I can maybe concoct a little walk through for him

 

[soze]

Those of you suggesting something other than TeamViewer surely have never used TeamViewer. Nothing beats it for speed of setup and ease of use for dullards.

For repeated access which this sounds like i prefer log me in free. Although the Teamviewer Host is a close second. The only problem with Teamviewer is as soon as you have supported a set number of different machines you get shut off and need to buy pro.

If this needs to be looked at on a regular basis Log Me In free is the best product for it.

 

[SheepCow]

Or just use the one that comes with Windows ...

 

[soze]

Or just use the one that comes with Windows ...

RDP when you are not on the same network is much more complicated than log me in and teamviewer.

 

[SheepCow]

How so? For RDP you just need port 3389 (default) open and to know your IP / use a dynamic DNS service.

I assume the other services need something similar? Just trying to work out what makes other programs better ...

 

[soze]

How so? For RDP you just need port 3389 (default) open and to know your IP / use a dynamic DNS service.

I assume the other services need something similar? Just trying to work out what makes other programs better ...

TeamViewer and Logmein generally work over HTTP so do not need port forwarding, so for people sat behind a firewall they have no control over it's a bit easier.

 

[nath]

You guys are recommending Team-Viewer, which requires someone present at home to provide pin number - of no use to this guy, who obviously needs to access his own machine from uni, without any other interaction.

That's not what Bahu said - he's said that his friend is not computer literate and *Bahu* wants to access that machine. Sounds like tech support to me, though it'd be handy if he came back to the thread and clarified .

For repeated access which this sounds like i prefer log me in free. Although the Teamviewer Host is a close second. The only problem with Teamviewer is as soon as you have supported a set number of different machines you get shut off and need to buy pro.

If this needs to be looked at on a regular basis Log Me In free is the best product for it.

All Teamviewer does is pop up a warning saying "commercial support suspected". I've been using it a fuck load on shedloads of different computers (as I can't afford to buy pro just yet) and I've not been kicked off.


Oh and yes, TeamViewer needs no port forwarding on either end, additionally it doesn't need to be installed on either end, just run the app and share the code. Bam, done.

 

[soze]

All Teamviewer does is pop up a warning saying "commercial support suspected". I've been using it a fuck load on shedloads of different computers (as I can't afford to buy pro just yet) and I've not been kicked off.


Oh and yes, TeamViewer needs no port forwarding on either end, additionally it doesn't need to be installed on either end, just run the app and share the code. Bam, done.

I love teamviewer and use the pro version myself (which gives you access to host which is awesome) but getting kicked off every 5 minutes because commercial use is suspected was a pain in the balls so if its always the same machine i think Log Me In is a decent alternative.

 

[SheepCow]

Well they'll still need port 80, and you can get RDP to use port 80

 

[nath]

I love teamviewer and use the pro version myself (which gives you access to host which is awesome) but getting kicked off every 5 minutes because commercial use is suspected was a pain in the balls so if its always the same machine i think Log Me In is a decent alternative.

I don't know when you were last kicked off but it must have been a while ago - they certainly don't seem to do it now. I use it a shedload and I've never once been kicked off.

 

[soze]

I don't know when you were last kicked off but it must have been a while ago - they certainly don't seem to do it now. I use it a shedload and I've never once been kicked off.

Had Pro for a while now so it might be a feature they removed in version 5. Once you were were getting the warnings it would kick you off after 5 minutes and tell you to buy pro.

 

[old.Osy]

Well they'll still need port 80, and you can get RDP to use port 80

Not if they filter by protocol...

Sure, logmein and variants would do fine - but what if the uni admin cuts that off ?

 

[Bahumat]

Sorry for the late reply, posted it before going to stay round my brothers.

Nath's correct regarding Old.Osy's comments. My friend is at Uni with the laptop, I am at home with my pc. I will help them with PC issues much like remote support, so they will be there to give me the pin/code etc.

I saw TeamViewer when I did a quick google, and as people mentioned it on here I will give it a go

Regarding Logmein. I had the 'free' version off their site, but once i logged into it, I got a message saying I would have to pay to continue. Will have a check and make sure that is actually the case, and not a marketing trick.

Thanks all for the help. I'd love to be able to use Windows Remote Desktop, but getting my friend to configure things will cause more trouble than good hehe

 

[Bahumat]

Update - Seems the Logmein free trial is the Pro version, so I said "no thanks" when it asked me to pay. Will try connecting to my laptop (sitting next to me) and see what functionality I have lost. Worst case I can try TeamViewer.

Thanks again for your help, you guys are the best also apologies for taking so long to respond.

 

[nath]

Worst case?

People, people. I don't think you realise just how quick and easy teamviewer is. Why are you faffing with things that require installations, setups, logins or whatever.

Bahu, get: http://www.teamviewer.com/download/TeamViewer_Setup.exe

When you run it, choose the "run" option instead of install.

Get your uni mate to download: http://www.teamviewer.com/download/TeamViewerQS.exe then just run it.

He gives you an id and password, you punch that in your end - bam. Connected with everything you could need. Trust me, I use it for a bunch of my clients and they are very much *not* computer literate. It's so quick and easy.

 

[soze]

They have different uses. I remote control my Laptop when i am at work, I do this once a day teamviewer is not the best product for that. Open it every day take a note of the code each time ect. Log me in suits that kind of job. But if you are doing one off or irregular connections Teamviewer is the best option.

 

[nath]

They have different uses. I remote control my Laptop when i am at work, I do this once a day teamviewer is not the best product for that. Open it every day take a note of the code each time ect. Log me in suits that kind of job. But if you are doing one off or irregular connections Teamviewer is the best option.

Oh yeah, LogMeIn is far better for accessing your own PC but for providing support to a mate I think TeamViewer is hard to beat.

 

[MYstIC G]

Use http://join.me

Logmein without having to install logmein.

 

[nath]

Now that's very interesting indeed. Have you used it much? Reliable, secure and all that jazz?

 

[MYstIC G]

Couple of times, seems to be reliable and no security issues as far as I could tell.

 

[nath]

Provided by LogMeIn so that makes me feel better. Just tried getting my dad to be a guinea pig for it and for some odd reason he got a slightly different page on https://join.me and the share link provided a different and non working file. However, I shared my desktop to him and it worked fine.

Most peculiar. Still, it's in beta so I guess weirdness is to be expected here and there. Hope it stays free as I don't like the idea of paying for Pro TeamViewer.

 

[old.Osy]

gg

 

[ECA]

You guys are recommending Team-Viewer, which requires someone present at home to provide pin number - of no use to this guy, who obviously needs to access his own machine from uni, without any other interaction.

You can set it to a static password and the ID will remain the same regardless, and also to run at all times - thus requiring clicking a different option from the default in setup and typing in a password.