There are literally thousands of computer problems that could be fixed remotely, thus saving your beleaguered helpdesk guy (or son… or husband) a long car trip just to click on a few icons. One of the main reasons why remote assistance hasn’t taken off even more than it has is due to a problem of access. Microsoft’s “Remote Desktop” would be an ideal solution to this problem, if not two significant issues: Remote Desktop is only available in Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003, so if your client or loved ones run Windows 2000 or Windows 98, you’re out of luck. Remote Desktop also locks the console session (the session displayed on the monitor) as soon as someone logs in remotely. This isn’t a total deal-breaker, but it is sometimes convenient to have both the local and remote users looking at the same thing, so the helpdesk guy can see exactly what the end user is doing to get an error message.
Symantec sells a program called pcAnywhere that works on every Win32 platform and allows both users to see what’s going on. However, the program is a bit expensive, has a lengthy and non user-friendly setup process, and requires the end-user to make changes to his or her router configuration before someone from the outside can connect to the computer.
Enter VNC. It has all of the advantages of pcAnywhere but is completely free of charge. It also has all of pcAnywhere’s disadvantages too, but some enterprising folks on the ‘Net have come up with an interesting work-around: a way to “package” VNC so that all the end user has to do is click their mouse a couple of times to allow you to connect remotely. Although you’ll find complete instructions at the link below, the set up basically works like this:
1) You download the VNC package and edit the included SETTINGS.INI file to include your static IP address or DynDNS hostname. Also, if you wish to use a port other than VNC’s default port, add it (in the form of :portnumber to the IP\DynDNS address, like test.mycomputer.com:7799).
2) Zip the VNC program and SETTINGS.INI file together, then use WinZip or WinRAR to create a self-extracting (SFX) EXE file. I use WinRAR’s default GUI module to have the SFX unzip automatically to the user’s TEMP directory and then run the VNC executable. This way all the the user has to do is click on HELP.EXE to get the party started.
3) Distribute the file. I use FTP to upload it to my website, but you could send it to them on floppy, USB key or CF card or you could send it to them via instant messenger program or one of the many “sendfile” services on the Internet.
4) Open port 5500 on your router, map it to your private IP, and then run the “VNC Viewer” program on your local machine (obviously, if you changed the port number in step 1, open the port you specified in the INI file instead).
5) Have the user click on the EXE file on his end. They will see a command-prompt window telling them that their computer is attempting to connect to your IP address (or host name). Within a few seconds, you should see their desktop on your screen. From here, you can do what you need to fix their computer.
6) When done, advise your client to click on the command-prompt window to activate it and to then press any key to shut down VNC and uninstall it from their system. They can then delete the EXE file or keep it for future use.
This is pretty neat, folks! The VNC program on the end user’s side is the one initiating the connection, so there shouldn’t be any issues with NAT or a firewall for them to deal with. And since the default VNC setup is pretty difficult for non-technies to understand, having it all done for them just couldn’t make this any easier! My girlfriend’s company is staffed with non-technical types that until recently ran a mixture of XP and 98. They also had a non-configurable router from their ISP, so any time I needed to connect to one of their machines remotely, I’d have to call the ISP, wait in their queue and then beg them to open the port. Now that I have a copy of the VNC package on my website, I just given them the address and with a couple of clicks I can access their machines… COOL!
Check out this page for complete instructions, as well as free downloadable packages based on both UltraVNC and TightVNC.