Free and easy way to provide remote support?

[LSmith4285]

Hello

Its just past Christmas and I am getting calls from friends and family members about problems they are having with their new laptops etc. What do people recommend for providing remote support? I've seen some good paid for options which just involve going to a website but I haven't seen any free ones. I know MSN has it built in but these aren't the type of people who have MSN (my gran etc).

I guess I am looking for something that will mean there are no changes to firewall settings or security etc and don't require me to install something on them first (like RealVNC) and ideally free as I won’t be getting paid for this.

Thanks for any advice, it may save me some very long phone calls or trips to do home visits!

Lyle

[lodore]

try teamviewer

[12GaugeShotty]

UltraVNC is good.

[Barry]

whats wrong with RDC?

[dirky]

vnc/rdp is fine if its already setup/installed and you dont need to guide gran on how to enable it in the firewall and setup port forwarding on the router

[smargh]

Family and close friends who trust you? LogMeIn Free. They run through the .msi install process then you can fine-tune the options like "auto-update when idle", "show window on startup" etc. There are no limits on the number of PCs you can install the server on. You then access it from the logmein web pages with an activex controls or firefox add-in. You need to know & use the username & password of an account on the PC which is in the local administrator group.

One-off instances of support? Reverse VNC connection with a dynamic dns provider (I use dyndns.com, but all my hostnames are free because I donated many years ago) so that the .exe will never need to be updated - google for "ultravnc single click" for a one-click solution. That way, no firewall changes are necessary for the user as they just need to do one outgoing connection. You obviously need to do appropriate firewall or port forwarding changes. The down side is that it won't reconnect after a reboot unless you add it to the startup folder manually and remove it when you have finished.

Team Viewer is also a good option which works reliably. No config changes needed.

The built-in XP+ "remote assistance" facility is hit & miss and can get really frakking annoying sometimes.

Forget about RDP - it changes the physical display to the Windows login/lock screen.

I use LogMeIn for family - it has always worked fine. The negative aspect is the free version can't transfer files, but that's what you use a private web host is for. Google for "nearlyfreespeech". For random people who wouldn't want me to have at-will access to their PCs I either use ultravnc single-click or a pre-installed TightVNC with a desktop shortcut to "winvnc.exe -connect myhostnamehere"

[nibbler]

+1 for teamviewer

[Jay]

I use an Echo VNC server, there is a free version.

[pardal51]

as already mentioned...

+1 teamviewer for family support.

Logmein free is also great.

[12GaugeShotty]

vnc/rdp is fine if its already setup/installed and you dont need to guide gran on how to enable it in the firewall and setup port forwarding on the router

Why does gran have a router? Most will just have their DSL/cable plugged right into the computer. Unless they are using wireless I guess...

[GlasgowGuy]

Logmein Free is my tool of choice. It is also possible to build a custom msi package to let the installation go unattended, which is a possible risk as it contains your username and password. To get round this though, just enable one-time security codes on your account, either via email or a one-time printed sheet to last a while.

The advantage of the unattended one is that there is no over the phone 'now, just click next and type in LSmith4285 into the username box, and mypassword in the password box.' And no questions or screens to click through or anything like that.

Just saw this on Google a while back, and it worked fine for me. (search for something along the lines of "logmein free msi unattended"

[LSmith4285]

Gran and most of the people I know in the UK do have a router, the ISP's supply them as part of the standard package since the move to "Up to 8mb" broadband. That was the problem I was having with VNC/RDP so I will try some of the other suggestions.

Thanks for all the input I'll see how I get on.

[12GaugeShotty]

Gran and most of the people I know in the UK do have a router, the ISP's supply them as part of the standard package since the move to "Up to 8mb" broadband. That was the problem I was having with VNC/RDP so I will try some of the other suggestions.

Thanks for all the input I'll see how I get on.

You could walk her through putting it in the DMZ.

RDC is not really an option because it requires the account to have a username and password IIRC. It also locks out the screen on the remote location.

I have never used RDA but here's a guide on how to use it: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/art.../wxprmass.html

[roadkilluk]

Logmein Free is my tool of choice. It is also possible to build a custom msi package to let the installation go unattended, which is a possible risk as it contains your username and password. To get round this though, just enable one-time security codes on your account, either via email or a one-time printed sheet to last a while.

The advantage of the unattended one is that there is no over the phone 'now, just click next and type in LSmith4285 into the username box, and mypassword in the password box.' And no questions or screens to click through or anything like that.

Just saw this on Google a while back, and it worked fine for me. (search for something along the lines of "logmein free msi unattended"

I agree logmein, is a good tool. Some slight problems (mainly the installing on startup, and restarting the computer when it updates, but easy enough to disable), but works most of the time, and now even has a iphone app (though useless for your use).

Also there is a unattended vnc server package you can customise (forgot the name, but just search unattended vnc), but again does require port forwarding.

[s3ds]

Logmein Free is what i use
not as fast as it used to be before they updated it but still works
plus the remote user can see what you are doing

[dprw2000]

Another vote for logmeinfree ive got it setup on all pcs i support

Very, very, useful!