Remote assistance software

[Steve]

Hi guys,

I'm soon going to be sorting a new PC out for a member of the family, and I want to be able to administer the system remotely when there's a problem.

Ideally I want:

- to be able to get at the screen before login.
- to have the remote PC punch through NAT with no port forwarding

I have a Linux VPS if I need to setup a tunnel of some sort. I believe VNC would give me the kind of thing I want, but not solve the NAT issue?

Any ideas? Needs to be free. Failing that I'm going to try to talk them through opening a port on their router - and even with experience in phone-support, I'm not looking forward to that one!

Ideas appreciated!

[Moby-Dick]

pre login ? thats a tough one....

unless you can persuade logmein to run as a service.

[spoon_]

Dameware?

[Moby-Dick]

unless you've got a VPN to the router I wouldn't let dameware sit open to the web.

[smargh]

LogMeIn Free. It works fine with the XP login screen, & Windows 7's, I think, from when I connected to my sister's HTPC. Works fine with both you and the other side NATed with no open ports at either end.

Just email them a .msi - all you have to say to them is double-click it, run & run if it prompts, then keep clicking next & type in a particular access code when prompted. The PC will then appear in your list of PCs to connect to, which you can do so if you either know the access code or a Windows username & password which has local admin rights.

Here's a screenshot of what I see when I remote on to an XP VMware guest (at the login screen after initial bootup) from the host.

For file transfers, however, you will need either LogMeIn Pro2, or other file transfer method - a cheap/free/nearlyfreespeech web host is perfectly acceptable for me.

[Splash]

Yeah, this is what I use to keep an eye on a few PCs for friends and family: they get a popoup saying that I'm trying to connect, and they can cancel it if they don't want me on there. You can signup for a free trial of LogMeIn Rescue, use that to install LogMeIn Free agent and take it from there (if you're planning on being able to use in future, that way it's there when needed and you just sign into your LogMeIn account).

That said - you want to be able to get to the machine pre login? Is this on the *first* connection?

[smargh]

When I tested LogMeIn in a fresh, I could get to it after it was rebooted.

However..... I think I may have had to "Turn On" via right-clicking on it in the tray after the very first reboot, in order for future reboots to make it connectable at the login screen. I can't remember.

[mycarsavw]

Wippien?

[Moby-Dick]

LogMeIn Free. It works fine with the XP login screen, & Windows 7's, I think, from when I connected to my sister's HTPC. Works fine with both you and the other side NATed with no open ports at either end.

Just email them a .msi - all you have to say to them is double-click it, run & run if it prompts, then keep clicking next & type in a particular access code when prompted. The PC will then appear in your list of PCs to connect to, which you can do so if you either know the access code or a Windows username & password which has local admin rights.

Here's a screenshot of what I see when I remote on to an XP VMware guest (at the login screen after initial bootup) from the host.

For file transfers, however, you will need either LogMeIn Pro2, or other file transfer method - a cheap/free/nearlyfreespeech web host is perfectly acceptable for me.

I sit corrected its been a while since I've played with logmein , it must run as a service then

[gss03]

Kaseya - use it at work - works wonders and does exactly what you want.

[Allen]

unless you can persuade logmein to run as a service.

As far as I'm aware, it does run as a service. I can turn my computer on at home, not touch it, then in the office dial on to the login screen and log in.

Unless Steve needs to do anything before the login screen then it should be suitable.

:edit: Ignore this, I didn't read any further replies and notice that what I've said has already been advised.

[mr-zeeman]

netop is good will run when the pc is started pre-login has versions for windows and linux

[Kumagoro]

I do not know if it does what you want but you could have a look into team viewer.
The full version is free for non commercial use.

http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

[mycarsavw]

Just been reading about VPNs for a small project and spotted/stumbled/discovered this;

http://www.neorouter.com/

[Steve]

Oooh that looks good, I'll give it a try when I have a chance.

[oolon]

Just been reading about VPNs for a small project and spotted/stumbled/discovered this;

http://www.neorouter.com/

Now I like that, you can run the "server" on a machine you own, the thing I never liked about Logmein is having to trust their servers.