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How do I use Remote Assistance/Desktop to work on my parent's computer?


E-66

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My parents live an hour away, and when they have issues with their PC they call me and I try to fix things over the phone.  The problem is that they know NOTHING about computers and can't describe anything with terms I can understand, and it takes forever to diagnose and fix things.

I'd like to be able to maintain/fix their computer without so much fuss, so I was hoping to do it with Remote Assistance/Desktop.  If I could just see their PC I could take care of their issues in 1/100th the time it takes over the phone.  I have their PC right now because I couldn't fix their last problem over the phone, so since it's here I'd like to get it set up so I can access it from my place when they have issues in the future, i.e. next week!

I've never used Remote Assistance/Desktop before so I don't know where to begin.  Which one do I use, Assistance or Desktop?  I would assume Assistance, but without knowing more it looks like it could be done with either.  I've never used either so I don't know where to begin and could use some guidance.  We both have XP SP3.  I know how to access them, but how do I set them up?  What is the "name" of their PC?  Is it the "registered to" name from My Computer > Properties?  I don't know where to start.

Please help.

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The problem with the remote desktop (assuming they are running XP Professional) is that - if they are not in your internal LAN - you have to know their external IP address or they have to use something like duckdns or noip to get a "domain".

The easiest way is to use Team Viewer: is a free software that works under XP and allows you to login automatically in their computer; you can add their computer to your account, set a password and that's it. Give it a shot, trust me.

P.s my favourite combination: Skype and team Viewer ;)

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20 hours ago, FranceBB said:

The problem with the remote desktop (assuming they are running XP Professional) is that - if they are not in your internal LAN - you have to know their external IP address or they have to use something like duckdns or noip to get a "domain".

The easiest way is to use Team Viewer: is a free software that works under XP and allows you to login automatically in their computer; you can add their computer to your account, set a password and that's it. Give it a shot, trust me.

P.s my favourite combination: Skype and team Viewer ;)

This. Remote Assistance is holier than Swiss Cheese and I have been using Team Viewer for years. Depending on if you download a new or old version, you'll need XP Service Pack 3: https://web.archive.org/web/20140119014510/http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/3/0/d30e32d8-418a-469d-b600-f32ce3edf42d/WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

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Thanks for the replies.  We both have XP Pro SP3.  I will look into Team Viewer immediately.

In hindsight, I should have asked if there were better options besides Remote Assistance/Desktop in the first place.  Thanks for the tips.

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TeamViewer may barf if going through Router/Firewall as well. It "thinks" you're a Server. At least, I had to give up using it in my case.

Smarter to open up the appropriate Ports on your Router and Firewall (including the OS) and get the External Addresses (directly from the Router's Interface) and use the RDP software. I guarantee that will work. ;)

Note - Router=Cable/DSL Modem/whatever (including any INTERNAL routers).

Other than that, good luck on TeamViewer. Once (I stress that word) I got it to work a looong time ago helping my cousin in FL and we were connected to Cable Modem directly (no routing). TeamViewer does NOT like routers (they ARE Servers)! As soon as I was behind the Router it was over ("You must use the Corporate Version" or some such).

So, NO, you don't have to have "special software" or (e.g.) DuckDNS to get your real IP. :w00t: Better learn how to manipulate that ISP Modem/Router. ;)

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Though I never had any issue with TeamViewer similar to the ones submix8 reported, it is NOT something I would like to have on any of my machines.

TightVNC:
http://www.tightvnc.com/

or RealVNC:
http://www.realvnc.com/products/vnc/

or UltraVNC:
http://www.uvnc.com/home.html

are in my experience reliable and more generally "good enough", of course - but it depends on a number of factors - it may take a little bit to install/configure it correctly, though the UltraVNC SC should be easy enough.

Those guys also make a somewhat simplified tool PChelpware:

http://www.uvnc.com/products/pchelpware.html

which works more or less like TeamViewer (in principle, i.e. by going through a third party server) thus simplifying connection settings.

jaclaz
 

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Interestingly, TeamViewer goes though a "third party" (themselves). JFYI...

Also, I'm referring to their "free edition" which ABSOLUTELY refused to run on my XP machine to allow me to get to my brothers' PC. Maybe because initially I tried to access him via my Server first and it logged my IP? (see "third party" above").

TeamViewer - never again. Sits on my HDD dormant and uninstalled in my "archive".

Hopefully, the OP will return and report Success/Failure. Seems a lot of folks never come back to report that (see "Upgrade Dell Vista to Win7", the Topic I created and gave a link to via PM). :huh:

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I'll definitely report back.  I have Team Viewer installed on both PCs, but I haven't tested it yet because I only have a wired connection to the internet, no router.  My parent's PC is going back to them tomorrow, so hopefully I can test things out soon.

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Yep... I mean, it's weird. I have been using team Viewer since 2009 without experiencing any issues like the one mentioned above. I installed it on multiple OS, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 r2 and I never faced any problems. It turned out to be reliable during group meeting as well, as I was able to explain to other people connected to a certain computer at the same time.

Anyway, I generally prefer RDP over TV to connect to servers, but I strongly rely on TV to connect to other computers that are not in the same LAN. 

As to the RDP, Microsoft added an option to disable "unsecure connection" but it just prevents XP users from connecting to a newer OS (starting from 7). Whether you decide to activate it or not is your choice only, but I don't really like how things are right now, 'cause I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft will decide to disable XP connections in the near future. It's a possibility, hope not.

Edited by FranceBB
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  • 2 weeks later...

OK, I tried using Team Viewer for the first time today.  My mom called about some issue, so I figured we may as well fire it up see if it worked.  It did.  She gave me her ID & password, and :::POOF:::, I was looking at her desktop.  I ended up updating their Flash player, Firefox and a couple extensions, and got into their display properties and changed the text size for their icons and menus.

The only 'issue' I found was that it was a little slow/laggy.  Is that normal?  Windows Explorer seemed like it took 3+ seconds to open, and Firefox was 10+ seconds.  It wasn't horrible, just a little annoying.  It was still 1,000,000x better than trying to explain to her what to do herself.

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It's normal. It could be because of her connection (unlikely, considering you live in the U.S) or her computer.

Basically, when you are accessing her computer, you are viewing her desktop, so it's like you are "recording" in real time and playing the "video" in your computer, which is kinda intensive for an old computer. Try to open the task manager windows and you'll probably see the CPU going up to 60-70% just to render the deskop. "The higher the resolution is, the harder will be to render it". That said, it's pretty easy to render resolutions like 1080p for computers nowadays, but not for the old ones.

By the way, since it's your mother's computer and you are a trusted person (her son xD), I suggest to open team viewer, click "connection" and click to "setup unattended access" in your mum's computer. This way, you won't have to ask her the ID and the PSW every single time and you'll be able to connect to her computer anytime. Besides, you can do that in your computer as well, so you can access it using your mobile, for instance. I personally use it a lot and it turned out to be very helpful on several circumstances.

Edited by FranceBB
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Thanks.  Your "live recording & watching" analogy explains it.  Their PC is a Pentium 4.  And I did have their Task Manager open and the CPU was at 70% the entire time.

And thanks for the tips on how to set T.V. up for unattended access.  I can see how that would be useful.

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