Category Archives: Remote Assistance
Geek Friday & Review: LogMeIn
I have VNC running on my home computers, which is a lot handier than running up and down the stairs. I was using UltraVNC, but it had some really bad issues with freezing up a lot. Sometimes, it would refresh after several minutes, but sometimes the only remedy was to kill VNC and restart. TightVNC was somewhat better, but I still had that problem on my home theater personal computer (HTPC). Sure, I have the remote keyboard, but the characters on the screen are a little difficult to make out at a distance (my TV isn’t really that big).
So, I thought I’d give LogMeIn a chance, and at first it was great! I could do all sorts of thing without it freezing up.
First Look at GoToAssist Because UltraVNC Does Not Cut It
I have looked at a number of remote control applications that can be used to do remote support on someone’s PC. The sad part of all of this is that it truly should be unnecessary. Windows is supposed to have Remote Assistance built in and free of charge. However, in true Microsoft fashion, they turned around and screwed up a perfectly good idea. It is difficult enough to set up a remote session that it is easier just to talk them through the problem they are having!
For a while, I was using UltraVNC’s Single Click application to do remote support. However, it is so buggy and slow that it really is not a good solution. I have found that whether using Single Click or not:
- UltraVNC has a tendency to crash. The interesting thing is that it seems to crash most often when an UltraVNC Viewer connects with an UltraVNC Server. When using UltraVNC Viewer to connect to TightVNC, there is no crash! Huh?
- UltraVNC has a significant lag. This doesn’t seem to happen all the time, but it is at least half the time. By lag, I mean you actually have to click on Refresh and still wait 30 seconds or more for any action to show up. I noticed early on that this occurs even when on the same local area network (LAN). Again, this does not occur when connecting to TightVNC Server.
The Virtual Network Computing (VNC) Face-Off
It’s a somewhat older article, but dbuggr has a useful “VNC Comparison and Review: TightVNC Vs UltraVNC Vs RealVNC”. The article summarizes the features of the three most popular software programs.
Personally, I use UltraVNC because of its “single click” capability. I can put an executable on a website and have customers download it for remote access to their machines. However, I am partial to TightVNC for other applications because it is one of the most light-weight and, from my experience, bug-free VNCs out there.
What’s your favorite?
Remote Assistance Frustration
Remote Assistance – good idea, bad implementation.
It’s bad enough that MS Windows prompts and dialogs change from version to version, but talking someone through starting it isn’t easy to begin with. And, if it isn’t enabled …
Then, add to that the fact that some people don’t even use an email client on their machine. They read email via the web browser.
And, if the user isn’t particularly tech savvy…
It’s a mess! There has to be an easier way, right?
Actually, there seem to be quite a few solutions out there as of this writing:
- LogMeIn Rescue is $1188 per year. Want smartphone support? Add $768.
- GoToAssist is $660 per year. There is also a $9.95 for a single day pass.
- Techinline is only $300 a year, though.
- ScreenConnect is only $250 for a single session license. At least this one isn’t a subscription!
Can you say, “Yikes!”?
Well, perhaps I have finally found an easier way – at least for the person requiring assistance – that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
I came across a LifeHacker article on “Geek to Live: Tech support with UltraVNC SingleClick”. I had used UltraVNC in the past, and I had heard of SingleClick, but I didn’t know much about it. In the article, Gina Trapani wrote:
Almost a year ago I wrote a tutorial on how to remote control a computer over the internet using a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) server and viewer. Well, talking Grandpa through the server installation is not an option.
Let’s add to that “or talking Grandpa through enabling Remote Assistance, for that matter!”
The nice thing about the LifeHacker article is that it really makes it clear with all the essentials. Looking at the SingleClick documentation can make it seem like a daunting task. By bypassing a bunch of options, it becomes really clear how to put together a package.
Yet, the hard part is really in emailing an .EXE file. Outlook complains, and Gmail just plain refuses to cooperate. So, the advantage of having a website is that you can upload the file and email the link to the customer. Then, they download from the link using their favorite browser.
Really, why couldn’t Microsoft make it all this simple?
Using Windows Remote Assistance
At John D’s Computer & Network Services main web site, we’ve put up instructions for starting MS Remote Assistance, which is built upon Windows Remote Desktop. It comes with Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems.
At John D’s, we want to start using this technology more and more to keep costs to our customers as low as possible. If we can fix your computer problem remotely, we will obviously not charge a transportation fee for the work.
