Free remote desktop app good for working with someone computer illiterate?

Question

I'm looking for something that would allow me to control their computer and that wouldn't be very hard to configure. I think I'll only need Windows-to-Windows support. What do you recommend?

Answer 1

I find TeamViewer to be a great choice. The service is free for personal use, and you can have both preinstalled hosts as well as ad-hoc connections in a remote support situation. It's also compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X.

The program also has another neat trick: During a session, you can flip the roles of "viewer" and "presenter". If you need to demonstrate something to someone you're connected to, you can flip roles, perform the task on your own computer with them watching, then flip back to view their screen again.

Answer 2

www.crossloop.com is free and you don't have to create an account. There are lots of others such as ultravnc. Crossloop makes it simple and will not be impeded by firewalls. Your user gives you the access code and instantly your connected.

It only works for pc's

Answer 3

'logmein express' works great. the one giving access has to download a small binary, the folks watching only need a browser with flash.

Answer 4

I've used UltraVNC Single Click with great success to remotely support parents, in-laws, plus one or two customers.

I just save it to their desktop and get them to click on it when they want me to help.

It basically wraps a VNC server which automatically calls back to the VNC viewer client (the other way around from the usual) on a pre-specified address.

Pros:

• Very simple for the person on the other end.
• Works behind their firewall. You have to set-up the port forwarding through your firewall, but no special configuration on their end.
• Puts them in control. They initiate the remote access from their computer, not you from yours.

Cons:

• Binds you to one location. If you're not at the home/office you've setup single-click to contact, you cannot access their computer.

Answer 5

Windows Remote Assistance has always worked fine for me. I've used it Vista-to-Vista and Windows 7-to-Vista. The person you're helping just needs to send an invitation (by e-mail or IM) and you're in: it automatically works around firewalls at both ends with zero configuration. Gaining full control (including control over the dreaded UAC) is very easy, just requiring a simple confirmation from the remote party.

All in all it's a lot simpler than trying to use VNC and also typically comes ready installed at both ends so there's nothing to download and set up.