How do I use Remote Connection to help Family?

[BugOutMachine]

Hey Everyone!

:tip: Today my father finally purchased a laptop with Windows 7 x64 after using an old Dell XP for nearly a decade, lol!

He needs obvious assistance and although I'm aware of the new Windows 7 Remote Connection capabilities, I'm totally unfamiliar with how to connect to another PC with different ISP's (I'm Comcast, he's FIOS) and in two different geographical locations.

I read one tutorial that mentioned my editing the registry to force his PC to seek a certain port but that seems like a lot for such a simple problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially with Father's Day coming up and my being incapable of a home visit.

Thank you in advance!

 

[chev65]

Most of the set up can be accomplished using the GUI these days. Although you may need to open ports on the routers firewall and make adjustments to the registry. The problem is that there are some things your Dad needs to do on his end to make the RDC connection work.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3922-remote-desktop-connection-rdc-network.html?filter

Team viewer might be easier to set up if that seems too complicated.
http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

 

[BugOutMachine]

That's very refreshing to hear! I know my way around Windows 7 very well but in the past have never had a use for Remote or Desktop Connections and would disable them for increased security. Before try a different program (thank you for the link) I would like to know what my father would have to do on his end to make the situation run smoothly. My sister is tech savvy and can help him out

 

[chev65]

Just go through the steps in Team Viewer, it explains the process in great detail, once you understand it all just send him the link so he can install it on his system. It tells you everything you need to know. It's a very popular program and is supposed to be easy to use. I believe it uses IP addresses to make the connection.

You can use the link below to look up your true WAN IP address.
http://whatismyipaddress.com/

 

[stormy13]

Remote Assistance might be a better option if you have to walk him through things, as most of the others will lock him out from seeing what you are doing (not sure about Teamviewer, but RDC definitely does),

Windows Remote Assistance: frequently asked questions

If you decide to try it you can either use the one built in to Windows 7, or might be easier to use the version built into Live Messenger. At least with either of these he can see what you are doing, and you can show him where things are.

 

[BugOutMachine]

Just go through the steps in Team Viewer, it explains the process in great detail, once you understand it all just send him the link so he can install it on his system. It tells you everything you need to know. It's a very popular program and is supposed to be easy to use. I believe it uses IP addresses to make the connection.

You can use the link below to look up your true WAN IP address.
What Is My IP Address? Lookup IP, Hide IP, Change IP, Trace IP and more...

This looks like a good idea and I'm going to research it this evening. Thank you so much for the tip!

Remote Assistance might be a better option if you have to walk him through things, as most of the others will lock him out from seeing what you are doing (not sure about Teamviewer, but RDC definitely does),

Windows Remote Assistance: frequently asked questions

If you decide to try it you can either use the one built in to Windows 7, or might be easier to use the version built into Live Messenger. At least with either of these he can see what you are doing, and you can show him where things are.

I do want him to be able to see what I'm doing so thank you for the tip on using Live Messenger. Since we both have Windows 7 I assumed we would use Remote Assistance First but I have to read the link you posted above.

NOTE: I just ran the Windows Remote Assistance Test and failed the UPnP setting. I passed everything else. I may have it unchecked on my Linksys WRT54G2 but it could be disabled in my Services so I will have to check. Would that effect the other program? I hate having so many ports open.

 

[BugOutMachine]

I downloaded TeamViewer and it DOES look much simpler for the needs I have. I recall TechNet having a similiar tool/program available back with Vista.

 

[BugOutMachine]

Perfection!

Today I used Team Viewer 5 while my parents installed the Team Viewer Quick Support. My fathers Windows 7 and mothers Vista both worked without any issues arising. I have to say that everything that I needed to do worked *flawlessly* and I am grateful for the quick and solid advice!

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to do remote support for a friend or family member!

 

[stormy13]

Thanks for the rep, and thank you for posting back that Teamviewer worked.

 

[chev65]

Today I used Team Viewer 5 while my parents installed the Team Viewer Quick Support. My fathers Windows 7 and mothers Vista both worked without any issues arising. I have to say that everything that I needed to do worked *flawlessly* and I am grateful for the quick and solid advice!

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to do remote support for a friend or family member!

Just go through the steps in Team Viewer, it explains the process in great detail, once you understand it all just send him the link so he can install it on his system. It tells you everything you need to know. It's a very popular program and is supposed to be easy to use. I believe it uses IP addresses to make the connection.

Team viewer might be easier to set up if that seems too complicated.
http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

Everyone says that is the easier one to use which is mostly why I recommended it. I'm glad that you and your Dan found it easy to use. Hopefully someday I'll actually have a use for this program because everyone seems to be happy with it.

 

[ccatlett1984]

I would recommend using www.logmein.com , you dont have to have him do anything to the computer in order to remote into it (after the initial install.) As long as the computer is powered on and connected to the internet, you will be able to remote into it (even if its not logged in.) Which is a major weak point for teamviewer. You can have more than 10 computers on the free account option.