Live Mesh Remote Access

Well, from your silence I am guessing there is not a way to connect remotely without the remote user logging in to my account. I guess I will only use this with people I trust.

The reason I don't want to use remote desktop is DHCP. It's amazingly difficult to get people to tell you what their IP address is. Most people don't seem to know they have an external IP address.

This is easy to get around:
whatsmyip.org
Tell them to read you the number at the top of the page.

I don't know anything about Live Mesh, but there are other options, including free ones.

Had not heard of Windows Remote Assistance before today. Looks like what I was looking for.

And I've been down that route before. For some reason getting people to lookup IP addresses and install software and enable services and configure remote applications over the phone is like pulling teeth. I need something to help my friends that requires a simple mouse click or two. Anything beyond that seems to boggle the average user. They seem to have some kind of mental block.

Ya. There are a LOT of techs out there supporting end-users who are good at technical things, but not good at supporting end users. To be a truely good tech, you MUST be able to articulate things to the least technical person. I realize that there are some people who are completely clueless, but most people can follow some simple instructions. You have to adapt to each person.

steve-pressman said:

Use this and get your friend to download it to. It's free and works extremely well.

TeamViewer - Free Remote Access and Remote Desktop Sharing over the Internet


Steve

When I connect to his computer with TV it gripes about commercial use suspected, so I quit using it. I don't know how connecting two friend's computers together constitutes commercial use, but that's the problem with most drm.

pebbly said:

Dear Live Mesh beta participant,
You're receiving this message because you used the Live Mesh beta from Microsoft. On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh will end, and the Live Mesh beta will stop working. After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software. Microsoft will not be able to help you retrieve any files you have stored online after this date. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.
With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live services.

Why is this happening?
To deliver a better product for all our customers, we combined several services into a new product called Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Mesh has several performance and reliability improvements compared to the Live Mesh beta, and with Windows Live Mesh, you can also sync your program settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Learn more.


What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down
To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.
2. Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.

What you can do moving forward
If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade


Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. We hope you choose to move to Windows Live Mesh.
Sincerely,
The Windows Live team

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is this happening?
A: For the last couple of years, Microsoft has offered two similar services for syncing your files: Live Mesh beta and another service, called Windows Live Sync, which let people sync large folders of files between PCs. To deliver a better product for all our customers, we decided to combine these sets of features into a new product called Windows Live Mesh.
Note: Windows Live Mesh is available only for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X version 10.5 or later.
Q: What can I expect between now and the date the beta service shuts down?
A: The Live Mesh beta service will continue to run until March 31, 2011. However, we will no longer accept new beta participants. You won't be able to share Live Mesh folders with someone unless they already have Live Mesh installed. On March 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to sign in to Live Mesh beta on your PC, Mac, or on the web.

Thanks for the heads up.

:)