Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Commercial, Freeware, Troubleshooting
Lee's Favorite Apps: Teamviewer
by Lee Mathews Oct 9th 2008 at 10:00AM
Yes, Teamviewer is completely free for personal use - and if you're doing the "friend that knows about computers" thing for people, you need this app. Here's why.
1) It's portable. Drop it on your flash drive, and you can fire it up and help a buddy out no matter where you are or who's computer you need to run it from.
2) It's small. The QuickSupport module is a 1.3mb download, and telling someone where and how to get it is dead simple.
3) It runs on Windows and Mac. Linux support would be nice, but it's kind of a non-issue - most of the people you offer personal support probably aren't running Linux anyway.
4) It's fast, and secure. Teamviewer runs 256-bit encryption based on RSA key exchange and AES. Their code - including your own custom designed QuickSupport modules - are signed by Verisign.
5) It autoscales by default and handles multiple monitors without a hitch. I've used UltraVNC and Radmin, but TeamViewer is just better both tasks in my opinion.
6) The TeamViewer Manager. I've got dozens of hosts saved in my install for quick connections, and it even keeps tabs on all my support sessions for billing purposes. That means one less thing I have to track in our horrible, useless poit-of-sale system.
7) It runs as a service. I can reboot to my heart's content while removing malware from a remote machine or performing maintenance on a server, and I've got control back as soon as I hit the login screen (even in safe mode with networking).
8) Bonus features. Though I don't use them often, the VPN, chat, and file transfer all work very well and can be real lifesavers. Using the chat to ask someone to check their printer for a test page is way easier than calling, and it's free. The file transfer is a huge when I can't find a certain app on the web - I can browse for it on my fileserver and zip it over to my host.
9) It just works. This is the most important feature of TeamViewer, in my opinion. Firewalls, routers, annoying Internet Security software, you name it and TeamViewer works through it.
Maybe you like another remote support app, but I'm sticking with TeamViewer - unless you can convince me otherwise!
6) The TeamViewer Manager. I've got dozens of hosts saved in my install for quick connections, and it even keeps tabs on all my support sessions for billing purposes. That means one less thing I have to track in our horrible, useless poit-of-sale system.
7) It runs as a service. I can reboot to my heart's content while removing malware from a remote machine or performing maintenance on a server, and I've got control back as soon as I hit the login screen (even in safe mode with networking).
8) Bonus features. Though I don't use them often, the VPN, chat, and file transfer all work very well and can be real lifesavers. Using the chat to ask someone to check their printer for a test page is way easier than calling, and it's free. The file transfer is a huge when I can't find a certain app on the web - I can browse for it on my fileserver and zip it over to my host.
9) It just works. This is the most important feature of TeamViewer, in my opinion. Firewalls, routers, annoying Internet Security software, you name it and TeamViewer works through it.
Maybe you like another remote support app, but I'm sticking with TeamViewer - unless you can convince me otherwise!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
rtfmid10t said 10:44AM on 10-09-2008
Give me showmypc.com any day. It's free, secure, easy, and manages to handle most firewalls.
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Sir Loin said 10:44AM on 10-09-2008
That's quite an endorsement! I will give this a try, been looking for a good tool like this for awhile...current ones just weren't doing it for me. Thanks!
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LouSir said 11:20AM on 10-09-2008
I prefer www.crossloop.com. Is is absolutely dead easy to use and re-use.
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Mike said 11:34AM on 10-09-2008
How much does one have to pay Lee to forget about all the great free alternatives that don't have pop-up ads when writing an article?
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Lee Mathews said 11:37AM on 10-09-2008
I'm open to offers. Feel free to explain, though...
hugo Lynch said 12:03PM on 10-09-2008
I prefer solution like gotomypc or logmein where you dont need the end user interactions... it's a lot easier then asking them to tell you a confirmation number.
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Lee Mathews said 12:09PM on 10-09-2008
I dunno Hugo...I deal with some pretty un-smart people, and so far they've all been able to get a Teamviewer session running with me within about 30 seconds. After the first one, I can install it as a service, add it to my DB, and then I never have to ask them again.
How is it you get them to fire up LogMeIn with no instructions at all, ever?
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Jon said 12:52PM on 10-09-2008
Anyone know about remote help apps that can be run from a flash drive (thinking more the helper running from a flash drive as opposed to the helpee)?
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Lee Mathews said 12:52PM on 10-09-2008
Read point #1, Jon...TV has a portable download. ;-)
Jon said 2:04PM on 10-09-2008
Hmm. Reading is a good thing, isn't it? :)
I was also wondering if any of the apps mentioned by others had portable versions.
rayser said 6:28PM on 10-09-2008
I have to support Lee here (just a user of this Product not the developer :-):
this Program has never let me down when i tried to help my friends, whereas Crossloop choked on one or the other Firewall my friends were "using".
Furthermore it has deadeasy filetransfer and a presentation only mode and session recording features and the prettiest interface i have ever seen.
Honestly the only reason i didnt push any of the blog-authors of my favorite Blogs to post about this App is that i was afraid that as soon as more people use the free version they will charge for it :(.
So please ignore this article and my post and use only the other remote-tools out there.
thx rayser
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InfiniteSword said 8:37PM on 10-09-2008
This is an awesome tool, thanks for sharing!
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Andrew Donnelly said 5:44AM on 10-10-2008
Hi Lee,
Have you tried Mikogo for free online meetings and remote support? http://www.mikogo.com
Mikogo is a freeware program (available for everyone) that allows easy screen sharing with up to 10 participants attending and viewing your screen. The multiple participant function makes it great for Web presentations, online meetings, and group collaboration. You can also take remote keyboard and mouse control of another's screen during a screen sharing session.
Very easy to use - no configurations, no changes to network or firewall settings, no need to know IP addresses.
All features are for free, including switch presenter, remote control, application selection, file transfer, the Mikogo Skype Extra (for free calls with online meetings http://skype.mikogo.com) and the portable version.
Would you be interested in checking out Mikogo? Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if you would like to arrange a live demo.
Cheers,
Andrew
The Mikogo Team
andrew(at)mikogo.com
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rayser said 8:58AM on 10-10-2008
it does seem like a nice alternative i will surely check it out. and of course i would love a downloadsquad article about it ;-)
Andrew Donnelly said 3:35AM on 10-13-2008
Hi rayser, great to hear. My email address is above, so feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Mikogo.
Cheers, Andrew
Schwinn said 8:17AM on 10-10-2008
I've used UltraVNC and their "SingleClick" application - with it, you can create a "single click" application with your own branding and such. It's setup to remotely call your chosen system (I use a no-ip.org Dynamic DNS forward to my machine). That way, there is no authorization or such nonsense needed. Of course, YOU (the recipient) needs to be aware of your own NAT firewalls, but the end user simply runs the application, and you set your own Viewer to "Listen Mode" and they connect to you, through any firewall... and you then get an authorization popup.
I'll admit, it's not "easy" to setup, but if you're helping someone else with their computer, you probably should know how to do it... it's easy enough for a technically capable recipient.
The SC client takes up little space, doesn't install anything, and can be customized for multiple servers, etc, too... along with logos, etc. Not bad.
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Constantin said 11:30AM on 10-10-2008
Lee,
Many thanks for this wonderful post from TeamViewer in Germany. We really appreciate that you had a closer look at TeamViewer and such a positive impression remained.
I completely agree that the most important point for most of our users is that the software works no matter what proxy, firewall or NAT router is in between. But we also keep a high pace in implementing new useful features, not long ago a whiteboard feature, windows authentication and a remote update functionality. Of course for free;)
@rayser: TeamViewer will stay free for personal usage no matter how many users we'll have (at the moment 15 million), so please don't hesitate to spread the word...
Please feel free to contact me if any questions should remain.
Constantin
TeamViewer Germany
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Soop said 8:03PM on 10-10-2008
+1 to Lee for the TV article. I too am very impressed with it.
Lee, are you saying that you can have the customer module installed as a service so they are always available to control? If so, how does it handle the security side?
What TV cannot do for me and logmein (I am big logmein fan) can, is keep the list of managed PCs available online. I use this a great deal as I have multiple sites and PCs I use to offer support from.
Or have I missed that feature too! :)
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Dave said 1:42AM on 10-13-2008
What is the significant difference between this and Logmein?
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blogward said 5:50PM on 10-13-2008
I totally agree with Lee's endorsement - TV works easily every time. If it was shareware I'd pay gladly.
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