Free screen-sharing utility?

I'm looking for a free program that will allow me to connect to another computer and take control of its mouse and keyboard, while letting the user on the other end see what I am doing. An integrated chat feature would be nice so I could talk to the user of the computer I'm controlling, but not necessary.

Long story short, my girlfriend is getting a laptop to go away to college this September, and not to be mean, but she's not the most experienced at diagnosing computer issues. Mind you, the last computer she used was an eMachines with Windows 98.

So, I want to be able to use a screen-sharing utility like this to show her around Windows Vista, and help her out with software/driver issues.

Any suggestions on what would work? If it's absolutely necessary, I could justify spending up to $20 on this, but free software is, of course, preferable.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Use Remote Assistance. Built into all computers with Windows Vista and XP.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457004.aspx

 

LogMeIn is good. Try out the free version of LogMeIn Hamachi. It allows you to control the other computer exactly as you describe. However, I'm unsure if a chat program is available. I was always on the phone with people when using it.

 

Remote desktop/Remote assistance/live mesh (all use the same protocal)

I recommend remote desktop protocal over anything else. It's the fastest solution.

 

RemoteDesktop built into Windows sometimes doens't want too... router, modem, port settigs whatever, even though its activated on both computers - I faced that problem when my grandfather got internet access - I persuaded him to get it.

The solution was TeamViever - free for personal use.
You get full control over the computer at the other end - except Kaspersky - that one doesn't like to remote controlled

I used that to insta Windows Updates, Instal SP3, IE8 - do a bit of maintenance, show him how to do certain things - use the webbrowser.

TeamViewer does include a chat client, but its writing only - no voice over IP - you'll need another client for that.

And its installation free - at least for the peson recieveing assistance, but I think it should work without installation for the person helping too.

Have a look here:
http://www.teamviewer.com

(Oh, and this may soud like an add, but it isn't it just worked great for me and my grandfather)

 

Haha, I didn't know Vista actually included this. And this works with Vista Home Premium, not just Business or Ultimate?

Thanks for the suggestions, I will certainly keep these in mind if Vista's own remote assistance doesn't work. Rep for everyone!

 

LogMeIn is great. I've used it on my sister's computer before when she broke some stuff. It is a great tool that requires no hassle.

 

Thank you

Remote Assistance in Vista - I think I've read that only Business, Enterprise & Ultimate can give assistance.
But don't quote me on that...

Any version can recieve assistance.

 

Yikes, I'm using Home Premium. Time to look at third parties.

 

I use both LogMeIn and UltraVNC.

UltraVNC is great if you have the ability to route direct to her laptop, since it supports file transfers, plus the ability to lock the keyboard so the user can't try moving the mouse while you're accomplishing something. It also has two-way chat, and if you install the included video hook driver, a fairly low CPU usage.

If you have issues getting around a firewall or some other routing problem, LogMeIn rocks. The free version doesn't do file transfers, but I have a machine set up at home to FTP serve files if necessary, and it does have cut-and-paste support, so you can copy a URL from your own web browser and paste it into the remote browser to easily navigate to download links for drivers, apps, etc. hosted on others' websites. Best to install this before she leaves, because instructing someone on installing the free version is kind of a pain; LogMeIn has a paid-for option called LogMeIn-Reach that does invites.

 

I've used loginmein, and a couple of others, if you are wanting to connect to a friends/clients computer the best tool would be "teamviewer".

Code:

[url]http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx[/url]

It's free and easy to use.

 

Teamviewer is good, and another good one is CROSSLOOP. It uses a central server and clients to set up the connection so it can work around firewalls that RDP and ultravnc cannot without additional configuration.

I find crossloop to be faster than teamviewer most of the time, especially on slower machines, but crossloop does toss up a bunch of windows at the end of a session

No chat, though. I just use the phone

 

I second crossloop, the easiest for my family of n00bs to deal with back at home while i was away. No need for them to fool with the firewall or anything like that, and I knew that it would work on my uni's pretty restricted network.

 

Remote assistance is the way to go. While Remote desktop may have issues navigating past NAT, Remote Assistence DOESN'T.

It is simple to use.

 

That is untrue, at least in a couple of cases.

LIve mesh use a central server as well and it can work around firewall/proxy/routers..etc and it use RDP protocal. It's basically 1 click process and it doesn't even require a client side response, eg. no 16 digit access code like in crossloop.

 

I would also suggest you TeamViwer, I have use it and just the best!,
Clean and simple

 

Wish that were true, but I have had trouble with remote assistance getting through firewalls on more than one occassion--that's what led me to try other solutions.

I have not tried Live Mesh for this, but Live Mesh is more of a remote desktop solution (ie, I want to access my home computer from the road) than a desktop sharing solution (ie, someone wants me to see a problem they are having)

Yes, I can see how this would work, too, but that's not really its intended purpose

 

I just used both WebEx and Microsoft Connect to share desktops with two developers for some meetings last night. Microsoft Connect was really easy to use and free. Just install it, log into your Live ID, and send a request over email to whoever you want to share screens with.

Though I'm sure this doesn't work with Macs haha...

 

Luckily it doesn't need to work with Macs; we'll be using this from one Vista notebook to another.

Once again, thank you all for your suggestions. I've got a nice collection of Plan B's to fall back on.

 

Firewalls and NATs are two different issues. But I digress.

I've got to try the Live Mesh solution sometime.

 

Live Mesh, so you won't have to worry about IPs and the like...

 

microsoft sharedview

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BA-755E-4039-9038-63005EE9D33A&displaylang=en