Remote desktop software – Should I use Windows 11 or 3rd party software?

Topic

New Reply

I’d like to be able to set up my friend’s new Windows 11 pc with remote desktop so that I can provide PC assistance remotely from my home. I am still running Windows 10 on my machine. I can’t upgrade to Windows 11 without buying a new PC and I don’t plan on doing this at this stage.

I have no experience of using remote desktop software before. I know Windows 11 Professional has remote desktop. Is this very good? Or is there better and/or easier to use third party software? My preference is for it to be free.

Reply | Quote

Replies

We have articles: Remote Desktop

If you can’t read the articles, upgrade to a paid membership, cheap and worthwhile.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Thanks Paul for the link to the newsletter article. I’m now a happily paid up member.

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Paul T

Reply | Quote

Bumblebee,

I’d recommend you use the Quick Assist app builtin to windows and for get about remote desktop.

Quick Assist is easy to use and requires no setup. I use it all the time to help people and it works great. The only thing it lacks IMHO is file transfer, but I handle that via my OneDrive.

I usually have the person on the other end on the phone so we can talk through what I am doing and I can have them do things like key combinations that won’t transfer.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

bumblebee

Reply | Quote

Thank you RG.

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this app before! It sounds awesome. Thanks for enlightening me. Do both the ‘helper’ and ‘helpee’ need to have Microsoft Accounts for this to work? Neither of us currently have Microsoft Accounts.

 

Reply | Quote

Doesn’t appear so, just the 6 digit code supplied when you set up a connection.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

My family and I used TeamViewer for years. It’s free for personal use. Unfortunately the company has become increasingly suspicious that any personal use is really commercial use… and has been cutting off access.

I used to email the company about this and it would restore access within a couple of days. When it removed its support contact details from its website and didn’t bother acknowledging my last (very polite) email after removing access yet again… I just gave up on it and now won’t even provide a link to it.

I now use AnyDesk. It is also free for personal use. My brother and I have been using it for over a year with no issues. It doesn’t look quite as polished as TeamViewer but does remote support just as well… and includes file transfer.

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

I’ve been using the free version of Anydesk for about 4 years.  Teamviewer before that.

Chrome // Google has a free remote desktop desktop feature, but I’ve never tried it.  It seems rather limited.

https://remotedesktop.google.com/

Desktop Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, CPU: Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake-X 8-Core 3.6 GHz, RAM: 32GB, GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB. Display: Four 27" 1080p screens 2 over 2 quad.

Reply | Quote

Thumbs up for AnyDesk Free

Reply | Quote

Thanks Rick. Interesting to hear your experience of TeamViewer. I’ll take a look at AnyDesk.

 

Reply | Quote

TechTango wrote:

I’ve been using the free version of Anydesk for about 4 years.  Teamviewer before that.

Chrome // Google has a free remote desktop desktop feature, but I’ve never tried it.  It seems rather limited.

https://remotedesktop.google.com/

 

Chrome Remote Desktop is FANTASTIC and not very limited at all. I keep it running on ny computers in my office for immediate access on ny phones all the time.

 

I highly recommend it.

2 users thanked author for this post.

bumblebee, TechTango

Reply | Quote

bumblebee wrote:

I’d like to be able to set up my friend’s new Windows 11 pc with remote desktop so that I can provide PC assistance remotely from my home.

I use Remote Desktop. Setup is simple, and it is quite capable. The PC to which you wish to Remote into must be running Windows Pro.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

bumblebee

Reply | Quote