Remote Access
Remote Access
I am looking for a portable remote access server (vnc, nx, whatever). I know that ShowMyPC is listed here but I really think it shouldn't be. It is highly crippled (1 hr session limit, etc.) and it writes to the registry. A to way install cygwin portably might be another approach.
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Ameri-CAIN
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
- Location: Orange County, California
TightVNC is an option you left out, but ShowMyPC seems to be a bit faster performance wise. It is very difficult to recommend an application without knowing what you are trying to accomplish. If you are supposed to be running a remote server, you probably have access to install one in which case you have many more high(er) performing options to choose from. If you will be connecting to the same machine often (For more than an hour at a time), it makes since to install the remote server service locally, and configure it to auto start. Maybe you have a special scenario that prevents this? Just asking, because a local install is the most failsafe and stable way to run a remote server service.
All very true and thanks for the good advice. You are correct in that I am after a somewhat different scenario. I didn't find a portable version of TightVNC but I will look again. One of the things that bugs me is that ShowMyPC is just doing the VNC/SSH thing and in virtual terms sticking their nose in the middle of it to no benefit except their pocketbook.
I would like to articulate a larger dream here though. It is that portability will become the norm and there will be no local installs and no OS. USB 3.0 is on the immediate horizon with a transfer speed of 4.8gb. The solid-state drives will be 100gb or more and the size of a dime (Moore's Law). The computer can become a primitive unversal socket dealing solely with the machine hareware. It's probably only a decade or so away I hope. The big boys have caught the dream. Look at VMware, the hottest software company on the the planet. They are starting Thinstall and think they can get $5000 a whack for it. Microsoft buys Sandisk and the list goes on. They are positioning themselves, getting ready.
I would like to articulate a larger dream here though. It is that portability will become the norm and there will be no local installs and no OS. USB 3.0 is on the immediate horizon with a transfer speed of 4.8gb. The solid-state drives will be 100gb or more and the size of a dime (Moore's Law). The computer can become a primitive unversal socket dealing solely with the machine hareware. It's probably only a decade or so away I hope. The big boys have caught the dream. Look at VMware, the hottest software company on the the planet. They are starting Thinstall and think they can get $5000 a whack for it. Microsoft buys Sandisk and the list goes on. They are positioning themselves, getting ready.
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Ameri-CAIN
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
- Location: Orange County, California
lajjal (nice palindrome) said:
http://www.tightvnc.com/download.html
WinVNC.exe is the server executable, and obviously, vncviewer.exe is the Viewer executable you would run from another computer to connect to the server with.
Now, is this stealth? No, it adds configuration info in the registry, but it does not require an install to run. The nature of the program is such that if you need it, you need it. I preferred ShowMyPC over this only because ShowMyPC is Zero configuration. If you want to use TightVNC across the internet, you should enable "port forwarding" in your router's configuration to the computer running WinVNC.exe. Port forwarding allows passing external connections to computers in the internal network. Almost all routers support this type of redirection.
For example, to access TightVNC server running on default ports, a router can be configured so that TCP connections to ports 5900 and 5800 would be passed to the same ports of a particular machine with a specified private IP address (typically 192.168.x.x). If you are trying to connect to home from work, this is fairly easy, but if you want to connect to work from home, I doubt your network admin will be willing to set this up for you.
Once again I have no idea what you are trying to accomplish so it makes it difficult to help give you a viable solution. ShowMyPC seems to be in a class by itself being both portable, and creating a secure tunnel that gets around most firewalls which allows you to connect across the internet without all the above mentioned configuration. There are other methods too. Reverse Tunnels, Proxy Servers, etc. but none that I know of that are portable without some level of knowledge for configuration.
Second Link under Windows. "Complete set of executables, no installer"I didn't find a portable version of TightVNC but I will look again.
http://www.tightvnc.com/download.html
WinVNC.exe is the server executable, and obviously, vncviewer.exe is the Viewer executable you would run from another computer to connect to the server with.
Now, is this stealth? No, it adds configuration info in the registry, but it does not require an install to run. The nature of the program is such that if you need it, you need it. I preferred ShowMyPC over this only because ShowMyPC is Zero configuration. If you want to use TightVNC across the internet, you should enable "port forwarding" in your router's configuration to the computer running WinVNC.exe. Port forwarding allows passing external connections to computers in the internal network. Almost all routers support this type of redirection.
For example, to access TightVNC server running on default ports, a router can be configured so that TCP connections to ports 5900 and 5800 would be passed to the same ports of a particular machine with a specified private IP address (typically 192.168.x.x). If you are trying to connect to home from work, this is fairly easy, but if you want to connect to work from home, I doubt your network admin will be willing to set this up for you.
Once again I have no idea what you are trying to accomplish so it makes it difficult to help give you a viable solution. ShowMyPC seems to be in a class by itself being both portable, and creating a secure tunnel that gets around most firewalls which allows you to connect across the internet without all the above mentioned configuration. There are other methods too. Reverse Tunnels, Proxy Servers, etc. but none that I know of that are portable without some level of knowledge for configuration.
Portable Remote Access
FYI - Teamviewer (which I have been using for sometime now) is free for non-commercial use.
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Ameri-CAIN
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
- Location: Orange County, California
You know, I just tried Team Viewer. I looked at it once before, but I never got past the first screen of the setup, because I assumed it was trying to install the Program to the Local PC. If you follow the directions it allows you to start TeamViewer without installing. Nice. I'll have to play with this and see how good it is. It does have a nag screen when you close it, but if the Pro's outweigh the cons....
I can't see what you guys are looking at. The portable version is $1399.
http://www.teamviewer.com/licensing/index.aspx
http://www.teamviewer.com/licensing/index.aspx
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alanbcohen
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:40 pm
You are going too deep in the site. On the right side of the page at:lajjal wrote:I can't see what you guys are looking at. The portable version is $1399.
http://www.teamviewer.com/licensing/index.aspx
http://www.teamviewer.com
You will find the following paragraph:
"
Great software - great pricing
free for non-commercial, personal use
With more than 7.000.000 users TeamViewer is one of the biggest providers on the market, which allows us to keep our pricing very, very low - please check out our open and fair pricing structure.
TeamViewer is completely free for non-commercial, personal use! "
Portable Remote Access
Goto the download tab ... there it tells you that you can download for free!
"TeamViewer is absolutely FREE for personal, non-commercial use - just download and start!"
"TeamViewer is absolutely FREE for personal, non-commercial use - just download and start!"
Remote Access
Not sure what you are referring too. Just download the program and use. You have two options: install or use as portable (second option). Just try it and see. 
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Ameri-CAIN
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
- Location: Orange County, California
LeonardB is absolutely correct! Download the full version. The file is named "TeamViewer_Setup.exe". The file name is misleading. When you open it you will get a screen that says TeamViewer 3 Setup.
Click Next
Accept License Terms and Click Next
Select "Start without installation" Radio button, Click Next
BAM! Portable! I can clearly see that you can license it for $1399 and get a "Portable" version (which who knows how they have portable defined). But this again goes back to the definition of portability. Can you run the version you download from a USB Disk or Thumbdrive? I am doing it right now. When you run it with out install it does dump 28 entries in the reg, which it graciously leaves behind on exit, but it seems minimal for an app that does what it does.
I haven't used it long enough to ascertain whether or not any of its functionalities drop off after a certain time frame. It does give you a Nag screen when closing it after launching without install, but the website clearly states that "TeamViewer is absolutely FREE for personal, non-commercial use - just download and start!" It may be in regards to a local installation, but I don't know.
Anyone been using it "portably" for at least 30 Days? Kept a connection opened for long periods of time? etc. Inquiring minds want to know!
Click Next
Accept License Terms and Click Next
Select "Start without installation" Radio button, Click Next
BAM! Portable! I can clearly see that you can license it for $1399 and get a "Portable" version (which who knows how they have portable defined). But this again goes back to the definition of portability. Can you run the version you download from a USB Disk or Thumbdrive? I am doing it right now. When you run it with out install it does dump 28 entries in the reg, which it graciously leaves behind on exit, but it seems minimal for an app that does what it does.
I haven't used it long enough to ascertain whether or not any of its functionalities drop off after a certain time frame. It does give you a Nag screen when closing it after launching without install, but the website clearly states that "TeamViewer is absolutely FREE for personal, non-commercial use - just download and start!" It may be in regards to a local installation, but I don't know.
Anyone been using it "portably" for at least 30 Days? Kept a connection opened for long periods of time? etc. Inquiring minds want to know!