Single-click VNC for remote support

So you’re sitting at home, relaxing, watching the new HD version of Tron, when it happens. A relative, who you only hear from when they need their computer fixed, calls explaining how weird things are happening after they captured the cute bunny rabbit that was hopping around on an advertisement. Do you get up, put some pants on, and go across town to fix it? Or maybe you try to talk them through it, until they ask what this start button is you keep talking about. You could pay for some really good online tools such as logmein, goto meeting, or a number of others. Or, you could try one of the best unknown tools around. Single-click VNC. It was created by the writers of UltraVNC, so you know it is a great product.

So what is it and how does it work? It is a self extracting, compressed, specialized version of the VNC server. It’s actually a reverse server. It doesn’t wait for you to connect; it actually goes looking for you. As with any VNC setup, there are some tricks to getting it to work, mainly just NATing the correct port to your PC. Usually 5900, but you can change it in the setup script.

There are a few things you’re gonna need for the setup. First, you’ll need to download the custom.zip file from http://www.uvnc.com/pchelpware/create/index.html. Unzip the file and open the helpdesk.txt. Now, there are detailed instructions of how to edit this file to make it your own. I’m just going to cover the important parts. Then you’ll need to install the UltraVNC package. Doesn’t have to be UltraVNC, but it’s the one I prefer.

Helpdesk.txt (snippet)

[HOST]

My computer name

-connect IP_Address:PORT –noregistry

Second line is the name that appears in the list. You can have several hosts. The next line tells the IP address and port number to connect to. This can be difficult if you have a dynamic IP instead of a static. Not to worry tho, dynamic IP addresses rarely change these days. Plus, you can always sign up for an account at dyndns.com. This will give you a DNS name instead of an IP address. Just remember to update your DNS name with the appropriate IP address every week or so.

Here is an example of what mine looks like.

[HOST]

Terry’s PC

-connect *edited*:5900 –noregistry

This is all you need to change to get a working setup. Read the documentation on the webpage! There are some options, such as adding encryption.

Now we need to create the self extracting executable. Go to the creator website here: http://www.uvnc.com/pchelpware/creator/index.html. Upload the file and in a few seconds you will have a download. This file needs to be on the computer you want to control. Then all the user has to do is double-click it to open it, then double-click your name (or whatever you chose) in the list box.

On your end, you’ll need to start the VNC viewer in listening mode in order to accept the connection. If you installed UltraVNC, all you need to do is open the start menu folder for UltraVNC and start the viewer in listener mode. But it also works if you download just the viewer. To start the viewer in listener mode, use the command line option -listen.

If everything goes right, you should see the client computer’s desktop. You can even transfer files!