One of the things tech support people need to do from time to time is ‘remote’ in to a customer’s PC to help troubleshoot a problem. This used to work fairly well using join.me by LogMeIn. Recently though, it seems LogMeIn has been using the ‘free’ join.me app to upsell users into the paid LogMeIn product. This becomes especially annoying when trying to support a customer but not being able to load the free product anymore to do so.
So, while searching for an alternative, I stumbled on Google’s Chrome Remote Desktop. Once enabled, Google’s product works much like join.me with one interesting twist, which I’ll get to in a moment. But first, Google’s product has one important dependency, which of course is Chrome – their browser. The Chrome browser must be installed for all this to work.
Referencing this link: Chrome Remote Desktop app we’ll describe what Google’s remote desktop is about, how to install it, and how it works.
So what is it?
Chrome Remote Desktop allows you to set up your computer for secure remote access. This includes setting up your computer so that you can access it later from another machine; or you can also use the app to let a friend remotely access your computer temporarily, perfect for times when you need help solving a computer problem.
How do I add it to Chrome, once the Chrome browser has been installed?
Install the Chrome Remote Desktop app on every computer you want to access remotely and every computer you’d like to connect from.
- Visit the Chrome Remote Desktop app page in the Chrome Web Store.
- Click Add to Chrome to install the app.
- When the confirmation dialog appears, click Add.
Once the app has been added, a new tab will open and the app’s icon will appear in the Apps section of the page. If you’re using a ChromeBook, you can find the app in the apps list.
Sharing your PC with someone else.
- Open a new tab in Chrome by clicking the icon at the top of your browser window.
- Click the icon in the Apps section to open the Chrome Remote Desktop app.
- If the Get Started button appears in the “Remote Assistance” box, click it to see Remote Assistance options.
- Click the Share button.
- A unique access code will be generated for each sharing session. Send this code to the person you’d like to share your computer with. For security reasons, we recommend reading this code aloud to him or her.
Once your friend enters the access code, the sharing session will begin and he or she will be able to see your computer screen. You can click Stop sharing or press Ctrl+Alt+Esc (Mac: Opt-Ctrl-Esc) at anytime to end the session. (Screen sharing functionality isn’t available for the ChromeBook at this time.)
When you use the app to share your computer with someone, that person will see your email address and have full control of your computer, including access to your applications, files, emails, documents and history. Share with caution. Also, if access to your PC will continue for a while, you’ll want to stand by because the Remote Desktop sharing session will time out and can be extended only by the person sharing their PC with another. The person accessing your PC remotely cannot extend the session. This is the ‘twist’ I mentioned above. Other remote access products I’ve used don’t do this, but I think it’s a good ‘feature’ once you understand how it works.
Access a computer that has been shared with you
- Open a new tab in Chrome by clicking the icon at the top of your browser window. Click the apps list button in the launcher if you’re using a Chrome device. (Windows 8 users can only access a shared computer on the Desktop mode.)
- Click the icon to open the Chrome Remote Desktop app.
- If the Get Started button appears in the “Remote Assistance” box, click it to see Remote Assistance options.
- Click the Access button.
- Enter the access code provided by your friend.
- Click Connect.
Also provided at the Chrome Remote Desktop app link are instructions to enable and use Remote Desktop to access to your own PC.
And for ChromeBook users, here’s another interesting article:
