Aerospace Software Ltd.

MS Windows Internet Remote Control Helpdesk

MS Windows machines are rather fragile little darlings and they break easily. Fixing a Windows machine is most frustrating, since it will inevitably develop the same problem again in the not too distant future. This continual need for tender loving care is a special personality feature that MS builds into all their products, in order to create a feeling of empathy... ;)

If you want to have a robust system that will run for years without trouble, then you need to get a UNIX machine and have to buy an Apple Mac or get a Linux system from Dell or HP, or ask me to build/buy one for you. Sorry, I could not resist the shameless plug for Linux.

That being said, your much beloved little MS Windows PC is doing something weird and you need to get it fixed so that you can go about your business and make some money to pay me for fixing your PC...

Fortunately, the ever faster internet provides a way to help you by using a customized VNC program, without me having to visit your place, provided of course that we are on the same planet and your zombie PC is still mostly functional. (Off planet service can be arranged, but it will be rather slow and is limited to Galactic Standard English please).

Internet Remote Control Helpdesk Setup

In order to use the internet Helpdesk system you need to do three things:

Request help and agree on a specific time of day, since I have to be here waiting for you to connect. Phone: 1.403.852-5545
Download two files to your Windows computer and save both of them in the same place, eg. the Desktop. (Right-click and Save-as):
- Remote control program: helpdesk.exe
- Configuration file: settings.ini
At the agreed time, double click the program 'helpdesk.exe' and it will connect back to my system - or that is the idea anyway. You may have to click an 'Allow this connection' warning from your firewall program.

Usually, this works really well, provided that your internet connection is reasonably speedy and most nowadays are.

How it Works

The Virtual Network Computing (VNC) program runs on your PC and creates an outgoing connection to a viewer on my system. If all goes well, we will share control over your PC and I can try to fix it, while you can view exactly what I am doing. During this process, I usually start up Notepad (a simple text editor) and then we can talk to each other by typing in the Notepad window.

The advantage of VNC remote control is that I can see exactly what the problem is, while you can learn from the experience. You can see what I do and next time, you may be able to fix it yourself, or avoid getting into trouble in the first place.

When we are done and your PC is zooming along again, then you can simply quit the VNC program (Right click on the ugly 'V' icon at the bottom right of your screen) and the connection will be broken.

Bottom Line

Helpdesk service costs $45 per 30 minutes and if I cannot resolve the problem, it costs nothing - as simple as that.

Tin-foil Hat Paranoia

This process is reasonably secure, since you initiate and control the outgoing connection, which will only connect to my system and you can terminate it at any time. Hackers cannot use this method to connect to your system, since your PC won't accept incoming connections. You can simply delete the program if you don't want it anymore since it doesn't install any insidious tentacles on your machine.

Have fun!
Herman