Have you heard about a remote access software called ShowMyPC? No? Perhaps you’ve heard of Crossloop and TeamViewer? Well, they all share the same similarities which allows you to connect to another computer at a remote location dead easy without port forwarding configuration or finding out what is the IP address. The only thing that the 2 person involved in the remote access is to know the secret code in order to authorize the connection.
AMMYY remote access
This kind of remote access software are meant for providing computer support to another person and not to connect to your home computer. Reason is there must always be another person over the other end to provide the password or allow the connection before it can connect. Just like LogMeIn Free, it is a very good remote access and desktop control software but for providing support, LogMeIn Rescue would be a more suitable tool.

Recently I discovered another free software called Ammyy Admin that can be used to easily connect to another remote computer to provide computer support without port forwarding and knowing the IP address of the other computer.

Ammyy Admin is a reliable and friendly tool for remote computer access. You can provide remote assistance, remote administration or remote teaching for your clients or employees regardless of their location. Ammyy Admin connects remote computers within seconds without any installation or configuration. You can view or control (using your keyboard and mouse) any applications running on the remote computers.

To get remotely access another computer, both end needs to download and run AMMY Admin. The computer that will be controlled is called the Client and the person who is remotely controlling another computer is called the Operator. The client will need to make sure that the Client tab is selected and then click the Start button.
AMMYY Client
If this is the first time that the client is using AMMYY Admin, it will automatically download a small 121KB target.zip file and drop the extracted target.dll in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AMMYY. Then the client will need to give the operator the 4 digit ID.

The operator will then make sure that he is at the Operator tab, enter the client ID that he just received from the client and click Connect.
AMMYY Operator
If this is the first time that the Operator is connecting to a client, AMMYY Admin will automatically download 125KB viewer.zip file and drop the extracted viewer.dll in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AMMYY.

Before the operator gets to see and control the client’s computer, the client will have to authorize the connection. It will show the operator ID that is connecting and the client has the power to enable/disable access to the file system and keyboard & mouse. If the client wants to do a demonstration or presentation to the operator, the client can just show the screen without allowing the operator to control the keyboard and mouse. Simply uncheck all the boxes and click Accept.
AMMYY Authorize

Once accepted, the operator can now control the remote computer. I think that AMMYY Admin uses VNC because the remote control interface and settings looked exactly like the open source VNC program.
AMMYY connected

Unlike Crossloop, Ammyy Admin can be used to administrate unattended servers or computers. Like I mentioned earlier, usually these kind of remote tools requires another person on the other end to accept or allow the remote connection but Ammy Admin has the capability to auto accept connection. ShowMyPC has this feature but it charges $5 per month for 1 PC. TeamViewer also has this feature and it is free.

Here’s an easy tip to get a faster and smoother remote connection. Even if you have a high-speed internet connection given by your ISP faster than 1024Kb, it’d be better if you select Low-Speed < 256 Kb on the operator tab. The quality of the graphics will be lower but at least you'll get a smoother remote control experience. Ammyy Admin might not be the best remote computer access software but it's always good to have another alternative when Crossloop, TeamViewer and ShowMyPC doesn't work on the client's computer. AMMYY Admin is free and portable.

[ Download AMMY Admin ]

[tags]ammy, admin, remote, assistance, help[/tags]