Quinnect: Self-Hosted and Hosted Remote Support Software

[conrad78]

Wait what, I thought you had a reboot into safe mode feature. "bcdedit /set safeboot Network" would make all future reboots go into safe mode would it not? Did you not tell us a while back that it was going to be in the next version which would have been 5.2?

The ability for the Host to start in SafeMode, yes. It was implemented.

The ability to run the safe mode reboot right from the Power Control window - not yet. We are working on it.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

The ability for the Host to start in SafeMode, yes. It was implemented.

The ability to run the safe mode reboot right from the Power Control window - not yet. We are working on it.

Conrad, you stated this 6 months ago "Reboot-into-Safe-Mode is already implemented and will be available in the nearest update."

When people mentioned being more like teamviewer we didnt mean support wise! (cause it takes them far too long to fix anything)

 

[conrad78]

Conrad, you stated this 6 months ago "Reboot-into-Safe-Mode is already implemented and will be available in the nearest update."

When people mentioned being more like teamviewer we didnt mean support wise! (cause it takes them far too long to fix anything)

Yes, but http://www.remoteutilities.com/product/version_history.php

As you can see, there were a lot more important things to fix/improve/release than the Safe Mode reboot for these six months.

Sorry, I know that this feature is very important for you. But so far it's you alone who asked us about it, no kidding And yet, we implemented it to the extent we could possibly do given other very important priorities. And I promise you we'll implement this feature to its fullest, so that instead of two modes and four clicks you would do it with one mode and two clicks, as it seems that you have to use the Safe Mode reboot really often. )

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Yes, but http://www.remoteutilities.com/product/version_history.php

As you can see, there were a lot more important things to fix/improve/release than the Safe Mode reboot for these six months.

Sorry, I know that this feature is very important for you. But so far it's you alone who asked us about it, no kidding And yet, we implemented it to the extent we could possibly do given other very important priorities. And I promise you we'll implement this feature to its fullest, so that instead of two modes and four clicks you would do it with one mode and two clicks, as it seems that you have to use the Safe Mode reboot really often. )

Did you just say I am the only person to ask for a reboot into safe mode feature? I know that can't be true...and for the record I actually use safe mode less than most techs. This is one of the most in demand features for remote support take a look at your competitors almost all have reboot into safemode and reconnect features.

One thing I noticed just now is that enter should send chat text, if user closes chat window and I type something then the chat window should come up. Thats kind of an ugly chat window.

 

[conrad78]

One thing I noticed just now is that enter should send chat text, if user closes chat window and I type something then the chat window should come up.

If the user closes chat window, the chat session is closed. Or did you mean "minimize" instead of close?

Thats kind of an ugly chat window.

Please, let us know what interface tweaks we can do to make it less "ugly". Thanks!

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

If the user closes chat window, the chat session is closed. Or did you mean "minimize" instead of close?



Please, let us know what interface tweaks we can do to make it less "ugly". Thanks!

(all testing so far has been done with the agent)

User shouldn't get to make that choice for me. If they close it and I am still typing I am going to initialize the chat again anyway so might as well make any chat text sent reopen the window with the text.

Well at first I didnt understand the point of having that whole left side until I just tested multiple clients at the same time. It would be pretty rare for me to want customers to be able to see each others chats. How about cut off the left side, lose the whole combined chat thing or maybe put that as a separate option called group chat or conference chat. Instead of the Tab saying General perhaps put the clients username on there (with the option to click tab and change name to better keep track, maybe an option to use "name of connection" for tab name). If I have multiple chats going it would work like a popular IM client with the tab blinking maybe the option to have sounds when they send a message. Mousing over tab should show the ID and "name of connection" to avoid any potential confusion. Please don't allow the chat to steal my cursor focus though I don't like that feature as it interrupts my typing.

Another thing I noticed is some how teamviewer doesnt prompt the windows firewall....not sure how that works to be honest. Is it possible to make the Agent not prompt it as well?

I noticed it was blazing fast on my VM tests like I could watch youtube videos in full fps (cant do that with teamviewer)., over the internet tests using the default ID server seemed slower than teamviewer but when I hosted the ID server seemed about the same as teamviewer. the remote host and me are both on a 50mb/5mb connection but then again hes running dual monitors at 1080p res so maybe thats why it wasnt near as fast. Scratch that tried it with a single monitor at lower res and it still wasnt near as fast as it was in my own VM. I set the slider to FPS and set FPS to 25 but that didnt seem to have an effect. Any way for me to achieve that blazing speed over the web?

I could not get the audio capture to work though. (scratch that, it works but its picking up the users microphone instead of windows audio....or was that my own microphone hard to say since I was using a VM)

When I double click the Usoris viewer system tray icon, the window needs to come up (quickly) and be focused no matter what. It seems unreliable but maybe thats cause im using the portable version.

Edit: When doing the customization for the Agent i had to do it all over again because it would not request admin access. Instead I had to close it all out and run the viewer as administrator. A minor annoyance but thought worth mentioning.

Edit2: Customized QAgent is not digitally signed, would you guys be willing to sign it for your customers? (this is important because of how browsers are treating unknown unsigned files)

Edit3: The email warning dialog that comes up on the customized QAgent...that would probably scare a customer. I don't plan to use that (I don't think it even worked). One thing that might be neat is if you can get some communication going between Quinnect Server (the one im running local and viewer) so that when they open the QAgent and get an ID from the local Quinnect server I get notified and can easily connect to it.

Edit4: I tried the customized agent but then it prompted me for license, then I went back to the normal agent and now its still asking me for license so I guess I cant use the software anymore. I noticed that even if I choose "Keep Blocking" for the windows firewall I can still connect to QAgent so not sure why its asking me in the first place?

 

[conrad78]

(all testing so far has been done with the agent)
User shouldn't get to make that choice for me. If they close it and I am still typing I am going to initialize the chat again anyway so might as well make any chat text sent reopen the window with the text.

That's a good suggestion, albeit we always try to give more control to the user. What if they indeed want to close the chat?

Well at first I didnt understand the point of having that whole left side until I just tested multiple clients at the same time. It would be pretty rare for me to want customers to be able to see each others chats. How about cut off the left side, lose the whole combined chat thing or maybe put that as a separate option called group chat or conference chat. Instead of the Tab saying General perhaps put the clients username on there (with the option to click tab and change name to better keep track, maybe an option to use "name of connection" for tab name).

Click on a client in the left pane - a private chat with that client will start. The clients won't see each other's chats so long as you write to the private chats, not to the #general one.

If I have multiple chats going it would work like a popular IM client with the tab blinking maybe the option to have sounds when they send a message. Mousing over tab should show the ID and "name of connection" to avoid any potential confusion.

When a new message arrives, the chat icon starts blinking in the system tray. As for mousing over and sounds - I agree, we'll add that to the wishlist.

Please don't allow the chat to steal my cursor focus though I don't like that feature as it interrupts my typing.

Can you please elaborate on this.

Another thing I noticed is some how teamviewer doesnt prompt the windows firewall....not sure how that works to be honest. Is it possible to make the Agent not prompt it as well?

When you install the Host, Windows firewall will not prompt you because there's an option during installation - "Integrate with Windows firewall". This feature is not available for the Agent.

I noticed it was blazing fast on my VM tests like I could watch youtube videos in full fps (cant do that with teamviewer)., over the internet tests using the default ID server seemed slower than teamviewer but when I hosted the ID server seemed about the same as teamviewer. the remote host and me are both on a 50mb/5mb connection but then again hes running dual monitors at 1080p res so maybe thats why it wasnt near as fast. Scratch that tried it with a single monitor at lower res and it still wasnt near as fast as it was in my own VM. I set the slider to FPS and set FPS to 25 but that didnt seem to have an effect. Any way for me to achieve that blazing speed over the web?

When you compare speed/performance between products, make sure that you compare apples to apples. For example, the default color depth setting can be different in different programs (some programs has Auto by default). Quinnect has 16-bit enabled by default and no 'auto' setting. Also, some programs disable other graphical features/settings by default: text anti-aliasing, windows animation etc.

In other words, if you want to compare speed/performance, apart from using the same machines and Internet connection, which is obvious, also manually set both programs to the same color-depth quality, say True Color (24 bit). And also make sure that other parameters are identical.

I could not get the audio capture to work though. (scratch that, it works but its picking up the users microphone instead of windows audio....or was that my own microphone hard to say since I was using a VM)

http://www.remoteutilities.com/support/forums/forum1/topic66/

When I double click the Usoris viewer system tray icon, the window needs to come up (quickly) and be focused no matter what. It seems unreliable but maybe thats cause im using the portable version.

By default Viewer is invoked from tray with a single click. You can change this behavior in the Viewer options:

Edit: When doing the customization for the Agent i had to do it all over again because it would not request admin access. Instead I had to close it all out and run the viewer as administrator. A minor annoyance but thought worth mentioning.

Yes, even if you're using an administrator account it's better to launch the Viewer by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator", some idiosyncrasy of Windows MSI configuration process. But, we were going to make online Agent configurator soon anyway.

Edit2: Customized QAgent is not digitally signed, would you guys be willing to sign it for your customers? (this is important because of how browsers are treating unknown unsigned files)

Sorry, there's nothing we can do about it. The digital signature (Code Signing Certificate) is issued to a specific company. We are prohibited to use the signature to sign executable files generated by other companies (or individuals for that matter). I'm afraid you will have to purchase your own code signing certificate, issued to your company name.

Edit3: The email warning dialog that comes up on the customized QAgent...that would probably scare a customer. I don't plan to use that (I don't think it even worked).

Why do you think it didn't work? Did you try to use it and didn't receive an e-mail message? Please, elaborate.

The email dialog has a purpose - to notify the user that someone is about to receive the ID and password and get access to their PC. If there was no such dialog, someone could send a custom .exe file to a victim and get access to their PC (in case of the one-click Host installer - unrestricted access.). We don't want our program to be badmouthed as a hacker tool.

But if you don't want to use the feature - simply do not check "Generate ID etc. etc." check box on the Advanced Settings stage/step in the MSI Configurator.

One thing that might be neat is if you can get some communication going between Quinnect Server (the one im running local and viewer) so that when they open the QAgent and get an ID from the local Quinnect server I get notified and can easily connect to it.

We will implement import from Quinnect Server list of idle Agents right into the Viewer. Say, if you have 300 remote customers and want to migrate to Quinnect fast, you will be able to import your customers to the Viewer's address book as soon as they appear in Quinnect Server (when the Agent or Host is run).

Edit4: I tried the customized agent but then it prompted me for license, then I went back to the normal agent and now its still asking me for license so I guess I cant use the software anymore.

Where did that happen? On your main machine, or on your virtual machines? Are you sure you didn't play with time/date settings? Was there any previous installation of Host/Agent?

I noticed that even if I choose "Keep Blocking" for the windows firewall I can still connect to QAgent so not sure why its asking me in the first place?

There's a trick. If the Agent cannot connect to a global mediation server using the default port, it reverts to port 443 which is almost always open. Windows Firewall shows the prompt because ports used by Quinnect/Remote Utilities by default are not among standard ports (80 etc.).

I anticipate your question - why not use port 443 from the very beginning. Answer: because in some circumstances this port can already be used by another program/service. This is especially the case when the Host is deployed on a server, not a workstation.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

That's a good suggestion, albeit we always try to give more control to the user. What if they indeed want to close the chat?

Not their call to end the chat, they can close the window if they want but if I send a message it should come right back up.

I'll try that private chat thing later.

Elaborate on stealing focus? start typing something in a document or browser and let a customer send a chat message to you, ur cursor will be in the chat window interrupting your typing.

Both remotes were set to similar quality but I may do more testing on that later.

http://www.remoteutilities.com/support/forums/forum1/topic66/ <-this is not really common to require the user to setup what to record.

Sorry, there's nothing we can do about it. The digital signature (Code Signing Certificate) is issued to a specific company. We are prohibited to use the signature to sign executable files generated by other companies (or individuals for that matter). I'm afraid you will have to purchase your own code signing certificate, issued to your company name.

Teamviewers quick support customized module is signed. I find this to be an important feature as it helps avoid issues with antiviruses and browser security.

Why do you think it didn't work? Did you try to use it and didn't receive an e-mail message? Please, elaborate.

The email dialog has a purpose - to notify the user that someone is about to receive the ID and password and get access to their PC. If there was no such dialog, someone could send a custom .exe file to a victim and get access to their PC (in case of the one-click Host installer - unrestricted access.). We don't want our program to be badmouthed as a hacker tool.

But if you don't want to use the feature - simply do not check "Generate ID etc. etc." check box on the Advanced Settings stage/step in the MSI Configurator.

I didn't get the email and that message would scare the average consumer imho.

Where did that happen? On your main machine, or on your virtual machines? Are you sure you didn't play with time/date settings? Was there any previous installation of Host/Agent?

In a VM, its possible a while back that I had remoteutilities on there a long time ago but I dont believe so. No change to date time settings.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

By default Viewer is invoked from tray with a single click. You can change this behavior in the Viewer options:

lol oh, might want to default double click or add a delay for the single click. I always double click the system tray icons so most of the time it didnt do anything.

 

[conrad78]

Not their call to end the chat, they can close the window if they want but if I send a message it should come right back up.

Elaborate on stealing focus? start typing something in a document or browser and let a customer send a chat message to you, ur cursor will be in the chat window interrupting your typing.

I see. We'll add that to our wishlist too.

this is not really common to require the user to setup what to record.

Is it a common practice of remote support techs to grab sound from a remote PC other than that of the voice chat (say, listening to the music a remote client playbacks on their PC)? If so, we will be happy to automate this feature even more.

Teamviewers quick support customized module is signed. I find this to be an important feature as it helps avoid issues with antiviruses and browser security.

I'm sorry, but our code signing contract is our responsibility. If some other vendor breaks the law or a contract by letting other entities sign files with their Code Signing Certificate - it's up to them.

I didn't get the email and that message would scare the average consumer imho.

If you didn't get the email then you should have received "Notification server unavailable" error. Did you get it?

Even if the email sending failed the first time, it will repeat until the email is sent. Also, pls check your junk mail folder.

In a VM, its possible a while back that I had remoteutilities on there a long time ago but I dont believe so. No change to date time settings.

To check that, simply open the registry (Windows Start menu -> type "Regedit" in the search bar and hit Enter). On the left hand side, there are registry keys. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software -> System. If you can find "Remote Utilities" there then you probably had Remote Utilities Host installed before.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I'm sorry, but our code signing contract is our responsibility. If some other vendor breaks the law or a contract by letting other entities sign files with their Code Signing Certificate - it's up to them.



If you didn't get the email then you should have received "Notification server unavailable" error. Did you get it?

Even if the email sending failed the first time, it will repeat until the email is sent. Also, pls check your junk mail folder.

They generate the file on their end through information submitted via the website and by the time you download it its signed. I dont think that would be breaking the law.

I did not get a notification about the server unavailable and its not in my junk mail. I may give it another try later.

 

[codegreen]

Did you just say I am the only person to ask for a reboot into safe mode feature? I know that can't be true...and for the record I actually use safe mode less than most techs. This is one of the most in demand features for remote support take a look at your competitors almost all have reboot into safemode and reconnect features.

That was my reaction, too. Conrad, are you saying only one person has ever mentioned that reboot into safe mode is an important function? Are computer repair technicians one of your target markets? If so, you may need to re-evaluate your feedback processes.

For remote repair work, rebooting into safe mode is an absolutely vital feature. LogMeIn Rescue, Teamviewer, GoToAssist and ScreenConnect are all able to do this. Any remote support software that doesn't support this is automatically eliminated from consideration for me.

 

[Xander]

For remote repair work, rebooting into safe mode is an absolutely vital feature. LogMeIn Rescue, Teamviewer, GoToAssist and ScreenConnect are all able to do this. Any remote support software that doesn't support this is automatically eliminated from consideration for me.

Likewise. Similarly, for an "Agent"/attended session, to not be able to simply reboot and reconnect.

 

[conrad78]

They generate the file on their end through information submitted via the website and by the time you download it its signed. I dont think that would be breaking the law.

That might be the case. Once we implement a web configurator, we'll see if it's legally possible to provide the signature.

I did not get a notification about the server unavailable and its not in my junk mail. I may give it another try later.

Yes, definitely have another try and pls let us know. Thanks.

 

[conrad78]

That was my reaction, too. Conrad, are you saying only one person has ever mentioned that reboot into safe mode is an important function? Are computer repair technicians one of your target markets? If so, you may need to re-evaluate your feedback processes.

For remote repair work, rebooting into safe mode is an absolutely vital feature. LogMeIn Rescue, Teamviewer, GoToAssist and ScreenConnect are all able to do this. Any remote support software that doesn't support this is automatically eliminated from consideration for me.

+1 to Reboot in Safe mode feature.

 

[conrad78]

Likewise. Similarly, for an "Agent"/attended session, to not be able to simply reboot and reconnect.

+2 to Reboot in Safe mode feature.

 

[conrad78]

Did you just say I am the only person to ask for a reboot into safe mode feature?

You see. You are not alone already

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Click on a client in the left pane - a private chat with that client will start. The clients won't see each other's chats so long as you write to the private chats, not to the #general one.

Don't want them to see each others names, or the general chat tab. No communication in between customers. In fact they shouldn't even be able to know how many customers I am currently chatting with at the same time.

 

[conrad78]

Don't want them to see each others names, or the general chat tab. No communication in between customers. In fact they shouldn't even be able to know how many customers I am currently chatting with at the same time.

That makes sense. Added to the wishlist.