Remote Access

Remote Utilities is remote access software that enables quick and secure access to remote desktops. The remote computer can be down the hall in your local network or on the other side of the globe. Remote Utilities provides the best remote access in any situation.

Full Control and View

Full Control and View mode is the most often used connection mode. In this mode, you can view the remote screen and send keyboard and mouse inputs to the remote PC. Thanks to its own unique remote screen capture technology, Remote Utilities is one of the fastest programs in the industry.

In the top-center of the "Full Control and View" window there is a popup toolbar that contains a number of frequently used commands including: remote connection options, connection mode switch, send/retrieve clipboard contents and others. You can either pin the toolbar to your workspace or hide it from view.

The "Full Control and View" mode supports drag-and-drop functionality. You can drag a file or a folder from the remote desktop or an application window onto your local desktop. The file will be copied via a secure channel to your local PC.

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File Transfer

Remote Utilities has powerful file transfer capabilities, enabling you to transfer large files between computers during a remote session. The "File Transfer" connection mode uses a two-pane window interface, which is suitable for file and folder operations.

Remote Utilities allows bookmarking directories, allowing you to save frequently used locations. You can also execute a file on the remote PC by selecting it from a list and clicking the Execute button or hitting the F9 hotkey.

Other File Transfer features include:

• Tabs in the File Transfer window for opening multiple local and remote locations
• Two-way drag-and-drop — from the remote PC onto a local PC and vice versa
• Smart file download resumption
• Data encryption
• Hotkeys for frequently used commands.

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Folders and Remote Screen Previews

When you use Remote Utilities for accessing hundreds or even thousands of remote PCs, creating groups (folders) in the Remote Utilities Viewer is the best way to keep them organized. You can name the folders by your organization departments, cities where your company branches are located or by any other criteria you choose. If your Viewer computer is located in an Active Directory domain network, you can also view the Active Directory tree directly in the Viewer window.

The Viewer address book shows small remote screen previews in a thumbnail view, which is the default view when you first run the program. Additionally, you can reveal a larger preview of the remote screen by briefly hovering your mouse cursor over a connection thumbnail.

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Unattended and Attended PCs

Remote Utilities can be used for both unattended and attended remote access. Once you install the remote host component of Remote Utilities you are granted total control over the remote PC. You can view the remote screen, control remote keyboard and mouse input (or block it), blank out the remote screen, turn the monitor on and off, transfer files to and from any directories and restart the remote PC in normal mode or in safe mode with networking. The administrator can even protect the remote host component settings from changes made by someone sitting at the remote PC.

Attended access is possible both via the installable remote Host component and the Agent module — a special program module that runs without installation and administrative privileges. In both cases the administrator can enable the Ask user permission option which, when enabled, will ask the remote user whether they allow or deny the remote connection to their PC.

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Direct and Indirect Connection

Remote Utilities is a very flexible program. It not only provides plenty of different connection modes and usage options, but it also gives you the ability to choose between a direct IP-to-IP connection and a mediated Internet ID connection. Both types of connection will work on a LAN and over the Internet, although to establish a direct IP-to-IP connection over the Internet you will have to gain some knowledge of advanced router/firewall configuration such as port forwarding.

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Ask User Permission

When this feature is enabled the program shows the remote user a message asking them to accept or reject the incoming remote connection. This is handy in various remote support situations, for example, when sensitive information is being viewed on the remote PC, or a remote user is typing a private message.

Additional options include an auto allow/deny timeout and the ability to disable the feature when no Windows account is currently logged on the remote PC.

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Multiple Users and Permissions

Starting from Version 5.2, Remote Utilities (commercial edition) provides the ability to create multiple user accounts for a single Host (remote computer). The user accounts can have different access permissions.

For example, you may want to create an administrator account that can connect in all connection modes as well as a number of restricted accounts. Each account will have its own login and password.

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Lock Input and Blank Remote Screen

The "Lock input feature" is mandatory for any advanced remote desktop software. This feature allows you to disable the remote keyboard and mouse so that the remote user will not interfere with the administrator´s remote session.

The "Blank remote screen" feature prevents the remote user from viewing what is happening on the remote screen during a remote session. You can optionally select a background color, picture, text or even a webpage to display on the screen when this feature is enabled.

You can lock keyboard input and blank the remote monitor screen either before connecting to the remote PC or after the connection has been established.

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Individual Connection Properties

Each remote connection entry in the Remote Utilities address book (connection list) has its own preferences. This means that you don´t have to adjust color depth, view mode or other settings every time you connect to a specific remote PC. You can even save the connection password to avoid retyping it.

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Multiple Simultaneous Connections

Remote Utilities supports an unlimited number of simultaneous connections in both directions — from a local PC to a remote PC and vice versa:

• The Viewer can connect to several Hosts at a time (a special tabbed interface is available in the Viewer);
• The Host can accept connections from several Viewers at once. For example, several people can connect to the same remote PC using different permissions and connection modes;
• Any combination of modes and connections is possible.

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Adjustable Color Depth and Economode

You can select any color depth for any remote connection independently. Remote Utilities shows good performance even at 24-bit (TrueColor) depth. In fact, 24-bit or 16-bit color depth is recommended when working either over LAN or the Internet. You can also set FPS (frames per second), thereby regulating the CPU usage.

Economode relates to network usage. When it is on, traffic consumption drops significantly, which is suitable for slow networks (Dial-up, GPRS). Network traffic can be reduced by as much as 10-50 times as compared to the standard mode of operation.

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Remote Printing

Starting from version 5.4 Remote Utilities allows you to print a remote document on the local printer. Previously, you had to copy the file from a remote PC onto the local PC, open it in its original application and print. Now you don't even need the original application installed on your local PC.

More information about how remote printing works is available in this blog post.

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