Alan Welsh's community posts

Conrad Sallian wrote:

Hi Alan,

Thank you for your message.

I still wish there were an easy way to make the host's Windows clipboard's auto-synced as active/disabled, AND the state of this feature.

It is available. Please, see Settings for Host -> Other -> Disable clipboard transfer. You can either disable it for the Host to Viewer direction, or for both directions.

Y --- I know it is there, but I think this is one of the most potentially dangerous features, and needs to be more prominent as well as easy to change.  Just as it is important to know if someone is watching your PC while someone from support SEES your PC, it is even MORE important that I know IF they see it, (which they'd have to be quick to capture my login to something), or if like many do, COPY and/or PASTE my PW to a site, AND NOW, without realizing it, my support guy has a copy of that PW.  Even if HE doesn't do anything with it, that PW is now on his PC.  If I was running a support company, I'd shudder to think of a bunch of employees that were accidentally capturing PW's.  Remember, there are also excellent reasons why I NEED to copy or paste to / from a client as well.  

I have another FREE program I use and love, MYPhoneExplorer, which I use to SYNC my Phones and PC's.  https://www.fjsoft.at/en/   They have FIVE options I think, (or should), to send clips ONCE or ALWAYS:  

• Take my PHONE's clipboard CONTENTS and SEND THAT to my PC
  
• USE my PHONE's clipboard and SEND ANYTHING I CLIP, including my current contents, to my PC
  
• Take my PHONE's clipboard CONTENTS and SEND THAT to my PC
  
• USE my PC's clipboard and SEND ANYTHING I CLIP, including my current contents, to my PHONE
  
• Take EITHER my PHONE's OR my PC's clipboard CONTENTS AND FUTURE CLIPS, and SEND THAT to my PC OR my PHONE
  

I'd think my preference would be for you to just SHOW the STATE, and then add an easy way to set those parameters, (Not, in general settings).    Having it set in any specific way, ensures I won't use it selectively, and will likely either capture everything, or not be able to transfer any clips without a hassle when I need it.

For those of us that have been using the free corporate eval use license for the past DECADE or so...  Here is what changed, what I encountered, and what to do to EASILY fix this:

TERMINOLOGY:  
HOST or SERVER => SLAVE, PASSIVE software.
RU's def for their software installed REMOTELY, on your TARGET's PC, i.e., your client's PC (friend, relative, customer, "support target", dumb friend, etc). you want to "view" or control.  (Note, you could also have this software component installed on your PC that is used to control others' PCs.)

VIEWER = > CONSOLE UI to CONTROL "host", or slave, passive PCs.
RU's def for their software installed on YOUR PC that is used to remotely connect to many other hosts.

MY experiences:
-- I updated MY PC's "viewer's" software to 2.6.2.0 some time ago, as it had been nagging me for months, (November, 2024).  No apparent issues, except whenever I connected to the remote "host", RU's local viewer software complained that the remote client's HOST RU software also needed an update.  

I finally relented a few weeks ago, and used the REMOTE method of updating the remote PC's "host software".   It seemed to do the update fine, but I didn't reboot to test the connection at that time.  I lost power several times today and the remote PC (10 feet away), rebooted today.  My PC's laptop still had the "viewer" open, so I simply reconnected to the remote PC, and logged back in successfully.

(I wanted to only update at least one remote "host" PC that was 10 feet away, in case I needed to use the keyboard / console to fix any RU connection issues.  I'm very cautious about this, since if you experiment around with updating a PC 100 miles away, with NO ONE at the other end to intelligently and patiently make adjustments, you might lose all connections until you DRIVE there personally to fix the problems.  5,000 miles away??  OK, then FLY there first.)

Messing with my local PC's viewer software, I accidentally closed the viewer, and reopened it..  Whoops!!  "Please install a VALID license to use the VIEWER".  Hmmm, so for the next two hours, I puzzled out my problems.  I'm super cautious, since I could never update one remote PC's host software, 100 miles away.  I tried to apply the OLD License.TXT file that I was using in 2022.  I renamed it "OLD-License.RUlicense" and imported that file.  It did not work.  I finally relented and got a NEW license by clicking on it, in the Viewer's help screen, which opened RU's website, and I applied for a new (replacement) license, which was then emailed to me as an attached file.  

I installed that new file into the viewer on my laptop's PC, and then tried to connect to my remote PC's "host" RU software.  Would it connect??  Or, as I feared, insist that I also install that new license file on the old client's PC, running the RU host software??  Shocked, I was happy to see that it connected, and I would NOT have to do anything else to either my laptop or my PC, which was 10 feet away.

More importantly, the next time I connect to the PC 100 miles away, I will try to do the REMOTE "host" software update for RU.  (NOTE that there might be false positive malware issues caused by Microsoft, or other security vendor's products that could prevent an update! -- See elsewhere here in this forum to verify.)

In short, updating the LOCAL VIEWER's PC with a new license, should not affect your remote client's HOST software, or the connection to their PC's.  The "new" license is for 10 "hosts" which you connect to using your local RU viewer software.

Thanks to the RU team..  Except for this mandatory update, the software is bulletproof.  I still wish there were an easy way to make the host's Windows clipboard's auto-synced as active/disabled, AND the state of this feature.  It's the one potential security risk for the client's PC, since they may not be aware that YOU will be capturing anything that they clip, while you are connected to their PCs RU host's software.  The emailed license came with a request to submit a review for the RU software, which I intend to do later, as a token of appreciation and thanks.

I hope that you can provide a "secure VPN" at some point.  Let me define what I'm trying to do as an example, (so I don't ask for the wrong terminology or implementation:

I take care of a PC 100 miles away for my 96 year old mother.  I just added her Roku TV to my account, but I still can't run their Android Remote Control APP to change her channels remotely.  The app only shows registered devices on my LAN.  So, in this case, I just need to "tie / bridge / forward" her LAN to my LAN, over WAN.  (I can use RU if the ability was there, but I guess that is it's own huge project?)

-- This does bring up another subject -- what is encrypted (or not) when using RU??  (If answered already elsewhere, like in the main feature page, please ignore the question since that helps no one.  But, IF there are issues we should be aware of, then an answer would help everyone.

(THANK YOU, -- RU has been great for me to help her!.  It's only bad when I forget to close the connection when finished, since the nag screen appears to block her view bottom right, so I get a CALL anytime 24x7 if she sees it, telling me to FIX IT NOW!  :) )

FORUM Issue >>
I wrote this a while ago, and of course it had already logged me out before I resumed editing.  So, I finished, and hit PREVIEW.  After that, I thought I'd see the option to SEND/POST, but I didn't.  I also could find no way to get back to the edit screen.  After RE-logging in, I still couldn't even find my draft or the preview.  Luckily, I clipped it before even trying the preview.

Sorry it is so long -- and, NO reply [to me anyway] is required, so only reply to help others posting here:

Since I spent an hour trying to "find" the Amazon logout last night on a "USER's" PC, I want to weigh in on the banner.  (FYI, I am trying to USE the "USER" and "ADMIN [console?]" which always tells me WHICH PC and which user, or installation we are referring to. I can't ever get the terms "server/client/host/viewer" straight in my head no matter what I do.)  So, when AS ADMIN, I'm logged into a USER'S PC, here's one banner implementation:

For the ADMIN --
Display the banner the way it is, (fairly opaque), but provide a "DISMISS for 5 minutes."   It could even prevent clicking under the banner, since I can remove it.  This would ensure the ADMIN is reminded every five minutes, which is BETTER than just showing a semi-transparent banner, but still makes it 100% FULLY usable.  Fr om your perspective, it also makes it even more obvious that they could/should pay.

Clipboards are a HORRIBLE security problem, since often, ADMINS are most always using the USER's PW and login credentials, which sometimes I DO need them, but need to be able to toggle that on or off.  Likewise, us ADMINS don't want to make a MISTAKE and send MY credentials to the USER's PC and LEAVE it there!  Without it being both VERY obvious, and easy to change back and forth, the user HAS to assume (likely correctly), that a clipboard manager would hold a copy of every PW and username used for that session.  Also, the ADMIN must remember or know what is/was in his Windows clipboard or APP, (sometimes it is impossible to see or know).

So, SOMEWHERE, you must CLEARLY show the STATE of clipboard transfers, as well as the ability with one click, to CHANGE IT on the fly without going into any menus.  


For the USER --
Display the LIKELY ID NAME of the ADMIN, since this is extremely important for security reasons. --  Another reason is, if tech support folks are also on the phone working on an issue, the USER needs to be confident who is connected, and HOW LONG connected.

The other thing the user must be informed about, if for no other reason for them to be aware of it, that the ADMIN will likely have a copy of ANYTHING that is copied.  So, SHOW the STATE of the CLIPBOARD.

Then, give the user some way to EASILY and OBVIOUSLY dismiss the message, at least for some named time -- (at least 10 minutes).  If you provide that, then the banner could be showing in the middle of the screen, like an ACCEPT banner you must answer.  (Also show un-licensed.)  Using THIS method should be standard for commercial use as well I think, and obscure messages aren't useful, and confuse the user.  A tech call often has frazzled, sometimes irate USERS on the phone and on their PCs.  Even trying to understand wh ere ANY banner is, or even finding the cursor that is shaking at them, is sometimes a one minute job, so make the banner BIG and DISMISSABLE with all installations, (free or paid).

---------------------------------------------
Thanks for a great product that is reasonably easy to use. Those of us that help our users, often family, requires a fair amount of trust to be able to log into their PC's at any time.  One option that might help in some cases, is to require the user to "ACCEPT", before any session is initiated, when installed.  An added hurdle for ADMINs, but for a USER, any way you cut it, what we do IS an intrusion on their privacy, and can't be avoided.  However, they should be able to "close and lock the door" to prevent intrusions at least some of the time.  Clipboards for me though are likely the largest security problem of all, for any RDP program or service.  When I have my car replaced, they "have my keys", but hard enough to duplicate, that it seldom happens.  Even if they do, they still need physical access to the car.  Passwords almost always are going to be inadvertently copied, and stored by the ADMIN, "trying to help".  And once the credentials are copied and available, the user or his PC is not needed.  And so now, if the ADMIN'S PC is hacked, the USER's credentials are also at risk, even if the reputable admin is very proficient and studious.

For some reason now, my 10 license is NOT showing anymore, nor can I paste it into the field, and is says "invalid key".  It is now set for a 31 day day eval.  
-- Yesterday it was fine without any problems.  I only have four PCs that I HAVE connect to at one time or another (but only use 3?? ).  One is my main PC [running your "client"] that is what I generally only use to connect to the other three PCs.

I HAVE the key, but need to "reapply it" I guess.  RU appears like this lost it's settings.  The 3 client PC are all still showing up, but now no licence :( is showing, NOR can I apply it.

I thought I saw some posts out here once of how to fix the XML files, but can't find the posts.

--- The one remote W-7 PC will not remember the PC no matter what I do.  Every time I connect, I must reissue the PW.  --- Also, This W-7  PC is also always showing that the "client" is not current and needs an update. (Really, the "server" in your terms).  However, AFTER I connect, it is showing that it IS the latest version... This is repeated often, and somehow forgets that it has the latest version.

FYI --- One PC on my LAN I wrote about earlier -->>  I've still got that one PC that won't start the service about half the time for some reason after a cold reboot.  I've reinstalled without avail.  Still, not urgent since I can first connect via VNC when local.

I seem to have trouble every time I try to set up a PC.  For some reason, I have to connect to it using past methods like TightVNC first, and then use RU AFTER I manually start the service.  When I go to host config after reboot, it is always set to AUTO and is installed, but the service always shows that it is stopped.  What am I missing??   (Also, it would be nice if it's possible, to start the service from this screen / tab, rather than going back to the start menu to run another program, just to start the service.)
V Host 6. 10. 10. 0.  (69110)

While I'm here, I'd like to make a few requests, (or find out what I'm missing).

• Is there a way to close a window easily?  If I have two PCs showing, it is much harder, since I don't know how to close one PC's session and leave the other window open.
  
• How can I just choose to refresh a window, vs close it.  Seems like, if the connection is interrupted, it is still showing but inactive, and there's no way to refresh it, without first closing that window
  

Conrad wrote:
Our mobile client has its own versioning and so far this app is free. We haven't decided yet what licensing model we are going to use for it when we add more significant features to the client (namely, the full-fledged address book). There are different options that we are considering.

I suggest starting an Android Licensing Discussion" to help guide how you can best proceed, where you get the most support from users, while preserving your revenue source.  As a software CEO/CTO for over 35 years, it is a difficult issue, but your users can and will help you more than you realize.  I'm here because I've been totally disgusted wasting my time trying to use  [censored] as a home user, and also see their commercial licensing models to be so abysmal that I would never recommend any company use them, unless required. Lack of flexibility is something that you can beat them with fairly easily, with the proper "internal rule guidance", by using the fixed policies and overriding them quite often, when it makes sense. Growing large numbers of loyal supporters can drive success, and only charging when: it "makes business sense" for the business customer, when they have the free funds available to spend, and both the technical and business decision makers are motivated to try to reward your company.

Android issues
Counting the clients you are connecting TO, from a PHONE seems OK, since the clients are PCs.  So, keeping the Android free seems to me to make the most sense.

(I'd simply call the PCs "Connected CLIENTS", [I'm the "console MASTER, BOSS"
 or something like it, connecting TO the CLIENT],  to make it easy for new users to
 differentiate "hosts" from "agents", which often get confusing, differing functions for
 various PC and server companies for both hardware and software.  [ONLY engineers
 would normally call the UI software, a "client", and the NON UI piece, "server" or
 "agent", even if technically correct.  When using, "I AM the operator", "and operate or
 connect on, or to, OTHER CLIENTS."] )  

These clients can be controlled by phones on an occasional basis, but not for long sessions.  They are critical but short times perhaps, but no one in their right mind want to connect to their PCs, ala RDP, and compose anything.  I used and still used Meraki's 100 client (was free) host management, and only connected 2 times in 6 years for five minutes, to PCs from a phone.  Connect to the phone from the PC??  Only if I have to.  Would I pay for either functionality?  I doubt it.  Yet, that product might be a "check mark" requirement that, although no one would pay for it, but it would help get a large client.  

I do have one question though, (which I can post separately, and that I think I know the answer to already)
--- I have two PCs we use more than anything, and mostly use MY PC to connect to other PCs.  But, if at the keyboard of one of the other PCs and need to get something from my PC, can I easily connect to my PC to do so?  i.e., is this considered to be "another tech license", and so would not normally be able to connect because of licensing issues, or technical issues, such as a lack of centralized common client list?

I'd better stop and get my own work done.  Let me know if you'd like more of my "independent CEO opinions" on licensing software.  Happy New Year!  Nice product line, and I hope to test it more.