Instant Desktop Sharing with Teamviewer

Martin Brinkmann
Apr 2, 2007
Updated • Mar 21, 2013
Windows, Windows software
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16

Did you ever try to remotely access a computer of a user who is not that tech-savvy? How long did it take to configure the client system correctly if you are not there locally to do it by yourself? One great solution for this kind of problems is the software Teamviewer which is free for non-commercial use. Teamviewer uses two software modules: The first is the one that is run by the person who wants to access a computer remotely while the second is run by the user who requires technical assistance. The client module is absolutely easy to use. It just needs to be executed and displays a username and a password which the user who wants to access the clients machine has to enter on the remote computer. This part of the Teamviewer software is called the Supporter Module.

Teamviewer offers two modes. The first is the normal remote desktop mode which gives the Supporter full control over the clients machine. You can even initiate file transfers between both computers if it is necessary to send files to the client.

The second mode is interesting as well. It is called the presentation mode which mirrors the Supporters desktop at the clients machine. The client is therefor viewing everything that the Supporter is demonstrating at his computer. Great for online presentations for instance.

Teamviewer is working on every Windows edition starting with Windows 98. There is currently no support for Linux or Mac.

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Comments

  1. Charles said on January 31, 2012 at 8:51 pm
    Reply

    I would also like to know how much bandwidth is used by Teamviewer every 30 minutes.

  2. Atif said on May 9, 2011 at 12:10 am
    Reply

    Thats nt true i and my partner had installed TeamViewer_Setup.exe still the connection is terminated after 5 mins

    1. Ashish said on October 8, 2011 at 8:21 pm
      Reply

      Any idea how much bandwidth does teamviewer use, say in 30mins

  3. Biplab said on January 24, 2010 at 3:01 pm
    Reply

    Sir,
    Kindly Support send my E-mail ID, so i interest the this subject.

    Thanks you.

  4. Mishal Syed said on January 14, 2010 at 10:01 pm
    Reply

    I wanted to know that for one person to see another person’s desktop,first of all the other person needs to allow it..But if the other person shuts the computer down and restarts again,still the the first person can see the desktop by himself ? or does he have to send the request for viewing again?I mean if the connection is established once is there a way to close it?Or will it just continue?

    1. phil said on January 19, 2010 at 6:09 am
      Reply

      If either one of the parties closes the connection, the remote user has no connection anymore and doesn’t see anything. If he wants to reconnect he has to start from the beginning. It is however possible to install the program as a service, I use this to be able to access my computer at home when i’m at a different location. I’m sure it’s not as secure as setting up a VPN etc. but for home use this is excellent!

  5. Francisco Diaz said on April 30, 2009 at 11:58 pm
    Reply

    Teamviewer supports Mac now, it works great!!!
    You may even uses cross-platforms…

  6. Hai said on April 24, 2009 at 3:36 pm
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    How to solve problem when TV say: “Connections with the Free version will automatically be terminated after 5 minutes.”

    I and partner use Portable version at:
    http://www.teamviewer.com/download/portable.aspx

    >>that termination is only for the Quick Support, that means if both partners >>do have the full version of TeamViewer there is no 5 minutes limitation.

    What is full version here mean? It mean I and partner have to install from TeamViewer_Setup.exe instead of Portable TeamVersion?

  7. Paul said on January 16, 2009 at 4:59 pm
    Reply

    of course it disappeared, it would be slow as hell to redraw the screen with the wallpaper active, use your brain!

  8. when i connect through teamviewer then is created to set proxy server said on May 23, 2008 at 2:16 pm
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    how we connect through teamviewer . when i try then need to set proxy server.

  9. Polisurgist said on April 5, 2008 at 1:03 pm
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    I just used the program. WOW. It’s great!!! And it’s the first one that actually works! The only problem that I had was that the wallpaper of the other computer’s desktop disappeared when I was logged in and all I could see was a black wallpaper, so did the other person.

  10. Struis said on April 4, 2007 at 3:55 pm
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    Well i guess that will cost them a lot of money. All those data that is going through the servers.

    At the moment i also test some remote-desktop programs and team viewer is one of them.

    I guess the first step is also for setting up some security.

  11. Socrates said on April 4, 2007 at 3:15 pm
    Reply

    I use TeamViewer since some month – a really great tool which has helped me to save much time in giving support to friends and my family.

    I have tested several remote-desktop tools, but always I had problems with firewalls and proxy-servers.
    It’s really depressing to explain a non-techie how to configurate a router to get remote-access.
    Therefore I love TeamViewer, no configuration work necessary.

    Some weeks ago I considered, how does TeamViewer connect to computers behind firewalls. So I have contacted the TeamViewer support-team.

    In the first step you connect will be established through the TeamViewer server. The server checks if a direct connection is possible. Is this possible, the connection will be switched to a direct connection between you and your partner.
    If a direct connection is not possible because of firewall, proxy-server, nat-router then the whole connection will be redirected through TeamViewer servers.

    But don’t sweat it. All connection with TeamViewer are fully encrypted.

  12. Struis said on April 4, 2007 at 11:07 am
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    works fine but what about the connection setup ?
    Is it going through there servers or directly to the target pc ?

  13. Coldplay said on April 4, 2007 at 7:15 am
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    hey there,
    that termination is only for the Quick Support, that means if both partners do have the full version of TeamViewer there is no 5 minutes limitation. Instead you have 25 hours free usage of the full software per month, which should be enough for the most of us :)

  14. unfortunately said on April 3, 2007 at 7:06 pm
    Reply

    Looks great but there’s one catch. “Connections with the Free version will automatically be terminated after 5 minutes.”

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