How to Remote Control Computers Using PCHelpWare

How to Remote Control Computers Using PCHelpWare



PCHelpWare is a free remote assistance application for Windows that allows you to easily take control of remote computers. This application is great to use when needing to connect to computers in remote offices or when helping out family and friends. With PCHelpWare, you don’t have to worry about the remote users firewall like you do with UltraVNC or other remote assistance applications. Connecting to the remote computer is as easy as having the end user double click a single executable file. In the following tutorial, I would like to walk you through installing, configuring, and using PCHelpWare.


Step 1: Download PCHelpWare and extract the zip file. Open the folder and double click PCHelpWare_viewer.exe.



Step 2: Enter an “Alias” which is what you want to call these particular connection settings and enter a password. Set your “Listen Port” to 5500. Make sure this port is open on your router or firewall. If your router supports UPnP then checking this box will automatically forward the router ports. Leave “Direct Connection” checked unless you are using the Repeater service to bypass your firewall. All of the other settings can stay the same.



Step 3: Click “Save” and then click “Create Server”. You will be prompted for your IP address. If you are going to be connecting to computers on your network then just enter your internal IP address. If you are connecting to computers over the internet then you will need to enter your public IP address. If you are not sure what it is, go to WhatIsMyIP.com. Remember you will need port 5500 open on your router or firewall.



Step 4: Next, you will be asked “Does the user need to enter the password”. Click “No”.



Step 5: You will then receive a dialog box with the IP address and password. Click “Ok”.


Step 6: If you receive a Windows Security Alert, be sure to click “Unblock”.

Step 7: Click the “Start” button in the bottom right corner to start the viewer service.



Step 8: Open the folder that you extracted your PCHelpWare files to and navigate to the “myservers” folder. In this folder you should see a folder with the name of the “Alias” you created. Open that folder and you will see a single executable file called PcHelpWare_server.exe. This is the file that you will need to send to the remote user.



Step 9: The remote user will then double click the file and see a login screen. Since you didn’t require the user to enter a password, (see step 4) the user will only have to click “Connect”.



You will now be controlling the remote user’s computer. For maximum screen size, click the “Full Screen” button at the top. You will also have the ability to to chat with the remote user.



If you have any experience with PCHelpWare or any other remote assistance applications feel free to share.