Teamviewin' Trent!'s Ultimate Teamviewer Guide!

Trent! · Sep 14, 2013

What is TeamViewer?

TeamViewer is a proprietary computer software package for remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings, web conferencing and file transfer between computers.

Requirements:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8
Windows Server 2000/2003/2008/2008r2/2012, Windows Home Server/Home Server 2011
Mac OS X 10.5 or newer
Red Hat, Fedora, Suse, Mandriva, Debian, or Ubuntu (Linux)
Internet Connection (the faster, the less lag)

To obtain TeamViewer, you must download it from their official website:
Windows: http://www.TeamViewer.com/en/download/windows.aspx

Mac: http://www.TeamViewer.com/en/download/mac.aspx

Linux: http://www.TeamViewer.com/en/download/linux.aspx
Select appropriate downloads based on your specific Linux OS

Once downloaded, run the installer:

Choose Install:

Select personal/non-commercial use (free!):

Accept License Agreement

Allow for Full access (can be changed later):

Install TeamViewer:

Once you install TeamViewer, once opened it should look similar to this:

Things to know:

Your ID - This will be a 9 digit number that is unique to you! Your ID will never change

Password - This will generally be a randomly generated string of numbers, letters, or both. This changes every time you load TeamViewer, and alternatively, you can reset the password by clicking the little icon next to it.

In order for someone to connect to your computer, you must give them your ID and Password shown. Once you reset your password or close TeamViewer, the old password will no longer work and they will be unable to connect.

To connect to another person's computer, you must input their ID in the Partner ID text box and make sure Remote Control is selected. You will then click 'Connect to partner.' You will then input their Password. The partner will be prompted to approve the connection and shortly afterwards you will be able to view their screen.

The viewer's actions during Remote Control may be restricted depending on the settings the viewed user has chosen. We'll get to that next.

Noteworthy TeamViewer Options
To access your Options menu, click Extras -> Options

General

Your display name - You may give yourself a custom display name if you desire. It will replace your ID during chat and other related interfaces. IDs will still be used to connect.

Security

Random password - You may choose for the randomly generated password used to connect to your computer to be 4-10 digits, or no random password at all (NOT RECOMMENDED). Longer passwords will often use a combination of letters and numbers. Here are the options:

Remote Control

Quality - You may choose for TeamViewer to optimize your viewing for quality, speed, automatic, or custom (for advanced users only!).

Optimization for quality means you will be viewing a more visually accurate (as far as colors go) representation of the viewed computer, however this often lowers speed as it requires more Internet Bandwidth.

Optimization for speed means the color quality of your viewing experience will be poorer, however there will be less lag in between actions and changes on the screen.

Automatic quality selection means TeamViewer will automatically choose what it believes to be the best option, based on different variables such as internet speed, ping, and several others. This is the recommended setting.

Custom will allow you to manually set your quality and other options. This is NOT recommended unless you are an advanced user and know what you are doing.

Remove remote wallpaper - When this box is checked, any computer you view will have its wallpaper removed during your session. This tends to make a lot of people angry or annoyed, so it's best to leave it unchecked!

Show your partner's cursor - This will allow you to see the cursor of the person being TeamViewed. This is an extremely useful option, so definitely keep it checked!

Play computer sounds and music - This will allow you to hear any sounds the viewed computer is making, whether that be music, Windows sounds, videos, et cetera. This option is up to you. There is always the option to enable or disable it in any specific TeamViewing session should you change your mind.

Auto record remote control sessions - This option will automatically record every TeamViewer session you have. This is not recommended, except in very specific situations (you'll know if it's necessary)

Record partner's video and VoIP (requires partner's confirmation) - This option will record any video or voice chats you initiate (as well as chat options, there are video (webcam) and voice (microphone) communication options; this is what this option would be recording). It is recommended to keep this option unchecked.

Send key combinations - This allows the viewer to use certain key combinations such as Control + Alt + Delete, Windows key (generally to open Start Menu), and other similar examples. If you will be using any similar key combinations, it is recommended to keep it checked

Meeting - This section is not used for the purposes of this guide. It is intended for advanced users and is rarely used around here, so I'm going to exempt it from this guide.
Computers & Contacts - Not used for free users
Audio conferencing - Only used if you intend to voice chat with your partner. Anyone familiar enough with voice chat should be able to understand how to set up this section. Most users will not use this at all.
Video - Used for webcam settings. Only used if you intend to video chat with your partner. Most users will not use this.
Custom invitation - Used to email invites to remote control. Pretty much useless considering most if not all users simply use Private Messages, Skype, MSN Messenger, or other means of Instant Messaging to send their ID and Password.

Advanced - Most of the contents of this tab should be left alone, however there is one section that is very important!

Advanced settings for connections to this computer

Access Control - This gives you the options to choose what is allowed by people connecting to your computer! You can choose from Full Access, Confirm all, View and show, Custom settings, or Deny incoming remote control sessions

Full Access - This allows the person connecting to your computer to view your screen, control your computer, transfer files (with permission), establish a VPN connection to your computer, lock the local keyboard & mouse, control the local TeamViewer, file transfer using file box, print on remote printer, change sides.

Confirm all - The same as Full Access except any of the above actions (with the exception of file transfer using the file box) will require confirmation from you to allow the specific action

View and show - Denies all of the actions mentioned in Full Access, except for viewing your screen (with your confirmation)

Custom settings - Allows you to choose which actions mentioned in Full Access may be allowed, require confirmation, or denied. (Recommended!)

Deny incoming remote control sessions - This will make it impossible for anyone to connect to your computer with TeamViewer, even if you've given them your ID and Password. (NOT recommended!)

Using TeamViewer
When you are using TeamViewer to connect to another person's computer, there are a few useful interfaces.

While viewing someone's screen, initially you should see this toolbar at the top of your TeamViewer window

The main tabs that you should familiarize yourself with are View, Audio/Video, and File Transfer.

View - These allow you to change viewing options for that specific session.

Quality - Offers the same quality options as mentioned previously in the settings.

Scaling - You may choose to view your partner's screen in original or scaled resolution, as well as full screen.

Show Remote Cursor - Same as the option mentioned in the Settings section. Enabling this option will allow you to see your partner's cursor as they (or you) move it around.

Audio/Video - Allows you to enable different communication methods with your partner

Computer Sounds - Allows you to hear the sounds coming from your partner's computer

Voice over IP - Allows you to speak with your partner using a microphone

Chat - The most common form of communication during TeamView sessions. This will open up a chat window for you and your partner to communicate.

Conference Call - Allows you to speak with your partner & others included in a session (used for more than 2 users in a session)

Videos - Allows you to communicate via video chat using a webcam

File Transfer - Allows you to transfer files (with permission) to your partner's computer. This can be useful in certain situations, but is rarely used. You should never accept a file transfer you do not trust.

Being TeamViewed

There isn't much to learn to be TeamViewed. Generally, this is the only information you will need to be aware of while being TeamViewed.

This is an example of the little window that will pop up on your computer when your partner connects to you:

Note the four icons:
In the order shown, they represent Video chat, Conference Call, Voice over IP, and Chat. Pressing any of these icons will open up the communication method associated with it. For most users, the only one that will be used is the Chat button. This will open a chatbox for you and your partner to communicate. In the picture shown, to make the chatbox appear, one would simply click the little arrow next to 'Chat'

The 9 digit number shown underneath Session list is the ID of the person connecting to you. You can tell through this interface if there is more than one person connected.

To hide this interface, you would simply click the little arrow tab on the outer left side. To show it again, the same thing is done. If you for some reason wish to quit your TeamViewer session, whether it be because the goal has been accomplished, or you want to disconnect your viewer (whether for safety reasons, or any other reason), simply press the white X directly underneath the TeamViewer logo.

That pretty much covers everything you would need to know about TeamViewer. TeamViewer is very commonly used around these forums; most commonly for the use of helping a fellow member solve a problem they are encountering, whether it be with RuneScape, RiD, or any other miscellaneous problem.

I hope this guide has been helpful, and happy TeamViewing!
-TeamViewin' Trent