Technology: Remote Desktop With Google Chrome Remote Desktop and App!!!

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Say for some reasons, you need a higher power computer to do some lengthy and difficult calculations but your PC at home just isn't fast enough, or you need a faster network but your home just doesn't have it, or the most unfortunate of all, you have left some important documents back in your office but you don't want to or can't afford the time to travel to your office on a Saturday or Sunday, here's something you should know.

In the old days, I will use Remote Desktop, or that mstsc.exe that comes with Windows, check your IP address, set up group name, blablabla..... However, the setup was tricky and the response is often very slow. Luckily, the world is different now and we have Google and Chrome, and with that you can gain near real-time control of a remote computer!

You don't need to do tedious installation and setup of software, all you need is to do the following on your computers

1. Go to your target computer (eg. office / school computer and home PC),
2. Install Chrome browser from Google, run it and log in with your Gmail account,
3. Download Chrome Remote Desktop from Chrome web store,
4. Follow the instructions and install what has been downloaded next,
5. Create a pin of your choice for login, confirm that pin,
6. Leave your computer on.

The nice thing about this set up is that you need nothing but internet access, a Gmail account and a pin to control the machine you want.

"Apps" icon on Chrome
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To control your office computer remotely now, you just open your Chrome browser, click the "Apps" icon on the top left corner of the bookmark bar. If you don't see it, you can simply type chrome://apps/

Can you find the Chrome Remote Desktop icon here?
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and then your browser will show the page as seen above. Simply click onto Chrome Remote Desktop icon to activate connection to your office PC. You can even bookmark it like a normal webpage for faster access next time.

Controlling office computer from home through Chrome browser
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Take note of two things:

1. If you are at your home PC and all you see is a black screen even though it is connected, simply go to the top blue bar in the middle of the browser page, click onto it and "Send keys" then "Send Ctrl-Alt-Del" and the black will disappear and your office computer is yours to control.
2. The number keypads on your PC keyboard does not work, so use the number keys above the letter keys.
3. Note that by default, as you happily control your office computer remotely, people in your office can see what you are doing on the screen like a ghost is controlling it. To avoid this, simply download and install the registry file from here onto your office computer then reboot. When it is done, your computer will be on Curtain Mode and no one can see what you are doing on your PC, provided of course, you have a password set up on your office computer in the first place.

Wanna control your office computer and home PC on the go?
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How about if I want to control both my office computer and home PC on the go through my smartphone? Well, yes you can! Simply download Chrome Remote Desktop from Google Play onto your Android phone, then log in with your Gmail and PIN, and Wah-La!!! You have all your machines and devices in your hands!

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think about my recommendation!

Resources:

Chrome Remote Desktop @Chrome Web Store
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desktop/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp?hl=en

Chrome Curtain Mode for Windows registry +Google Groups
https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/group/chrome/attach/4adfbca404287d2c/ChromeCurtainMode.reg?part=0.1&authuser=0