DreamSupport

DreamSupport Screenshot

We computer geeks have been forced into hiding. Why you might ask? Because when anyone (and I mean anyone) finds out that we have any clue what we are doing with computers we are inundated with pleas for help. It isn't that we mind helping, it is just that it can be quite the pain to walk someone through something, explaining why, and answering all of the questions that arise. Mix into this the fact that a good 90% of these requests are done over the phone, where you cannot see what they are seeing, and you have a headache in the making.

Now, you might think to yourself, "I'll just use Remote Desktop or the like for the tricky problems, and I'm set." Oh, if only life were that simple.... Dynamic IP Addresses, Firewalls, Routers, and even walking the user through enabling remote desktop to begin with make it such a pain that you would spend less time just driving to their house than trying to get all that set up. Lucky for us, there is DreamSupport.

DreamSupport uses a reverse VNC connection to remove all these headaches. Since it is an outgoing connection, you do not need to know their IP address, open any ports on their firewall or router, and thanks to the one step nature of DreamSupport, even the most computer illiterate people can hand their computer over to you (though it might feel like an eternity when you are explaining the concept of a 'double click'...).

DreamSupport is a simple executable program that you can either put on your website or email to the person. They then run the program and are presented the screen above. Then they click on the computer name and click Connect. That's it. The program handles everything else from there, and soon you will see their screen and have the ability to manipulate their mouse, keyboard, transfer files, etc. When you are done simply click disconnect, and the program removes itself from the "friend's" computer.

Now, those of you who have been around the block know that this isn't a very fresh idea. There have been a couple groups come up with this same reverse vnc setup (in fact the heavy lifting of this program is based on UltraVNC SC, a similar program), however many of these solutions are either not free (read hundreds of dollars per computer per year), or they require ongoing maintenance and updating of the executable file to keep up with your ever changing life, or both. The thing that sets DreamSupport apart is the fact that none of the connection information is stored in the executable file itself. All the data is downloaded from the DNS records on your DreamHost account, and the list is populated every time the file is run. So, if you happen to be at your friend's house and your Mom calls with an urgent request, you don't have to touch the DreamSupport file in order to help her from wherever you are. Simply start up the server software, add your friend's computer to the DNS records, and have your Mom run the DreamSupport.exe file like normal. No matter where you are you can help those in need without spending 5 minutes explaining how to open up Internet Explorer.

The Future: Well, due to time constraints and a key API feature missing, I was not able to complete the host side of things, though when (if) this feature is implemented in the API, there will be an interface for managing the DNS records that the DreamSupport.exe file will pull from. (In case anyone from DH reads this, I need access to setting the notes field on the DNS record when I add it.) Also, this will feature the ability to generate the Support file with the API key and username embedded into the file. The latter part will definitely come, but the DNS configuration part is all in the hands of the DreamHost team. For now, though, you can contact me and I'll shoot you over a customized DreamSupport executable file, along with the instructions on how to set up the DNS records on your DreamHost account.

Update: The future is here! I just finished up the DreamSupport Creator program. It still doesn't have the ability to add support computers (*hint*hint* DreamHost...), though you can create your own executable file to distribute, making it infinitely more useful! Click Here to download DS Creator. Once you have it downloaded, click here for instructions on how to get everything set up.

Licensing: DreamSupport is Open Source software. It is licensed under GPL, and source code is available upon request. The DreamSupport Creator uses the NSIS installation creator program, and is thus at least partially under their license, though the source for the actual executable file itself is available upon request, as well. Just contact me if you are interested.