Remote Desktop
Overview
PDQ Connect offers Remote Desktop functionality, accessible via the Device details page, which allows you to connect and offer fully unattended remote desktop functionality or remote assistance.
Install remote desktop agent
On the left navigation bar, click Devices, and then click the name of the device you would like to connect to remotely.
On the device details page, click Remote desktop.
If this is your first time connecting to this device, note the status at the bottom of the tab, which indicates Remote desktop agent not installed. Click the button labeled Install remote desktop agent to begin the installation.
A circular progress indicator will appear, along with the notice Installing agent:
When the installation process is complete, a message will appear indicating Agent installed successfully.
Note that the status at the bottom of the window will also indicate that the agent is installed.
The remote desktop agent makes use of a third-party provider with additional connectivity requirements - see Network Requirements for details.
Download and install local viewer application
These instructions are for users accessing PDQ Connect and initiating a remote desktop connection from a computer running Windows. If you're connecting from a computer running macOS, see: Install Remote Desktop local viewer app on macOS.
In order to connect to a remote desktop client managed in Connect, you will need to install a local viewer application onto the computer where you are accessing Connect. The remote desktop session can only be launched from within the Connect web app in your browser, but it will open the local viewer application, which must be installed before you can use remote desktop.
To proceed, click the Continue button to proceed to Step 2, and then click Download local viewer to download and install the Connect viewer application onto your computer.
- Double-click on the downloaded file, PDQ RD Viewer.exe.
- At the User Account Control prompt, click Yes to continue.
- In the Setup window, click Install to continue.
- When the installation is complete, click Finish.
Start a remote desktop session
After you have installed the remote desktop agent on an endpoint, and installed the local viewer application on your computer, you can click Continue to proceed to Step 3, and then click Start remote session button to begin a remote desktop session on that endpoint.
Depending on your browser security settings, you may receive a pop-up asking if you want to open the link in the PDQ RD Viewer Program. The exact appearance and wording of this warning may vary by browser, but click to continue. The PDQ RD Viewer will launch.
The end user will be able to observe the remote session as it is happening, and can continue to interact with the computer.
Remote desktop supports joining an existing RDP session (e.g. to a user on a cloud-hosted PC). When a PDQ Connect admin initiates a remote desktop session to a PC with an active RDP connection, they will be prompted to choose the session they wish to join.
Transfer files and chat
A multi-functional pop-up window appears in the lower-right corner of the remote desktop connection (on both ends - local viewer and remote desktop client). By default, this window appears directly above the taskbar, and allow the end user and remote technician to:
- View the current connection status
- Transfer files between the technician's computer and the end user's computer
- Chat with each other via text
This window can be minimized or moved to another location on the screen by either user.
To chat, either user may type a message in the Enter message text box, and press the Enter key or click the button to send.
To send a file, either user may drag and drop a file from their computer into this window.
Files sent through this window will be saved to the desktop of the recipient computer.
If you do not want this window to be visible for either the technician or end user, you can disable it in the Remote Desktop Settings (see below).
Remote desktop settings
User notification and session approval
To configure user notification when a remote desktop session begins, click the Settings icon, and then click Remote desktop. On the remote desktop settings page, you can toggle on Notify logged-in user when remote session starts.
By default, the user notification does not require any response from the user in order to begin the session. However, if you prefer the user to to approve any remote desktop session request from Connect, you can tick the box for Logged-in user must approve before session can start. If this box is ticked, a remote desktop user in Connect will not be able to start a remote desktop session unless the end user approves the request.
File transfer box
The multi-functional window referenced above (which includes connection status, file transfer, and chat) can be toggled on or off using the Display file transfer box on session start setting.
This setting only specifies whether the pop-up file transfer box appears in the lower-right corner of the remote desktop local viewer application - the file transfer and chat/status functions remain available via the top menu bar in the local viewer application, even if the window is disabled at session start.
File transfer:
Chat/status:
Display name
By default, the remote desktop request will show the user a display name, which will match the name of your organization as it was originally entered when your account owner created the account. If you wish to change the display name to something else, you can do so in the Display name text box.
Click Save changes to save these settings. Note that any changes to this page will require a few minutes to take effect, as they need to be rolled out to each remote desktop agent.
Alternately, you may click Cancel to revert the settings back to how they were previously.
Bulk installation of the remote desktop agent
To install the remote desktop agent on multiple devices at once, browse to the Devices page (or a group) and select one or more devices.
Click the kebab menu (⁝) in the upper-right corner, and then click Install remote desktop agent.
Enable black curtain mode
If you would prefer to display a black screen for the end user while the remote session is happening, you can click the tools icon and select Enable Black Screen (Curtain).
The user will see a black screen indicating Remote user is working on this computer, and their keyboard and mouse inputs will be suppressed, meaning they will not be able to interact with the session.
The user can press and hold the Esc key for 10 seconds to close black curtain mode while leaving the remote desktop session active.
Troubleshoot connection
Because PDQ Remote Desktop relies on a separate agent and local viewer application which use unique connection protocols compared to the Connect agent itself, you may need to check your local security environment and add appropriate exceptions in your antivirus or firewall configuration.
See these articles for further details:
If you're unable to resolve the issue after checking these articles, feel free to submit a support ticket and we can assist further.
