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computer remote control

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  • computer remote control

    I have played with the use of remote controls for the computer. There are times when i want to do some simple action without having to be at the computer. For example I may want to start or stop a movie from playing. Another task would be that of controlling a powerpoint presentation.

    I have a Microsoft Media Player remote control and then another one for a tv-tuner adapter for the computer. But now there also are software programs that allow you to use a cell phone, especially the Androidus mobilus family, to control the Windows computer. I sort of like the features of the version at www.pcremoteserver.com. I still have to try it out some more. But this one is nice since it isn't tied to a particular product (such as happens with the GOM Remote). So this pcremoteserver version can control the mouse cursor or can be used for typing to the computer (which is helpful for small amounts of text -- and maybe a cut and paste from notes stored in your phone).

    I forgot that this will display the computer's screen --which is sort of nice -- except the screen is so small it is hard to see much on my phone.

    Another nice feature is that this works on wi-fi such that the remote doesn't have to be pointed at a Infrared sensor. The website also talked about adding internet access.

  • #2
    I use Teamviewer to remotely control my computers. Works on windows and on android and IOS. Basically you see a picture of the screen and you can move around on it and control the computer mouse and keyboard as if you were at the remote computer. Like gotomypc, but it is free. They even have a flash drive version that doesnt need to be installed so you can carry it around with you and pop it into any computer you are at and remotely control your home computer (you do have to have it preinstalled on that one) http://www.teamviewer.com/en/


    Another nice program I like to use is Input Director. It is a software "KVM" controller, so that you basically can use the keyboard and mouse on one computer to control the keyboard and mouse on another computer. It is kinda like having one big computer with multiple screens, but each screen is the actual monitor on seperate computers. http://www.inputdirector.com/

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    • #3
      I too use Teamviewer to remote into my HTPC, I also recently bought a IR receiver called FLIRC. You can map remotes from very simple to a full keyboard. I just got it so I'm still playing around with it. I pd. $20 at Newegg for it but so far I like it!
      "What has the Church gained if it is popular, but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" - A.W. Tozer

      "... there are two parties in Washington, the stupid party and the evil party, who occasionally get together and do something both stupid and evil, and this is called bipartisanship." - Everett Dirksen

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      • #4
        I may have to try out the inputdirector program. I have had multiple computers where I would only need to use the display matched with each computer rather than transmitting the video like teamviewer does.

        Does anyone make a remote access to control the droid phones?

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        • #5
          I noticed an old episode of The Big Bang Theory (with the killer robot) where, for a brief moment, they showed Leonard listening in, from his phone, to Howard's phone.

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          • #6
            Also vote Teamviewer.

            Android phones....depends what you got. Samsung phones have SideSync which let you remote control the phone.
            Airdroid also works well https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....sand.airdroid
            Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
            1 Corinthians 16:13

            "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
            -Ben Witherington III

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            • #7
              My remote control for Mr. mossy's computer.
              http://www.logitech.com/en-ca/produc...oard-k400-plus
              ~ Russell ("MelMak")

              "[Sing] and [make] melody in your heart to the Lord." -- Ephesians 5:19b

              Fight spam!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Littlejoe View Post
                I too use Teamviewer to remote into my HTPC, I also recently bought a IR receiver called FLIRC. You can map remotes from very simple to a full keyboard. I just got it so I'm still playing around with it. I pd. $20 at Newegg for it but so far I like it!
                Hmm I might need to get that FLIRC thing. I have a laptop that I want to set up as a media center and it would be nice to have a way to use a TV remote with it to control the media software (using Kodi and Plex)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                  Hmm I might need to get that FLIRC thing. I have a laptop that I want to set up as a media center and it would be nice to have a way to use a TV remote with it to control the media software (using Kodi and Plex)
                  How do you like Kodi vs. Windows Media Center? Since WMC was already on this pc, I've started there. It seems to be ok. I had to manually add some of the channels it wouldn't find them in the scan.

                  I mapped an old dvd/blueray player remote as a simple remote. I still have to open WMC manually, but then you can navigate through it and play live or recorded TV, set etc. with no problem. (Still trying to get this all set up so I can cut the Direct TV.)

                  The old PC that I decided to use is an old Lenovo M58 I bought from Newegg for like $150. But I found out after the fact that the DP port on this model doesn't support Audio, and my TV when a HDMI converter is connected shuts off the Analog audio. So no sound unless I buy a sound bar...
                  Last edited by Littlejoe; 03-17-2016, 08:25 AM.
                  "What has the Church gained if it is popular, but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" - A.W. Tozer

                  "... there are two parties in Washington, the stupid party and the evil party, who occasionally get together and do something both stupid and evil, and this is called bipartisanship." - Everett Dirksen

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Littlejoe View Post
                    How do you like Kodi vs. WMC? Since WMC was already on this pc, I've started there. It seems to be ok. I had to manually add some of the channels it wouldn't find them in the scan.

                    I mapped an old dvd/blueray player remote as a simple remote. I still have to open WMC manually, but then you can navigate through it and play live or recorded TV, set etc. with no problem. (Still trying to get this all set up so I can cut the Direct TV.)

                    The old PC that I decided to use is an old Lenovo M58 I bought from Newegg for like $150. But I found out after the fact that the DP port on this model doesn't support Audio, and my TV when a HDMI converter is connected shuts off the Analog audio. So no sound unless I buy a sound bar...

                    I like WMC better, but microsoft has stopped including it with Windows. I upgraded the laptop to windows 10 which doesn't have WMC so I had to go with another solution. Kodi is OK, but seems harder to set up, especially for TV tuners. I have a Silicon Dust HDHomerun dual tuner but it is an older model. It works fine with WMC but I never could get Kodi to recognize it. So basically I just gave up on recording TV on the laptop (I already have a whole house DVR setup so that is not a problem anyway) and just use the laptop for watching movies stored on my network.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                      I like WMC better, but microsoft has stopped including it with Windows. I upgraded the laptop to windows 10 which doesn't have WMC so I had to go with another solution. Kodi is OK, but seems harder to set up, especially for TV tuners. I have a Silicon Dust HDHomerun dual tuner but it is an older model. It works fine with WMC but I never could get Kodi to recognize it. So basically I just gave up on recording TV on the laptop (I already have a whole house DVR setup so that is not a problem anyway) and just use the laptop for watching movies stored on my network.
                      I was told you can download WMC for free if you have Windows 10. Is that not right? I just bought a HDHomerun Extend, (thanks to your recommendation) and I had issues with WMC seeing all the channels. But, I figured out how to manually add them so it's all good now. I still haven't had time to try recording and play back yet. After I get sound working, it's next on the list. (Pointless to watch without the audio working)
                      "What has the Church gained if it is popular, but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" - A.W. Tozer

                      "... there are two parties in Washington, the stupid party and the evil party, who occasionally get together and do something both stupid and evil, and this is called bipartisanship." - Everett Dirksen

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Littlejoe View Post
                        I was told you can download WMC for free if you have Windows 10. Is that not right? I just bought a HDHomerun Extend, (thanks to your recommendation) and I had issues with WMC seeing all the channels. But, I figured out how to manually add them so it's all good now. I still haven't had time to try recording and play back yet. After I get sound working, it's next on the list. (Pointless to watch without the audio working)
                        You could get WMC for windows 8, but not for 10. It is gone. I hear that some people have found a way to hack the old windows 8 version of WMC to work in 10, but I haven't looked into it much. I had WMC on the laptop when I upgraded it (it had windows 8 on it) but when windows 10 installed, it removed WMC. Gone.

                        I have a computer in the living room that has windows 7 on it and it is hooked up to my TV and the HDHR tuners and I use WMC on it to record TV, but I wanted to have a setup in my bedroom so that is why I am setting up the laptop.

                        Plex is another nice multimedia center ( www.plex.tv ) - it has a server program that runs on one of your PC's and controls the media libarary, then you can have the user interface program installed on various devices in your home (PCs, Tablets, Phones, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV) and they connect to the server and you can watch your movies and play music or look at photos from anywhere. The free version only works within your home network, but they have a pay version that supposedly lets you access your media over the internet from anywhere, assuming you have a fast enough connection (at both ends).

                        edited to add: I was wrong. Plex will allow you to stream over the internet with the free version. The pay version just lets you download the videos to your device so you can watch without the internet (which I can already do manually if I want, so I don't need the pay version)
                        Last edited by Sparko; 03-17-2016, 09:38 AM.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                          You could get WMC for windows 8, but not for 10. It is gone. I hear that some people have found a way to hack the old windows 8 version of WMC to work in 10, but I haven't looked into it much. I had WMC on the laptop when I upgraded it (it had windows 8 on it) but when windows 10 installed, it removed WMC. Gone.

                          I have a computer in the living room that has windows 7 on it and it is hooked up to my TV and the HDHR tuners and I use WMC on it to record TV, but I wanted to have a setup in my bedroom so that is why I am setting up the laptop.

                          Plex is another nice multimedia center ( www.plex.tv ) - it has a server program that runs on one of your PC's and controls the media libarary, then you can have the user interface program installed on various devices in your home (PCs, Tablets, Phones, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV) and they connect to the server and you can watch your movies and play music or look at photos from anywhere. The free version only works within your home network, but they have a pay version that supposedly lets you access your media over the internet from anywhere, assuming you have a fast enough connection (at both ends).

                          edited to add: I was wrong. Plex will allow you to stream over the internet with the free version. The pay version just lets you download the videos to your device so you can watch without the internet (which I can already do manually if I want, so I don't need the pay version)
                          Chromecast.
                          VideoStream For Google Chromecast (a chrome add in)
                          VideoStream remote control app on my Android.
                          Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
                          1 Corinthians 16:13

                          "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
                          -Ben Witherington III

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                            You could get WMC for windows 8, but not for 10. It is gone. I hear that some people have found a way to hack the old windows 8 version of WMC to work in 10, but I haven't looked into it much. I had WMC on the laptop when I upgraded it (it had windows 8 on it) but when windows 10 installed, it removed WMC. Gone.

                            I have a computer in the living room that has windows 7 on it and it is hooked up to my TV and the HDHR tuners and I use WMC on it to record TV, but I wanted to have a setup in my bedroom so that is why I am setting up the laptop.

                            Plex is another nice multimedia center ( www.plex.tv ) - it has a server program that runs on one of your PC's and controls the media libarary, then you can have the user interface program installed on various devices in your home (PCs, Tablets, Phones, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV) and they connect to the server and you can watch your movies and play music or look at photos from anywhere. The free version only works within your home network, but they have a pay version that supposedly lets you access your media over the internet from anywhere, assuming you have a fast enough connection (at both ends).

                            edited to add: I was wrong. Plex will allow you to stream over the internet with the free version. The pay version just lets you download the videos to your device so you can watch without the internet (which I can already do manually if I want, so I don't need the pay version)
                            Yeah, I have Win7 pro on both my HTPC and my laptop. My wife and son upgraded to Win 10. Another thing I noticed right off is Win 10 and Win 7 have issues connecting to one another. I have not yet been able to re-establish my Home Group between the four pc's.
                            "What has the Church gained if it is popular, but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" - A.W. Tozer

                            "... there are two parties in Washington, the stupid party and the evil party, who occasionally get together and do something both stupid and evil, and this is called bipartisanship." - Everett Dirksen

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Littlejoe View Post
                              Yeah, I have Win7 pro on both my HTPC and my laptop. My wife and son upgraded to Win 10. Another thing I noticed right off is Win 10 and Win 7 have issues connecting to one another. I have not yet been able to re-establish my Home Group between the four pc's.
                              weird. I have a mix, two win 7 and two win 10 computers and they are all on the same homegroup with no problem.

                              Comment

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