AMMYY Admin

I've been testing Ammyy Admin for several months now as part of evaluation to use this on larger scale. Compared to other products alike TeamViewer or LogMeIn; both are market leaders in remote assistant. I felt Ammyy Admin lags quite a bit. Here are some of the Pros/Cons:

Pros: Free for personal use, connection speed is generally good, small file download, easy access for users and administrators, ability to interact with UAC (had issues with Win8 UAC), Works from Safe Mode with Network Support.

Cons: No ability to reboot and reconnect, lacks support for DOS Full screen, Poor customer support, Chat function is basic, Limited remote keys (ctrl+shift+esc?). Dangerous security problem (see below for more info)

In regard to the security issue with Ammyy Admin. Once a user download the executable and run it, they are presented with their own ID on the left side of the screen. Once they do provide that ID to the Help Desk, the person can then initiate a connection to their system. The user must hit on the accept button to allow the connection.

Because the ID is comprised of 8 digits that auto increments for each new client, hackers have been targeting machines using the incremented IDs. Even though the user is presented with a box to accept, they would typically think it is their support person trying to access the system.

I've had many cases when a malicious person had attempted to connect to a new machine even before I was able to connect.

Ammyy Admin need to implement a safety feature like a double # or a more cryptic code to prevent these attacks. As a safety note, never leave Ammyy Admin on.

Most of the time, after disconnecting from a user PC, Ammyy Admin remains on. The user has to actually click the (X) box to close it. This should be changed to force the program to close upon user disconnection, or else risk being targeted by attackers.

To summarize, nice little program that is good for infrequent use. I think for the more avid users, there are potentially better applications if cost is not an issue.

does not require installation, easy to use

I bought a 1 year license.
After 6 months, Ammyy has stopped working for me, saying "your free license has expired". What free license! I PAID for the damn thing! I want the remainder on my 6 months!

i love ammyy admin, the easiest way to remote connect!

from a teamviewer lover.

Very poor.

I could only get it to work for about 30 seconds. After that, it times out and shuts itself down. I liased with the support person to try and resolve it, nothing worked. Tried turning off firewall, uninstalling, re-installing, nothing worked. Bear in mind I am a web developer and not a novice user.

I have asked for a refund, but they are ignoring me. I would stay away if I were you, I have invested a couple of hours trying to get it to work and now it appears they will not refund.