Microsoft does not want VNC to work

[tburt11]

I have been around a long time. Since the days of MS-DOS 1.0, in fact I first learned programming on a Terrac machine with 8 inch floppy disks. Old as dirt, almost.

I have been trying unsuccessfully to get UltraVNC to work consistently on Windows Vista Home for more than a year, and I have come to the ultimate conclusion that:

1) The BIG reason to upgrade to Windows Vista Business or Ultimate is to be able to get remote access to your machine.

2) If you can download UltraVNC and get access for free, the Microsoft business model takes a big hit. No big reason to upgrade.

3) The very fine folks at UltraVNC have worked very hard to figure out the security model used by Windows Vista, and have on many occasions found ways to get VNC to work. However:

4) On the second Tuesday of each month, Microsoft releases a security patch that somehow gets in the way of VNC.

Think about it for a moment. VNC is open source. Being able to hook into a Windows machine and control the desktop is "A SECURITY VIOLATION". So they gotta patch it. Right?

I think that no matter how hard UltraVNC folks may try, any working VNC for Windows Vista is bound to stop working within a month or two. Mine always do.

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Just a little background, I have used VNC for a long time. I use it with my Linux machines and it works great with Windows XP on down. Windows Vista has been a nightmare. RDP with a business version works like a champ every time. Never a problem.

[tburt11]

Continued:

So why not just use the JavaViewer? GOOD IDEA!

Microsoft and Sun are not on the best of terms. Sun controls the Microsoft Office alternative OpenOffice. This cannot make Microsoft too happy.

So I go to my IE and open a window to my Windows Vista/UltraVNC machine port 5800 and viola.. got a connect. It wants to install JRE (I thought I already had that?), so I go ahead. It finishes with an error. No install. I tried uninstalling Java. Even using the Microsoft app to really get rid of the Java. Download the install instead of the online install. It installs great!

Go to run VNC in IE and it says it needs to download Java again. Ok. Error.

It appears to me that Microsoft has stymied Java and VNC by crippling the install of JRE.

Conclusion. You can try all you want to get VNC working with Windows Vista, but I don't hold out much hope.

I am going to bite the bullet, and upgrade to Business, just for the remote console capability. It burns my butt to do so. But I don't see a choice.

Even more frightening, is that Microsoft is able to do this and get away with it. Microsoft is too big too powerful. It is scary.

[tburt11]

Last followup.

IF I AM WRONG, AND SOMEONE HAS CONSISTENT LUCK WITH RUNNING VNC ON WINDOWS VISTA HOME (BASIC/PREMIUM) PLEASE POST THE STEPS TO MAKE IT WORK.

Thanks!

[xytsrm]

I've been using UltraVNC 1.0.5.1 for over an year; using the UltraVNC Viewer on a Windows Vista PC to access the Server on a Windows XP machine without any major issues.

I have also done the reverse, but not nearly as frequently.

X.