TightVNC Documentation [Win32]

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Installation

Starting from the 1.2.1 release, TightVNC is available in the self-installing form. Just run the executable to perform the installation. You will see a familiar installation wizard which will allow you to read the license, choose the installation directory, choose a name for the TightVNC group under the Start->Programs menu etc.

After running the setup program, a new "TightVNC" section will appear in the Start->Programs menu. If you would like to have TightVNC start automatically and run even if there is no active user, you should install it as a service using the corresponding menu item from the TightVNC Administration section. Note that installing the WinVNC service is the only way to make Ctrl-Alt-Del work remotely (applicable only to Windows NT/2000/XP systems).

TightVNC defaults to install to the Program Files\TightVNC directory, but you can choose any other location during the installation. Note that TightVNC does not install anything in the system directory so an alternative way to install TightVNC is to just copy the executable and DLL files into any directory you like (but in this case you'll have to create shortcuts to the programs yourself).

If you want to install TightVNC on a number of computers, and do not want to repeatedly enter the same password on each machine, install TightVNC once and enter the password, then copy the registry settings under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ORL\WinVNC3 to other machines.

The TightVNC installer can work in silent mode and not ask questions during installation (but it's possible that it might show message boxes if there are any errors). In this mode TightVNC will be installed into the default directory, that is, the TightVNC subdirectory in the Program Files). Here is the command line to install TightVNC in silent mode:

tightvnc-1.2.9-setup.exe /sp- /verysilent

Remote Upgrade

Starting from the 1.2.5 version, TightVNC servers can be upgraded remotely. This means that you can perform the TightVNC installation working in an active TightVNC session. While the TightVNC service is running, it's impossible to replace its executable files in place, so the installer will copy new files into a temporary location, and these new files will replace older versions during the next reboot. The installer will prompt for reboot if it was not able to replace the executables.

Before using this feature, you should read and understand the following:

• Remote upgrade requires rebooting the computer. If you want to be able to access your computer after the reboot, make sure you're running WinVNC as a service, not in the application mode.
• If you're running WinVNC service from some another VNC distribution, this installation procedure won't replace it with the TightVNC service by default. This is a limitation that may be solved in future versions. However, there is a way to perform such an upgrade: install TightVNC into the same directory where old VNC files (WinVNC.exe and VNCHooks.dll) are installed. In this case, old binaries will be replaced by the new ones during the reboot, and there will be no need to re-install the service. Please note that the installer should show you the reboot prompt at the end of the installation, otherwise you probably selected wrong installation directory.
• There is a number of things that can prevent the machine to reboot correctly, and that can cause losing the control over the computer. In other words, there is NO WARRANTY that the remote upgrade procedure is absolutely reliable. To minimize possible risks, close all the running applications (besides the WinVNC service itself) before launching the TightVNC installer.

Getting Started

TightVNC, like normal VNC, has two parts: the server (WinVNC), which shares the screen of the machine it's running on, and the viewer which shows the remote screen received from the server. So to get started, you need to run a server on the machine you want to access remotely, and connect to it with a viewer. TightVNC Win32 distribution includes both the server and viewer parts.

Running a Server (WinVNC)

WinVNC can be running in two ways: in the application mode and as a Windows service. In the application mode, the server can be running only during the current user session, and will close on the logout. To start WinVNC in the application mode, choose the shortcut Programs->TightVNC->Launch TightVNC Server from the Start menu.

To make a machine accessible even if there is no user logged in, and to make the server start automatically after reboot, the TightVNC server should be running as a Windows service. To install WinVNC service, choose Programs->TightVNC->Administration->Install VNC Service. In Windows 95/98/ME that will start the service immediately, while in Windows NT/2000/XP you'll have to start the service manually using the Services item in the Control Panel (or it will be started automatically on the next system reboot). Note that if the VNC service was started manually, you may have to run Programs->TightVNC->Administration->Run Service Helper, to make WinVNC display its tray icon (see below).

Regardless of the way WinVNC was started, it will show the Properties window on the first startup, to let you enter the password you will use in the viewer to access the machine. In default configuration, each user can have his own separate WinVNC password, and there is a special default password which should be used when nobody is logged in on the server machine. To set the user password, just access the Properties dialog the usual way, as described below. However, to set the default password, you will have to run Programs->TightVNC->Administration->Show Default Settings.

On successful startup, TightVNC will add a small icon to the tray in the system task bar. The icon has white background if there is no viewers connected, and inverted colors when at least one viewer accesses the desktop. Moving the mouse over this icon shows the IP address of the machine (which can be entered in the remote viewer to access the server).

A normal icon of the TightVNC server	Mouse over the icon shows IP addresses
Inverted colors when a viewer is connected	New client connections are disabled

Right-clicking on the tray icon will bring up a menu with the following options on it:

• Properties - This will cause the Properties dialog to be displayed, allowing the user to change various WinVNC parameters. This dialog will also be displayed on double-clicking the tray icon.
• Add New Client - This allows outgoing connections to be made from the server to any viewer started in the "listening" mode. The name of the target viewer machine and optional display number can be entered in the dialog. Connections created this way are treated as shared. Such so called "reverse connections" can also be initiated from the command line using the -connect option.
• Kill All Clients - This will disconnect all currently connected clients from the server.
• Disable New Clients - This will disable new client connection to the server, and a red border will appear around the WinVNC icon. Choose the same menu item to re-enable new client connections.
• About WinVNC - Show the "About..." box.
• Close - Shutdown the server.

Most of the options found in the Properties dialog are documented in the official VNC documentation. In TightVNC Properties dialog, you can find an additional "Advanced" button. Unlike the standard VNC, TightVNC allows you to set a number of advanced settings directly from the WinVNC GUI, and to apply changed settings immediately. There is no need to launch regedit to set query options, connection priority, allow loopback connections, or disable the HTTP server etc.

Running a Viewer

To view and control a remote desktop where a TightVNC server is running, you need to run the TightVNC viewer. Choose one of the following shortcuts under Start->Programs->TightVNC to run the viewer:

• TightVNC Viewer (Best Compression) - Use this shortcut if your network connection to the server is slow, e.g. in the case of 56Kbps modem connection. This will enable Tight encoding with JPEG compression at the lowest image quality, consuming minimum of the bandwidth available. Note that you can edit the shortcut to tune the compression and JPEG quality levels.
• TightVNC Viewer (Fast Compression) - This shortcut is more suitable for high-speed networks, e.g. when using TightVNC over a 10Mbit or 100Mbit LAN.
• TightVNC Viewer (Listen Mode) - This starts the viewer in the listen mode. The viewer's icon will appear in the system tray, and it will accept reverse connections from TightVNC servers (see above the description of the WinVNC "Add New Client" menu item). The rest of this document does not cover the listen mode.

After you have started the viewer, you will be prompted for the host name and optional display number of the remote server you want to access. The display number typically will be :0 if the remote server is WinVNC and you did not change its default settings. If there was no display number entered, the viewer assumes it to be :0. After entering the host name and the display number, click OK, and you will be prompted for your password, after which you should see the remote display. If the machine running the server does not have a proper DNS entry, you probably won't be able to use the computer name and will have to type in its IP address. (Note that the TightVNC server displays the IP address when the mouse is passing over its tray icon.)

Using a Web Browser as a Viewer

The VNC servers also contain a small Web server. If you connect to it with a web browser, the Java version of the viewer will be downloaded automatically, allowing you to access the remote desktop. Obviously, your Web browser must support Java applets. Also, you should not use a proxy, to let the Java applet access the remote server directly.

The server listens for HTTP connections on port 5800 + display number. (Remember a WinVNC machine defaults to the display 0.) So to connect to the display 2 on machine "myhost", you would point your web browser at: http://myhost:5802/ . The applet will prompt you for your password, and should then display the desktop.

Uninstalling TightVNC

TightVNC can be uninstalled using the Add/Remove Programs utility under the Control Panel, but it's also ok to remove the directory you have installed it into (typically, C:\Program Files\TightVNC). Note that the TightVNC installation program does not copy any files into the system directory. Before uninstalling TightVNC, make sure WinVNC is not running and not installed as a service.

References

For additional information on installation and configuration, see the official VNC documentation and FAQ.

If you would like to compile the source yourself, please read instructions in BUILDING.txt and BUILDING-bcc32.txt files included in the source archive. Current release can be compiled either with MS Visual C++ 6.x/7.x or with the free Borland C++ 5.x compiler. In both cases, you have to download Zlib and JPEG libraries separately.