Lost ability to remotely connect to office PC with TeamViewer

Question

I have TeamViewer installed on my work computer and my home computer. Up until recently I was able to access my work PC through TeamViewer, with no problem and could work away. Over the past week however, when I try to log into my work PC, I get the following message:

Team Viewer not running on partner computer

and I have to get someone in the office to physically log me in.

The issue is Team Viewer is running on my PC at work and is never switched off. This happens within 2 hours of me leaving the office.

Is there any way to fix this? I've never had this issue before. Also, other staff have TeamViewer on their PCs and they do not have this issue.

Solution

For any kind of remote desktop access (over the Internet) to be permanently available, the following conditions must be met:

• It must be available while the PC is locked or you’re not signed in
• The PC must not enter any power saving mode (except S1)
• The PC must be permanently connected to the Internet

TeamViewer is only concerned with the first condition. In TeamViewer’s main window, there is a “checklist” of sorts to help you set up unattended access:

• Start TeamViewer with Windows

  Obviously required. Otherwise, it is only available when signed in.

• Assign device to account

  Although the TeamViewer ID doesn’t usually change, it’s much more robust to use an account.

• Grant easy access

  Not strictly required, but useful with an account. You don’t have to enter the password to connect.

Start setting up unattended access in the “Connection” menu, using the “Setup unattended access...” item. It will automatically set TeamViewer to start with Windows.

You’re probably missing one of the steps or your PC is entering a power saving mode.

Comments

[Admin]

So I assume the PC you want to connect to is properly set up for unattended remote access? Why is using Windows RDP not an option?

[Admin]

Hi Daniel, thank you for your response. I am not sure if my pc is set up for nattended remote access to be honest (i am not computer savvy at all) How can i check this?- I have been trying to access via remote desktop but i can only access the network and not my actual computer and am unable to access my files etc. I am not sure what RDP means?

[Admin]

RDP is Windows’ native remote desktop protocol. It is available by default, but requires a direct connection, unlike TeamViewer. There’s an Unattended Access checklist in the lower left of TeamViewer’s main window.

[Admin]

yes, i've seen the Unattended Access link before - will that allow me to access the partner pc if it goes into sleep mode? - this issue only started happening in the last 2 weeks - i have to get someone in the office to physically log me in - i can't work otherwise.

[Admin]

No. Sleep mode has to be disabled. All in all, this sounds like a problem your company’s IT dept needs to solve. For all employees.

[Admin]

I got IT to check it out and they checked it out also and said there is no reason it should be powering down like that - they haven't changed any settings, and it's not happening to anyone else within the company. They did however, set the the sleep mode after 30mins so i will disable this.

[Bella2016]

Thank you so much - i will try this in the morning. i do think the pc enters power saving mode... I will check and change as per above - it's strange that it just happened all of a sudden though

[Bella2016]

is there a way to stop the pc entering power saving mode?

[Daniel B]

Well, disabling it of course. Just type “Power Options” in the Start menu and select “Change when the computer sleeps” from the sidebar. If you can’t change these options, contact the IT dept.

[Bella2016]

ok - thank you - i'll will try that. - thank you for taking the time to help me out with this i am very grateful :)