Reach a Windows PC when nobody is there

Set it up on the computer you will reach

1. Install the AcrossView app for Windows and open it.
2. Open Settings (the menu at the top right) and find Unattended access. Press Set a password and choose a long one; it is never sent anywhere and never shown again.
3. Choose how the app keeps running:
   • Start with Windows (on by default when you set a password): the app starts when this account signs in and waits near the clock. Enough for a PC that is always signed in.
   • Install as a service (needs an administrator once): the PC is reachable after a restart and at the Windows sign-in screen, and you can send Ctrl+Alt+Del. This is what you want for servers and shop computers.
4. Note the computer's 9-digit ID from the front of the app, or press Invite… to send yourself a link.

Connect from your computer

1. In your own AcrossView app, or at acrossview.com/connect, enter the ID.
2. Open "Connect with an unattended-access password", enter the password, and tick "remember" if this is your own computer.
3. You are in, with mouse and keyboard, even at the sign-in screen. Nobody at the far end needs to do anything; if someone is there, they see a notice that you connected with the password, and can end the session.

Add the computer to your address book with a name. The book shows an online dot for each computer, so you know before you try.

Keeping it safe

• Wrong passwords pause unattended access on that computer for a while, so it cannot be guessed.
• Use a different password per computer. The password is stored only as a hash on that PC.
• The computer's owner can turn unattended access off, change the password, or quit AcrossView from the icon near the clock at any time.
• Every connection is end-to-end encrypted and recorded in our connection log (who, when, how long), never its content.