ack! the horror!

And turning my router off and on again fixed it. It took three chat sessions, and two successively escalated phone calls to arrive at this. To be fair, I had plenty of time to come up with this solution on my own and failed to do so. Turned everything else in the house except for the fridge off and on again before contacting tech support, but not the router. Oh, well. Next time I'll know.

Typing on my new logitech keyboard from my Galaxy tab. Works well. i'm going to try remote contorl to see if Microsoft word is easier to use via remote control on my desktop compared to sitting directly at my computer. is realvnc overkill for this. Is there a standard more user friendly app that will do the same thing, or is RealVnc fine. The reviews seem to suggest that it works great but is slightly user hostile to install.

Oh and how do close stuff on his machine. I downloaded the manual and opened it in Hnncome PDF viewer. But I don't really wnat to leave the manual and the viewer open for the entire life of he machine.

Is that on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4? What Android version?

Eh, the detail probably doesn't matter. Try a long press on the middle (home) button. Does that display a list of open apps (task switcher) and a task manager button?

VNC is a classic bit definitely not designed for user friendliness. I have taken to using TeamViewer for remote desktopping; I don't think you can view the tablet from the computer but it should work well for viewing the computer from the tablet which is I think your goal. Both should work though. TeamViewer is easier for connections from a distance since it handles the connection and you don't née an IP or anything.

Thanks. Sounds like teamviewer is the way to gp.

I can attest Teamviewer cannot access an android device or iPad remotely, but it does work well the other way around.

I do wish for a mouse when using it from a phone, though. Lots and lots of scrolling.

Speaking of which, has anyone come across something that will remotely share an android or iPad desktop?

Last time I looked, the Google-fu was not with me.

For android, vnc works both directions. You can install clients or servers on android devices. The difficulties you encounter are interface related: there is no real way to simulate multitouch gestures with a mouse and keyboard, so some fairly crucial actions are impossible from the desktop. Like pinch to zoom for example.

TeamViewer does have an option for controlling android, called TeamViewer quicksupport. It doesn't run all the time though - you have to turn it on manually - so it doesn't really work for many use cases. It is designed for giving somebody else remote access to your device while you are with it, for support purposes. I had my mother in law install it and it let me control her phone remotely to fix an issue, for example.

I have no idea about iThings. It seems likely that the more locked down nature of it would make it harder for third part programs to so this but maybe I am wrong. Try VNC as your first look.