Connecting Without Notification

 

The MRC program connects the MRC user to the actual desktop console of the remote machine interactively.  If a user is currently logged into the Operating System of the remote machine, the MRC user will be on that user's desktop as well.

 

There is not a “stealth mode” within the MRC, but there are some notification settings that can be adjusted that should provide the functionality of connecting to a remote machine without the currently logged on user noticing.  

 

***Note: Only an MRC user with Administrator rights within the Operating System security of the remote machine can modify the settings necessary to connect to a remote machine undetected.  

 

The following are settings within the MRC Client Agent Service on the remote machine:

 

1.  Disable the "Enable SysTray icon" setting on the Additional Settings tab to not show the MRC SysTray icon.

2.  Disable the "Notify on Connection" setting on the Notify Dialog tab to not show the notification dialog during a connection,

3.  Disable the "Enable Simple File Transfer (SFT)" setting on the Simple File Transfer tab to not show the SFT Menu when the user right-clicks on a file or folder.

 

More information on all the aforementioned settings of the MRC Client Agent Service can be found in the Help Topic entitled, "Settings" in the MRC Client Agent Service section.

 

 

There are also some settings within the MRC Application on that should be modified:

 

1. Enable the "View Only" setting so that no cursor movements are sent to the remote machine accidentally.

2. Disable the Desktop Effects which, by default are turned off for performance reasons.  All Desktop Effects (i.e. Wallpaper, Font Smoothing, etc.) will be turned off on the remote machine when an MRC connection is established.

 

Both of these MRC Application settings are unique to each individual Saved Host Entry (select a Host Entry and click the Settings button), so they can be different for every machine in the Saved Host List.  Modifying these settings in the Default Host Properties dialog (View | Default Host Properties) will allow these settings to be inherited when a new host entry is created.  If the Local Global Options are configured to "Prompt for Update Existing Host Entries" the MRC user will also be given the option to apply these new Default Host Properties to the existing Saved Host Entries.

 

Because Microsoft has some documented issues with multi-monitors, mirror drivers, and bitmap wallpaper in Operating Systems prior to Vista, machines utilizing multiple monitors present a unique challenge.  The wallpaper will always be disabled when connecting to a remote machine with multiple monitors using the MRC Mirror Driver.  Microsoft has corrected these issues in the Vista Operating System, but not in XP and prior.  However, if this is the case, simply disable the “Use MRC Mirror Driver” checkbox in the Remote Connect dialog before attempting the MRC connection.

 

More information on the MRC Application settings including the Default Host Properties can be found in the Help Topic entitled, "View Menu" in the Main MRC Application Window section.

 

Note: There are restrictions of the MRC program while it is in Evaluation mode that prevent undetected connections.  They are the following:

 

*The Notify Dialog displays the text "Evaluation" when you connect, and cannot be closed.  

*The MRC SysTray icon cannot be hidden.  

*All options are made available in the MRC SysTray icon's right-click context menu.

 

Other than these three limitations, the MRC program will function as it does after it is purchased and activated.