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Versão portuguesa: user-guide.pt-PT.md

AegiDesk lets you view, and with permission control, another computer. The person at that computer always decides whether you may connect.

Current version: Windows to Windows, on the local network or by ID through a server. Everything below is done in the AegiDesk window. When you connect to another computer, its screen opens in a separate viewer window (it will move into the main window in a later version).

Installing

1. Unzip AegiDesk-<version>-win64.zip into a full folder, for example in your user folder. Keep all the files together: AegiDesk will not start properly if aegidesk_engine.dll is missing or has been quarantined by your antivirus. If that happens it shows a message with the expected location; unzip the package again.
2. Open AegiDesk.exe.
3. The first time the computer starts receiving connections, Windows Firewall asks for permission. Allow private networks only.

The home screen

• This computer's ID (top left): the number other people use to find this computer. Click Copy to copy it.
• Below it, the state of the computer: Ready to receive connections, Connections paused, or In a session with…, plus the computer name, Unattended access (off) and the Server state.
• Connect to another computer (right): type the remote computer's ID and click Connect. Tick Request mouse and keyboard control if you want to ask for control; the other person can still allow view only.
• Recent: computers you connected to and computers found on your network now. Click one to connect.

Letting someone connect to you

1. Leave AegiDesk running. The state reads Ready to receive connections.
2. Give the other person your ID, by phone or in person.
3. When they ask to connect, a dialog shows their device name, address, whether the device is new or known, and a verification code. Ask the other person to read the code on their screen. Click Allow only if it matches and you expected the request. Ignoring the dialog denies the request after 60 seconds. The dialog appears even when the AegiDesk window is hidden.
   • Tick Remember this device to recognise it next time. You will still be asked every time.
   • Block this device refuses all its future requests without asking.
   • If control was requested you can allow view only or view and control.
4. While someone is connected, the home screen says who, and whether they can see or also control the computer. A banner at the bottom right has Stop control and End session.

Viewing another computer

1. On the home screen type the other computer's ID (or pick it under Recent) and click Connect.
2. A verification code appears. Read it to the other person: their dialog shows the same code. If the codes differ, disconnect.
3. Wait for the other person to accept. A new tab opens in the AegiDesk window and shows their screen. While it connects, the tab shows the connection state and the verification code. Your plan limits how many sessions can be open at once (one on Free and Pro, three on Business); beyond that AegiDesk tells you the limit instead of connecting.
4. The toolbar at the top of the session has:
   • the connection chip (encrypted and verified, with latency); click it for the computer's fingerprint, resolution, frames per second, bitrate and encode/decode times;
   • Control / View only: control can be paused and resumed with Ctrl+Alt+F8. If the other person allowed view only, the toolbar says so and you cannot send input;
   • Screen n of m (Ctrl+Alt+F2 for the next one): switch the remote monitor, or All screens when your plan includes multi-monitor. Plugging or unplugging a monitor on the other computer updates the list;
   • Keys: Start menu, switch window, task manager, close window and screenshot, sent to the other computer. Ctrl+Alt+Del is shown disabled (it needs the AegiDesk service, coming soon);
   • Files and Clipboard: shown disabled, coming soon;
   • Full screen (and Exit full screen). In full screen, Windows keys such as Win and Alt+Tab go to the other computer while you control it.
   • Ctrl+Alt+F5 refreshes the image.
5. Full screen and other monitors. When you click on another monitor of your own while in full screen, AegiDesk either keeps the session visible or hides it automatically (minimises it and gives the keyboard back to you). Choose under Settings > General > In full screen, when clicking another screen; the toolbar can override it for the current session only.
6. Close the tab to disconnect. If the network drops, AegiDesk reconnects by itself and the other person has to accept again.
7. Home shows the last picture of each recent computer as a blurred thumbnail. It is stored encrypted on this PC only and removed when you forget the computer.

You only need to verify a computer the first time. AegiDesk remembers it and warns you if its identity ever changes.

The tray icon and closing the window

• Closing the AegiDesk window (the X) hides it next to the clock; AegiDesk keeps receiving connections. Click the icon to open it again. In Settings > General you can choose Quit instead.
• Right-click the icon for: Open AegiDesk, Copy my ID, Accept connections (turn off to pause), End all sessions and Quit.
• Starting AegiDesk a second time just brings the running window forward.
• Quit ends the program. If a session is active you are asked to confirm.
• Start with Windows (Settings > General) only appears for an installed copy of AegiDesk, not for one run from an unzipped folder.

Settings

Open them with the gear at the top right.

• General: language, theme, start with Windows, what the X does.
• Security: who can ask to access this computer.
  • Accept connections: turn off so nobody can ask.
  • Allow control, Known devices only and Allow outside the local network (read the warning before turning this on).
  • Geographic restriction: Limit by country and a list of countries or zones (for example PT or EU). It applies to connections that arrive through the server, using the country the server sees. With the list empty, only the local network is allowed. Every request still needs your permission.
  • During a session, or while a request dialog is open, access can only be reduced. During a session the options that widen it are disabled until the session ends; while a request dialog is open such a change is refused with a message. Blocking a device always works. The command-line admin commands (aegidesk devices, known-hosts, server, license) change the stored settings directly and are not bound by this rule; they need a command prompt on this computer, under your Windows account.
• Devices: remembered and blocked devices (forget, block, unblock) and the computers you have verified.
• Access log: recent requests and changes, newest first, with filters.
• Server: the server that lets others find you by ID outside your network. The default is ping.aegidesk.com; under Advanced you can use your own server with its public key, and restore the default. If the server cannot be reached, the home screen says Unavailable, local network only and connections on your network keep working. A package built without a default server shows Not set up.
• Licence: your plan and its limits; install or remove a licence file.
• About: version, third-party notices and your data folder.

Privacy and security

• Connections are encrypted end to end, and both computers prove their identity.
• Without a server, nothing goes through external computers. With a server, it only introduces the two computers or relays encrypted data it cannot read.
• Every request and session is recorded on the shared computer (Settings > Access log).
• If you see "identity has changed", don't continue. Check with the owner of that computer.
• If AegiDesk ever finds its access settings damaged, it resets them to the safest state (Connections paused) and records it in the access log. Open Settings > Security and turn Accept connections back on yourself.

Troubleshooting