Remote support without installing software

Remote support without installing software means the person being helped does not download an agent, and the technician can join from a browser. DeskZap, remote access software from Hot Rocket Software LTD (UK), does the attended case with a 9-digit code and no customer account, and lets the operator open a managed computer in the browser.

The phrase gets abused. Some products mean 'no install' and then hand the customer a portable program to run. Some mean the technician uses a browser while the customer still installs a host. Some mean both sides already have the software from last year. The useful test is narrower: on this call, with this stranger, how many files do they have to run before you can see the screen?

Zero-install support

Zero-install support: the person receiving help does not download or run a program to start the session. They identify themselves to the technician with a code or a prompt they already have open. If you email them a file called 'support.exe', it is not zero-install, even if the file does not appear in Apps & features afterwards.

Browser session

Browser session: the technician joins from Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, with no desktop client on the laptop they happen to be using. DeskZap, remote access software from Hot Rocket Software LTD (UK), describes this as connecting from a modern browser to a managed computer over WebRTC and WebCodecs, with no desktop install for the operator (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026). The computer being viewed already runs Host.

Agent

Agent: software that stays on the computer and accepts later connections. DeskZap Host is that agent, and it is the right install when you will come back. It is the wrong first step for a caller you may never see again.

Google's Chrome Remote Desktop help page, in British English, is precise. To share a computer the person opens remotedesktop.google.com/support, clicks Download under Get support, installs Chrome Remote Desktop, generates a code, and sends it. The helper enters the code in the browser. The code works once. If sharing continues, the person is asked to confirm every 30 minutes. Sessions are described as fully encrypted. Google also says it collects anonymised data about network delay and how long the session lasted (Google Chrome Help, checked October 2026).

So the helper can stay in the browser. The person being helped cannot. The install is step 3 of Google's own list, before a code exists. That is a reasonable design for a computer you will reach again. It is a poor opening line when the caller is already stuck.

Microsoft Quick Assist is closer to a code flow, and it still has an install story. The current app is delivered from the Microsoft Store. Windows 11 includes the WebView2 runtime it needs. Windows 10 may have to add that runtime. The helper needs a Microsoft account or Entra ID. The sharer does not authenticate. Both sides must reach Microsoft's remote assistance service on port 443. The helper shares a time-limited code, the sharer clicks Allow, and control is a second prompt (Microsoft Learn, Quick Assist, page dated 18 August 2025, checked October 2026). macOS Quick Assist is only for Microsoft Support interactions. There are no roles and no policies. Microsoft says it cannot view the session and does not keep sharer or helper data for longer than three days.

Quick Assist is a strong answer for a Windows PC inside an organisation that already accepts Microsoft accounts for helpers. It is not a browser session for the technician's guest laptop, and it is not a host you leave on a till. DeskZap is the product that separates those jobs on purpose: a code when someone is there, Host when the machine must stand alone, and the browser when the operator should not install Connect on the machine in front of them.

Read the row, then do the DeskZap action. Product behaviour is from the features page, checked October 2026.

Row: First call, person at the screen, you may never return. Action: Quick Support Code. Nine digits, five minutes, no customer account, no customer install.

Row: Technician is on a borrowed laptop. Action: browser client to a computer that already runs Host. No Connect install on that laptop.

Row: You will patch this PC every month. Action: install Host once, put it in a device group, connect later without a code.

Row: Customer says a popup told them to run a remote-support file. Action: stop. Ask them to close it. Start again from a code you initiated. CISA's AA23-025A describes help-desk phishing that led people to download real remote-access tools.

Row: You need two named technicians on the same queue. Action: Business plan, £7 per user per month or £70 per year, with multi-user management. Do not share one login to 'keep it simple'.

Row: You need a record after the call. Action: read the activity log. Session recording with retention, part of DeskZap Support, adds a replay of the call.

Row: The caller uses a Mac and the tool you were about to suggest is Quick Assist. Action: use the DeskZap code. Quick Assist on macOS is limited to Microsoft Support calls (Microsoft Learn, checked October 2026).

CISA, the NSA and MS-ISAC published advisory AA23-025A, revised 26 January 2023, about criminals who phished people into downloading legitimate remote monitoring tools. The advisory names ScreenConnect (now ConnectWise Control) and AnyDesk. The programs were often portable executables: they ran in the user context, needed no administrator install, and so slipped past controls that only watch the installer. The same advisory says this pattern is not limited to those two brands. Any legitimate remote-access tool can be abused the same way (CISA AA23-025A, checked October 2026).

That is the reason a help desk should not train customers to run whatever file a caller sends. The NCSC's small organisations guide, published 9 April 2026 and reviewed 21 July 2026, says 1 in 2 small businesses suffer a cyber incident every year, and that security is everyone's job, not one person's (NCSC, checked October 2026). A five-minute code that your own technician asks for, on a call the customer started, is a different habit from 'please download this'.

DeskZap, remote access software from Hot Rocket Software LTD (UK), is designed around that habit. The customer does not get a file. They get a code that dies in five minutes. Operators are named people, with TOTP two-factor authentication, and an invite can limit a contractor to one device group (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026). The activity log shows the session afterwards. You still tell customers the rule Microsoft prints for Quick Assist: do not approve a connection unless you started the request yourself.

The browser client is not magic access to a PC that has never heard of you. It reaches a managed computer, one that already runs DeskZap Host, over WebRTC and WebCodecs. The operator does not install the desktop Connect app on their side (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026). That is the win on a home visit, a locked-down laptop, or a day when Connect is not the machine you have.

The customer's one-off path is the code, not the browser-to-Host path. Keep them separate in the script you give the desk.

1. New caller: ask them to open the support prompt.

2. Have them read the nine digits.

3. Stay on the line until the screen is shared.

4. Known machine: open the browser, pick the device, and connect.

If you mix the scripts, people start emailing installers again.

Host still gets installed, once, on the machines you mean to keep. Silent routes exist for that rollout: MSI, MDM and shell (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026). One planned install for thirty office PCs is not the same as thirty customers each running a file during a panic. USB redirection and pen support, which pass a security key, scanner or stylus into a session, are part of DeskZap Support. They are not required for a browser support session.

One operator can run codes and up to two managed computers on Starter at £5 per user per month or £50 per year. The 7-day trial is that set of features (DeskZap pricing page, checked October 2026). Use the trial on a real call: one code with a colleague playing the customer, and one browser connection to a PC that already has Host.

A desk of four is Business: 4 times £7 = £28 per month, or 4 times £70 = £280 per year, with up to 10 managed computers per operator. That is 40 machines before Advanced. Advanced, at £10 per user per month or £100 per year, adds no concurrent session limit, an API, webhooks, and the option to run the relay yourself. You do not need Advanced to stop emailing installers.

The buying point is the call script. Chrome Remote Desktop's published support steps include an install on the customer's computer. Quick Assist's published steps include a Store app and a Microsoft account for the helper. DeskZap's published attended steps are a 9-digit code, five minutes, no customer account and no customer install, with the browser there for the operator who is reaching a machine you already manage. Prices and the trial are on per-operator pricing. The two flows are on browser access and Quick Support Codes. The comparison with Google's product is in the Chrome Remote Desktop alternative.