Help : Getting Started

Here is a step-by-step detailed walkthrough of what to expect when you first run NextDesk.

1. When you click the 'launch' button, you should see Java Web Start burst into life. You may need to accept a question regarding a digital signature. Please accept. This happens because NextDesk requires access to your Desktop in order for you to be able to drag and drop files. Future versions of NextDesk may no longer require your intervention.

Once Java Web Start gets going, it will download NextDesk:



Once this has happened, you may be asked whether you wish NextDesk to add a shortcut icon to your start menu & desktop. This is recommended, as otherwise you will need to return to the NextDesk website each time you wish to launch NextDesk.


2. Provided that NextDesk downloads successfully, it will start and display the following:



Enter your username and password that you previously registered with the NextDesk website and enter a name for your computer. This will allow you (and others) to distinguish the computers that NextDesk is running on. You only need to enter this information once.


3. NextDesk will then contact the website to confirm your details and register your computer with your account:




4. Provided that everything has worked, you will now see NextDesk appear at the left-hand side of your screen:

NextDesk will slide away to the left after a few seconds. Move your mouse to the left of the screen to make it reappear. There should be a blue circular icon at the top. If this appears red then NextDesk is having trouble communicating with the central NextDesk server. The icon may turn blue after a few seconds if the problem clears. Down at the bottom you can see three icons:   Contacts   Settings   Help You can also see that we are not currently connected to any remote computer running NextDesk.

5. Clicking the 'contacts' button will display a list of known contacts:



Either click your own name and select your computer, or use 'find more contacts' to add friends to your contact list.

Click 'connect' to link up with the selected remote computer, then 'close'.

6. To send a file from your computer to the connected remote computer, drag and drop the file onto NextDesk. If the remote computer is switched on, the remote user will see a popup notification prompting them to look at NextDesk, where they will be asked to accept or reject the file transfer. Provided they accept, the file will pop out onto their desktop.

7. To transfer a snippet of text from a document to the remote computer's clipboard, copy it to the clipboard in the usual way (i.e. Ctrl-C in windows) from the source document, then click on NextDesk and paste (Ctrl-V). You will be asked whether you wish to transfer the clipboard contents to the remote computer. The remote user will be notified when the transfer is complete.

That's it. For more help, consult the NextDesk help system by clicking the help button on NextDesk.