Remote Desktop Viewer doesn't update the image

I am trying to use the Remote Desktop Viewer on my laptop to connect to my desktop, which I have configured with Remote Desktop preferences. But it fails to update the screen shot image, making it useless.

What can I do to speed it up and actually have usable Remote Desktop?

Any applications I can install on either/both sides to do it?

Sounds like you have compiz enabled on your desktop which is what's causing the lack of screen refresh. There's an option you can enable on the server side (in your case the desktop) - that is, the machine you wish to control, which will fix this.

ALT+F2 -> gconf-editor -> Run

Navigate to /desktop/gnome/remote_access Tick the box next to disable_xdamage Reconnect to the desktop via VNC and it should refresh the screen fine.

You can try changing the client and the server for a better experience. As far as as client is concerned, the remmina client is a much better performer than vinagre and if you are use facing problems with vino then try tightvncserver. Both Are available via synaptic or USC.

I personally prefer Team viewer,it's a computer software package for remote control, desktop sharing, and file transfer between computers. The software operates with Microsoft Windows,Linux based OS & Mac OS X, and is able to function while the computers are protected by firewalls and NAT proxy....

Installing Team viewer:

For Ubuntu,you can download teamviewer here. Once downloading is completed, you can install it easily by double clicking the file.After installation you can find team viwer under the Internet Menu.

Open the Team Viwer:

Applications -- >>Internet -->> Team Viwer

Before establishing the remote desktop connection,you must know the ID and Password of the remote system which is running Team Viwer.After getting the ID and Password from your partner.Enter the ID and click connect to partner, with in few seconds it will show a window prompting for a password.Enter the password which you got from your partner and click ok.

Now you are connected to remote sytem.

If you have good internet connectivity there are lot of applications you can use. Some of my favorites are:

1). teamviewer: TeamViewer connects to any PC or server around the world within a few seconds It supports linux,mac,windows and iphone. So you can access linux desktop from windows and vice versa.

2). Skype: Nowadays skype also started to provide screen sharing. skype also supports multiplatform

3). empathy: The default chat client in ubuntu.

[UPDATE]: Empathy and Skype are available at software center.