Splashtop Streamer credentials and settings are applied across all Windows or Mac accounts on the computer. The computer can be accessed remotely regardless of which user account is logged in at the time.
For security, the user will be prompted for Windows or Mac credentials before remoting into the computer. This is the default behavior of the deployable Splashtop Streamer. This prompt acts as a gateway to ensure that the remote user has access to the computer. If the remote computer is already signed into the desktop of "User A", and the remote user enters credentials for "User B", they will remote in and see "User A"'s desktop since the computer is already logged into "User A".
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Two installation modes
The standard Splashtop Streamer (the one downloaded from www.splashtop.com) installs in the account-specific mode.
The deployable Splashtop Streamer (the one downloaded from my.splashtop.com, for deployment purposes) installs in the system-wide mode.
The two modes behave differently when there are multiple Windows or Mac user accounts on the computer.
(1) Account-specific mode
In this mode, Splashtop Streamer credentials and settings are specific to the Windows or Mac account from which the Streamer was set up. The Streamer in the other user accounts remain un-configured.
This means the Streamer is accessible remotely only if the corresponding Windows or Mac account is logged in. If a different Windows or Mac user account is logged in, the computer will not be accessible remotely.
This is the default behavior of the standard Splashtop Streamer (the one downloaded from www.splashtop.com).
(2) System-wide mode
Splashtop Streamer credentials and settings are applied across all Windows or Mac accounts on the computer. The computer can be accessed remotely regardless of which user account is logged in at the time.
For security reasons, the user will be prompted for Windows or Mac credentials.
This is the default behavior of the deployable Splashtop Streamer.
Background
Traditionally, Splashtop Streamer credentials and settings only apply to the specific Windows or Mac account from which it was set up. The settings do not automatically apply to all user accounts on the computer.
For example, let's say a Windows computer has three Windows accounts, for users A, B, and C. User A logs into his Windows account and enters his Splashtop ID/password into the Streamer. That Streamer ID/password is only applied in user A's Windows account. The Streamer in users B and C's Windows accounts remain un-configured.
When the computer is logged in with user A's Windows account, user A can remotely access his computer just fine. However, when the computer is logged in with user B or user C's Windows account, user A will not be able to remotely access his computer. The computer will appear as offline. This prevents Splashtop from being used as a backdoor to access other computer users' accounts.
This behavior becomes an inconvenience when Splashtop is used as an admin tool, to remotely manage a computer regardless of which user is logged in. The admin must manually configure Splashtop Streamer in each of the multiple user accounts on the computer.
This is the reason for using the system-wide mode for the deployable Splashtop Streamer, as described above. Admin only needs to configure Splashtop Streamer once, in his Windows or Mac admin account. Security is maintained by requiring Windows credentials to be entered before remote access can continue.
Moving to system-wide mode
On a computer that does not have any version of Streamer installed
Just install the deployable Streamer. It will automatically install in the system-wide mode.
On a computer that already has a Streamer installed
The deployable Streamer will inherit the mode of the existing Streamer, which will likely be account-specific mode. In that case, Streamer will remain account-specific.
To migrate a computer from account-specific Streamer to system-wide
Uninstall the current Streamer, then install the deployable Streamer.
Both the uninstallation of the existing streamer and the installation of the deployable streamer can be done easily via command line.