Hi my home PC is far more powerful than my work PC and I'd like to know the easiest way to control it from work over the internet. Thanks!
team viewer or logmein. i find teamviewer to be quicker but logmein is very handy too and ive used it for years. Also like Hamachi for "LAN gaming"
Logmein, works in browsers and great if you don't have a static IP and want to configure remote access
Would logmein be suitable for trouble shooting issues on my mums, and bros pc? They both call me with support queries and this would be great
As long as you're booted into windows, logmein takes full control of the pc, I use it to monitor families PC's
awesome. Im going over to mums this week, so do i just install on both pcs to set it up? Il go do some reading
If you have Windows Professional edition (or Business if you run Vista), you can use something far better than all of that: Windows remote desktop part of Windows. You can open it on any Windows PC, type in your home PC IP, and connect it. Home Premium has only a Viewer, while Professional and up has the host and viewer. The host is not a software that you need to run, it's part of Windows. Setup (home PC) -> Configure your router, to redirect port: 3389 to the computer you want to connect to. -> Access Windows system properties of the computer that you want to connect, and on the left side column, click on "Remote settings". A panel will show, select "Allow connection...". You have 2 of them. The first one is for all version of Windows, and the second one is for Vista/Win7 OS and up. So if at work you use Win2000 or XP, select the "less secure" one, the first one (Vista and win7 system will be able to connect as well). If at work you run on Vista or Win7, select the second one, for added security (Win2000/XP won't be able to connect). I recommend, for simplicity sakes, to pick the "less secure". Now all you need, is to have your current account have a password, if it does not already when you log-in. Once setup, you are good to go. If you don't have a static IP, or changes too often which will be hard to remember to write down before going to work, you can use gmail. Gmail log's IP addresses of everyone that connects to your account. So assuming you check your e-mail the morning before work, at work, you can access gmail, and at the bottom of the page, click on "details", and you have a lost of all the latest IP address and time of log-in. Pick the one that you were at home, and paste it in remote desktop, and connect away. The cool thing with remote desktop, is that: -> It's secure -> No software to install on either side -> Works on any Windows starting from Windows 2000 -> Powerful and great performance. -> Works on User Account dialog boxes -> And as it's part of Windows, it knows when dialog boxes appears and stuff like that, not causing you drawing problems. For any remote desktop software you use, remember that your computer needs to turned on, and awake to connect to it. The computer will not wake up as you connect.
My computer is win7 ultimate. The computers I wish to connect too are win7 hp, and winxp. Its the first step in your post I dont understand, how do I know what to put as the pc I want to connect too?
Which is why most suggest Logmein, I used to use remote desktop when I had multiple static IP's. The hassle of checking your current IP on gmail, configure router etc is extra hassle, plus does your work PC have remote desktop installed. Logmein also allows wake on lan so once you set that up you can leave PC in sleep mode, although not got this running myself Each to their own here but I would suggest try Logmein for a start and see if it meets your needs
Ok so your work computer is Win7 Ultimate, and the computer that you want to connect to, is Home Premium. That won't work with Windows Remote Desktop, because there is no host client with that edition of Windows. You can only connect to other PC's that uses thePro edition and up If XP is Pro edition, than that would work. It's exactly how you configure your router to have proper multiplayer games support. 1- Open Command Prompt (Start > type: cmd, and open cmd), on the computer you want to be able to connect to. Type in the command prompt: ipconfig, hit Enter. This will give you your network IP address. Usually 192.168.1.100. What interest you is the last set of digit (1000, in this example), this your ID of your computer in your network. 2- Go to your router configuration panel, and under "Port redirection" section, or also called "Games & Applications" or "Single port redirection" (all depends on your router). Something like this: Enter port 3389, and then your last digit group of your computer network IP address. In this case "100". Remember that this your network IP address, you won't be able to connect to it in remote desktop, if you enter it, when you are outside your network. As they are million of 192.168.1.xxx (or another set of possible home network IP address 10.10.2.x) This is your real IP address: http://www.google.com/search?q=ip&i...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a (Notice the first line of Google: "Your public IP address is: ", that is the number of your real IP address) Now that was the "hard" part (the same part you do for any port opening to allow full multilayer game support, anything you need to open port too for full performance, and be able to host stuff like games matches) Second step, is that you want to get here, and use the following options: Third and final step, you need a password when you log-in to your account. You need to set one, IF your don't have one already. If you do have one, then good. As you'll need this to log-in to your computer. If no password is set, Windows disables the remote desktop feature for security reasons. Yea, good luck with that. Of course it does, it COMES WITH WINDOWS. -> All editions have the viewer (allows you to connect to other PC's running Windows) -> Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate can host (can be connected too from the outside) All you have to do is Start > type (or look in All Programs software list): Remote, and select Remote Desktop. USUALLY, your IP address doesn't change until a you disconnect from the web. That means had a power surge, or your modem received a firmware update from your Internet Service Provider, or you unplug it, and plug it back. So your IP is always the same, until the above. hat is why I recommended the gmail approach, in the case you are at work, and you can't connect you have a way to get your last IP address.
For me it's logmein too. And the best part of it that it doesn't need any assistance in creating the remote session. First time you need to install it on your system and that's it. You can control you computer from anywhere and it's much faster then of other as of my experience.
Alternatively - Get a router that supports vpn tunneling. I have a draytek 2830n, and realistically, even if your not on static IP, your IP very rarely changes. I haven't had to change my vpn settings in months. All my pc's in the house are set to wake on lan, I can vpn to my home network, and wake any of the pc's, then i use mstsc and just remote desktop. Its much better than logmein if you can be bothered to set up your network in order to accomodate.
Be aware that LogMeIn or GotoMyPC involve the "managed" PC being connected to the provider continuously and all communications are routed via them (so they could eavesdrop on traffic or, worst case, use their software to hijack the managed PC). Using software that doesn't route via a third party is more secure - Windows' Remote Desktop (as GoodBytes has mentioned above) is one option. VNC (and derivates like UltraVNC) are another and allow you to configure multiple security options (traffic encryption, password, prompting user before allowing access).
If you are feeling up to the challenge, SSH can be an awesome tool. i don't know about a Windows version, but here in the stable land of Ubuntu it works a treat. Or did work a treat until the IT staff caught on and blocked it in the firewall.
+1 to LogMeIn, I use it all the time. Remote Desktop is a great solution too, it's more technical to configure but it is also more robust as it doesn't add any additional weight to the environment. I use a blend of the two for my clients. I also use CrossLoop, but without the pro version it requires interaction on both ends, it's based on TightVNC which in my opinion is less stable than LogMeIn's drivers or RDP. If I was going to pay for something, it'd be LogMeIn hands down. RDP is also more secure, since the connection is direct between two PCs and doesn't go through any internet servers. If you're setting up RDP, I'd recommend setting up a VPN connection as well, opposed to port forwarding. How you would set up a VPN connection depends on your hardware. Using your router would be the best solution, but requires that your router support VPN connections. You could also use OpenVPN.
