Chuck The Geek.com

How to access PC desktops from wherever you are

August 15th, 2008 by Chuck Sharp

Many people access their computers remotely. Others wish they could. The rest would want to if the idea ever occurred to them. What does it mean to access a Windows PC remotely? In most cases, it means to see an image of the screen and being able to control the PC as if you had access to the keyboard and mouse.

Why would you want this ability? Many reasons:

1. You have to access a program that’s only installed on one PC.
2. You have to access a file or other data only on one PC.
3. You have to access some other resource that’s not available from where you are (internal work servers, for example).
4. You want to keep certain domains of your life separate (work vs personal, for example).
5. You want to access a friend or family PC to fix something.
6. It’s cool. Everybody’s doing it.

I’m sure there are more. There are different options available for remote access depending on the context. Let’s look at three scenarios.

Scenario 1: You want to access one PC from another within your home or work network.

There are 2 slightly techie options for this.

Remote desktop is the best solution when it’s available. It’s fast, fairly feature rich, and works well. It’s available when there are no proxies, firewalls, or NAT devices between computers. If this is one home computer to another, then you’re probably safe. Windows XP Professional or Vista Business is needed as well, Home editions will not work.

VNC is another option. It requires the VNC software installed and running on the connect-to PC, and a client installed on the connect-from PC. It’s not secure, unless you run it with an encryption plugin. For Windows Home editions, VNC is not a bad option. It’s slower and more technical to set up than remote desktop. Two popular variants of VNC are TightVNC and UltraVNC.

Scenario 2: You want to access a PC from the Internet or through a proxy or firewall.

This requires a special service that uses software running on the connect-to PC that allows it to always connect to the PC. The best system I’ve found for this is LogMeIn. LogMeIn allow you, from any web-connected PC, to go to LogMeIn’s website, login, and get access to the remote PC’s desktop. Very simple, very effective, and efficient too. As long as you choose to install the free version of LogMeIn, it’s free to use for life.

Scenario 3: You want to share another person’s PC desktop and collaborate on a project, or simply help them solve a computer problem, and there’s the internet or a firewall between.

This gets tricky because you’re asking for a lot of trust to access their PC. If this a parents PC or a family member who considers you the family PC tech, then LogMeIn is a great solution. No one needs to be on the receiving end, and you can come and go as you need to.

If you need to get access to another person’s PC just one time, or they want full control over the process, logmein will not work well. In this case, a better solution is CrossLoop. This is simple software to download and install (no questions to answer). Both parties must install the software. When you run the program, you can either choose “host” or “join.” When you host, you are given a 12 digit number to email/call/instant-message to your friend/collaborator. When you join, you must get the 12 digit number from your friend that’s hosting, enter that into the program, and hit “connect.” After the hoster approves the incoming connection, you’re sharing the desktop! After the connection ends, the authorization number is expired and can’t be reused. This is almost ideal. The only hard part, and it’s not that hard, is to get the “hoster” to install the software.

Links

Get started using Remote Desktop with Windows XP Professional

Windows Vista Help with Remote Desktop

Setting up TightVNC

Setting up UltraVNC

LogMein

CrossLoop

Entry Filed under: PC Basics, Productivity, Review