remote pc

[ryan_lau100]

I want to be able to remotely control my computer on my home network using my laptop since the desktop is on another floor. Which program would you suggest other than the windows remote assistance? The reason I don't want to use the remote assistance is because I am not able to remotely connect without authorization from the desktop end and because I want to be able to shut the computer down after. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Advantage22]

VNC is good and free and works.

http://www.tightvnc.com/

Radmin is not free, but works very well for me and I like it.

http://www.famatech.com/

But I still like XP's Remote Desktop the best because:


You can lock the remote PC while I accessing it.
You can capture the audio stream from the remote PC, so you can listen to mp3's when you are on the road.
You can access from any WinXP PC without installing a 3rd party client.


Remote Desktop won't let you turn off the remote PC natively, but you can download scripts to do the shutdown.

[h2o-]

hhummm...... mine remote PC is XP Prof. and I can turn it off remotely via:
Start -> Windows Security -> Shutdown


.
.
Remote Desktop won't let you turn off the remote PC natively, but you can download scripts to do the shutdown.

[prvt10]

http://logmein.com is pretty good.

[BB88]

VNC is good and free and works.

http://www.tightvnc.com/


Rather than TightVNC, I'd recommend UltraVNC.
http://www.uvnc.com/

It has all the functionalities of TightVNC + more... and of course it's still free.

[matkun]

It sounds like what you are using now is not Remote Desktop, but Remote Assistance.

If you do not have Windows XP Professional, you cannot use it as a Remote Desktop server.

Remote Desktop does everything that you want it to do. It's only Remote Assistance that can't shutdown and requires authorization from the person sitting at the computer.

[ryan_lau100]

It sounds like what you are using now is not Remote Desktop, but Remote Assistance.

If you do not have Windows XP Professional, you cannot use it as a Remote Desktop server.

Remote Desktop does everything that you want it to do. It's only Remote Assistance that can't shutdown and requires authorization from the person sitting at the computer.

oh so there is a difference between remote pc and remote assistance... lol stupid me. so are there any tutorials that will give me an idea of how to do this?

[matkun]

oh so there is a difference between remote pc and remote assistance... lol stupid me. so are there any tutorials that will give me an idea of how to do this?

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx

It's Remote Desktop, not Remote PC. And yes, there is a big difference in usability and the fact that Win XP Home does not come with Remote Desktop.

[ItemFinder]

I hope you're not doing this through a company firewall and if you are, I hope you're being careful about it.

[ryan_lau100]

I hope you're not doing this through a company firewall and if you are, I hope you're being careful about it.

nope... i only want to do it through my home network. i dont even need to access it from any other place. i would like to be able to access it from my room when im studying to keep track of downloads/uploads etc since my main desktop is on a different floor.

[hooch]

http://logmein.com is pretty good.

Another vote for LogMeIn. Very simple to setup, and works quite fast, and allows you to connect from most anywhere with a web browser. No port forwarding configuration needed.

Failing that, I'd vote for UltraVNC (Assuming both machines are Windows) as it provides file transfers, and with it's mirror display driver, it's quite fast as well.

Both are free, though LogMeIn has a paid version which includes remote printing, file transfers, etc.

[sunnyd71]

I hope you're not doing this through a company firewall and if you are, I hope you're being careful about it.

Why? I use logmein.com from work, should I be expecting a visit from IT?

[hooch]

Why? I use logmein.com from work, should I be expecting a visit from IT?

Some companies view LogMeIn, VNC, GoToMyPc, etc. as potential security risks as they can be used to transfer unmonitored documents/information from the company network. Larger companies that have a sophisticated firewall even do SPI and block such connections.

It may NOT be against your company policy though, so I wouldn't be sweatin yet. Your IT department may not even care.

[CdTriX]

don't risk your job for something so stupid...
if you are not sure, don't do it...
or better yet.. have a co worker send an email to IT and ask them

the web based applications are fine, i would recommend logmein since it uses an SSL VPN type of connection

gotomypc doesn't work because it sends a lot of broadcast packets and IT will flag it down

RDP is not recommended as well because it is easilly traced back to your computer and it can get flagged pretty quickly. This goes with VNC as well.

[sunnyd71]

don't risk your job for something so stupid...
if you are not sure, don't do it...
or better yet.. have a co worker send an email to IT and ask them

the web based applications are fine, i would recommend logmein since it uses an SSL VPN type of connection

gotomypc doesn't work because it sends a lot of broadcast packets and IT will flag it down

RDP is not recommended as well because it is easilly traced back to your computer and it can get flagged pretty quickly. This goes with VNC as well.

I will ask a friend in IT.
I'm confused about your above statement, do you mean that logmein is fine for using at work? I've been doing it for about 2 months almost every day to check home email.

[hooch]

I will ask a friend in IT.
I'm confused about your above statement, do you mean that logmein is fine for using at work? I've been doing it for about 2 months almost every day to check home email.

What he means is that due to the nature of how GoToMyPC's networking code handles things, it's much more likely to be noticed by IT than other remote access methods.

All are bad if IT disapproves, so see what your friend in IT says.

Out of curiosity though, why are you remotely controlling y our home PC just to check email? Wouldn't webmail be more practical?

[ItemFinder]

Why? I use logmein.com from work, should I be expecting a visit from IT?
First, I wouldn't trust an external website to make connections to my home computer. If malicious, they could do a lot of harm. While they may have a great privacy policy today, it may disappear tomorrow. It's the same reason I won't use Hamachi or really any closed source application.

Second, if your IT department is worth its salary, they should have a list of blocked sites, including the one you mentioned.

Third, if your IT department is competent enough, they can detect the type of traffic being sent through the firewall. If the site uses SSL, it'll be difficult to decipher compared to regular SSL traffic. They will be able to detect SSH, RDP or VNC traffic.

[myversa]

Yes, Windows Remote Desktop is the easiest way and cheapest way to go.

No need to install extra software.

[sunnyd71]

What he means is that due to the nature of how GoToMyPC's networking code handles things, it's much more likely to be noticed by IT than other remote access methods.

All are bad if IT disapproves, so see what your friend in IT says.

Out of curiosity though, why are you remotely controlling y our home PC just to check email? Wouldn't webmail be more practical?

I talked to my friend who works in IT Security and she said she had never run into it. I will take a look at the policy to see if it is stated that it is against it.

I am using the remote desktop feature because I use Thunderbird to check multiple accounts. It is an extreme hassle to have to check each account individually and each serve different purposes. I will also respond to emails from my home computer while at work which I believe is essential. This means I will connect quite often throughout the day or leave the connection open. I will also do some surfing from home because I *thought* it would be less objectionable to visit RFD from my home computer by remote than using their network. (in the traditional sense) It is all encrypted traffic so I don't think they would know what is being sent. They may however take screenshots of my machine but with 7000+ employees in the building I don't find it too likely that they would ever look.



Second, if your IT department is worth its salary, they should have a list of blocked sites, including the one you mentioned.

Third, if your IT department is competent enough, they can detect the type of traffic being sent through the firewall. If the site uses SSL, it'll be difficult to decipher compared to regular SSL traffic. They will be able to detect SSH, RDP or VNC traffic.

We do have blocked sites but this and all other remote log in websites I have seen are not blocked. I have only ever used logmein.com but researched others when deciding what to use.

VPN is used to connect many people from home to work but there is a large monthly fee involved so it is not set up for everyone. I am doing the reverse.

Logmein.com uses 256 bit SSL encryption. Also note that there is no file transfer between PC's possible. Only remote control of my home computer.

I would love to continue using this but asking someone in IT would probably get a no response just given the fact that if you ask anything out of the ordinary you usually get a no. I don't know how much of a serious offense this would be, I could plead ignorance and stop if I got caught. If it is not too serious and the likely hood of them noticing (keeping in mind the encryption detailed above) is slim, I want to keep doing it. But if it is a serious matter and there is substantial risk of IT noticing, I will be forced to stop.

What do you think?

[Bing]

The OP was asking about remote access on his home network.

I use UltraVNC. Just setup static IP's for your computers. Start the UltraVNC Server application on the computer you want to control. Connect to it with the UltraVNC Viewer app.

This also allows me to VPN into my home network from anywhere and have access to all my computers.