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Easy remote access to my home pc?
4wd:
How would I know the IP of the server PC?
-Deozaan (September 15, 2008, 11:17 AM)
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Download and run IP2 on the server. It will give you the LAN and WAN IP of the PC.
If you notice that the WAN IP changes every so often, (depends on IP expiry time set by ISP), then you'll need to do what mediaguy says above.
BTW, I think I forgot a step.
You might need to add in the name of the user who is allowed to connect remotely under RDP. To do so, on the server PC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users and add the username in, (from step 1 above).
By default, the owner of the PC already has Remote Access, ie. the first user you created while installing XP, (who'll have admin priveleges). Since all my PCs have the same initial user I haven't had to add any users to RDP.
Also, when you log in via RDP the server PC will drop back to the Welcome screen, (I'm assuming single user XP setup here), any programs running will continue in the background.
Deozaan:
If you don't have a static IP with your Internet Provider then you can create a dynamic hostname (one that keeps track of your dynamic IP address) through dyndns.org
-mediaguycouk (September 15, 2008, 11:19 AM)
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Thanks, I have a dyndns.org account set up keeping track of my IP. How will it know when I change, for example, if I change ISPs or move to a different geographical location?
And thanks to 4wd for the easy to follow process. I think the only hitch here is I don't necessarily want to password protect my user account on this PC, but obviously I don't want anybody to be able to login from anywhere.
And about this:
You might need to add in the name of the user who is allowed to connect remotely under RDP. To do so, on the server PC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users and add the username in, (from step 1 above).
By default, the owner of the PC already has Remote Access, ie. the first user you created while installing XP, (who'll have admin priveleges). Since all my PCs have the same initial user I haven't had to add any users to RDP.
-4wd (September 15, 2008, 06:24 PM)
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Is that the login credentials for the server or is that the User account name for the client pc? For instance, if I'm at the university and they have weird user accounts like building names and room numbers, do I need to allow all the possible accounts I might be on when trying to remote, or just the 1 server account?
4wd:
Thanks, I have a dyndns.org account set up keeping track of my IP. How will it know when I change, for example, if I change ISPs or move to a different geographical location?-Deozaan (September 15, 2008, 10:57 PM)
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You need to run a client on your PC that modifies the dyndns.org redirection setting when your IP changes OR if you're running through a modem/router it might be sufficiently intelligent, (eg. Zyxel Prestige 660), such that you can get it to do it.
And thanks to 4wd for the easy to follow process. I think the only hitch here is I don't necessarily want to password protect my user account on this PC, but obviously I don't want anybody to be able to login from anywhere.
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No problem. Unfortunately to be able to use RDP you have to specify a password on an account. There are a few things you can do to minimise the likelihood of someone causing havoc via Remote Desktop.
Depending on your firewall/NAT/router setup you may be able to restrict access to a set range of IPs.
Choose a decent passphrase, (not password), and use the Autologin feature of TweakUI to log in locally.
Use an account with limited permissions, (not admin).
You can change the port from the default 3389 to something different, (eg. 64825), making it harder to find.
Restrict Remote Desktop connections to a VPN, (see here for a portable client).
You might need to add in the name of the user who is allowed to connect remotely under RDP. To do so, on the server PC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users and add the username in, (from step 1 above).-4wd (September 15, 2008, 06:24 PM)
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Is that the login credentials for the server or is that the User account name for the client pc? For instance, if I'm at the university and they have weird user accounts like building names and room numbers, do I need to allow all the possible accounts I might be on when trying to remote, or just the 1 server account?
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For the server, the same one you did here:
1) On the PC that you want to control, (henceforth called the "server"), create an administrator account and give it a password.
eg.
The server is called MyPC.
The account you created above is called George.
1) On MyPC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users
2) Click Add
3) Type George and click Check Names
4) The computer will change the entry to MyPC\George. If the computer can't find that user it will prompt you to correct the information or remove the user.
5) You can then just OK out.
JoTo:
Hiho,
Another solution can be UltraVNC SingleClick (UVNC SC) or PCHelpWare.
Both are VNC like solutions. PCHW is free for everything (even for commercial use).
They both need physical access on the server, thats the bad thing about it. But they are very easy to use, as all the techie things is done by YOU (the computer expert). The user only have to download a small self-contained exe from your website (about 100-300kb) and doubleclkick it. Connection established. No installation necessary, either on userside nor on your side (viewer). UVNC SC even deletes itself after the session ends and leaving no trails on the remote pc.
Chat, Filetransfer and controlling the desktop of the remote PC is available with that.
No router/port-forwarding necessary on userside, as the server initiates an outgoing connection to the viewer (you are in listen mode). The user pc only must have normal WAN access.
The way it goes is this:
First you create a server-package with your actual data (your IP, username, password, blah, blah, blah). Very easy to do with PCHW as you start the viewer, enter your desired parameters and press the "Create Server" button. Then you can find a ready to release small exe file on your harddisk. Now upload this single exe to your webspace or wherever it can be accessed from the others. Then you press the "Start" button in your viewer and wait.
Second you tell your mother to download this package with her browser and start it somehow. The server connects to your viewer and you can begin controlling. So your mother only must be able to download a file and start it. No need to know whats going on under the hood.
You can create the server package in different ways so that the user must either enter a login/Password or that the connection is made automatically and without user activity (after starting up the server of course).
All features known from UltraVNC are available. So you can make direct connections, use the mirror drivers (but that needs install on the remote/userside pc! - but it works without the drivers as well, only slower) and repeater connections (when you are sitting behind a firewall as well). You can setup your own repeater or use the UVNC public repeater.
So this solution is excellent for helping in technical problems. Its not convinient to get a permanent access to your own home pc from everywhere in the world (User activity on remote side necessary!).
I just try to use the free 1scdll.dll from PCHelpWare in my own application to get up a remote support system for our company helpdesk with ticket support and such things. We'll see if i can get this to work. As i said, PCHW is free also for commercial use and you are allowed to build and deploy your own app with the 1scdll.dll (even if the dll is closed source) or use their ready to use apps (server and viewer) that can be customized with own gui elements (texts, background, company logo, blah).
HTH anyone
CU
JoTo
Links:
Ultravnc: http://www.uvnc.com/
PCHelpWare: http://www.uvnc.com/pchelpware/index.html
UVNC and PCHW Forum: http://forum.ultravnc.info/
Deozaan:
Could someone give me a little more detailed info on how to connect the client to the server using Windows Remote Desktop (in XP)?
I have DynDNS set up to give me my IP address using deozaan.getmyip.com, but when I open the RDC client and type in deozaan.getmyip.com as the Computer it says:
"This computer can't connect to the remote computer. Remote Desktop cannot find the remote computer. Type the computer name or IP address again, and then try connecting. If the problem continues, contact the owner of the remote computer or your network administrator."
I have multiple computers connected to the network. Do I need to include the Computer name somewhere in there?
EDIT: Okay, so I had the port forwarded to the wrong computer. But now when I try to connect it says:
"Remote Desktop Disconnected. This computer can't connect to the remote computer. Try connecting again. If the problem comtinues, contact the owner of the remote computer or your network administrator."
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