Is it going to be possible, or is it now possible, for me to gain access to my home computer from my computer at work? I think I saw an internet ad about some software that would allow me to do such a thing, but I can’t find it, and I’m pretty skeptical anyway. What is this type of software called? Anyone have any ideas for me? thanks, dopers. xo, CC
Try PCAnywhere.
There are a couple of things you could probably do, CC.
First off- if you have WindowsXP, you can enable the “Remote Desktop Connection”. (This is only if you have WindowsXP, and I think Win2000). You get to theseoptions when you right-click on “My Computer” and then click the “Remote” tab.
Something else you could do (if you don’t have WinXP/Win2K or if you don’t want to use RDC) is set up an FTP server. This will allow you to pick and choose what files will be accessible from a remote connection. There is a lot of Freeware on the web to do this. I am pretty happy with “CaesarFTP”, personally.
In any case, security can be a problem. Whenever you talk about any process that requires a login, security can be a problem. I’m not very well versed in THAT part of this technology, but I’m sure it won’t be too long before a Doper who knows about this can give their two cents.
LilShieste
I use Timbuktu, which is fast and reliable and cross-platform (MacOS, MacOS X, WinXP/2K/NT, Win95/98/ME, sorry no Linux as far as I know). If you have firewalls, either at work or at home, you may need to set up a VPN (virtual private network).
Try VNC - fast, free and lightweight, and runs on many different platforms ( most versions of Windows, UN*X, Mac…) I love that it fits on a floppy.
Try VNC - fast, free and lightweight, and runs on many different platforms ( most versions of Windows, UN*X, Mac…) I love that it fits on a floppy.
Hmmm…I am SURE I only clicked “Submit” once - my first double post and I plead innocent!
One thing that should be mentioned is that this is only an option in CP Professional, not XP Home.
Abel
umm, make that “XP” Professional.
Stupid graphics card errors… I can’t even read what I’m typing.
Are you sure? I’m running XP home and under
programs->accessories->communications-> I have a “remote desktop connection” program.
Really? Did it install like that?
Microsoft is so messed up sometimes. It says right here that XP Home doesn’t come with Remote Desktop. Silly Billy.
www.GoToMyPC.com has a monthly service that seems to work well–you can access your computer from anywhere on the internet.
It got a good review in the Wall St Journal.
But again, you gotta pay by the month.
I’ll toss out another mention of VNC. It’s used in large number of IT shops. It pretty much gives you a real Windows desktop, remotely. The only drawback is that it’s fairly slow (although not ridiculously so, over a decent connection). We used it to remote login into our many WinNT boxes back in 2000/2001, and it definitely served the purpose well.
Another great thing about VNC, in my opnion, is that you don’t need to install client software on the computer you’re accessing from - you can get to your remote machine using any Java-enabled browser over port 5800. I use it extensively on my own LAN and over VPN to get to my desktop machine at the office; I find if you set the colors to 8 bit depth, it’s usably fast even over VPN over a WAN.
I’ll just add that I used PCAnywhere a long time ago and it worked quite well. As I recall it has a very good software compression which wuold help if you are doing dial-up.
I don’t know anything about that other products mentioned.
Regarding XP Home having the remote desktop program: XP Home has the remote desktop client application, meaning you can connect to another computer and view its desktop from an XP Home machine, but XP Home does not have the remote desktop server built in, so you cannot log into a XP Home machine remotely using remote desktop.
This product has the computing security community in an uproar. Remote access devices like this are difficult to protect against if you’re a corporate IT security admin. I haven’t put a block on gotomypc.com’s site in our corprate firewall yet, but I’m strongly considering it.
That aside, it should be noted that gotomypc.com is a spammer (there are now reports of unsolicited emails touting their product) and should not be supported on that basis alone. Reputable businesses do not advertise via spam.
I like VNC a lot. I use it in my limited-access network at my job, but I WOULD NOT use it to connect over the open Internet.
VNC has two serious security flaws:
- The entire session is transmitted without encryption. It would be minimally difficult for someone who was sniffing the line involved to steal your VNC password.
- It is possible to brute force guess your password on the VNC server. Setting a long and highly random password can minimize these risks.
If you must connect via the open Internet, I suggest springing for RemotelyAnywhere or PCAnywhere. Either has adequate encryption facilities and either is faster than VNC.
If you’re planning on using a DIAL-UP connection to your home PC to do this though, I believe VNC’s security flaws should not be a concern.
Also,you would want a Bios that supports turning your computer on by modem.
What that does is it turns the computer on when you call it.
Assuming you’re not worried about some kid discovering your modem line, dialing in, and taking over your computer.
Yes, this does happen. If you have modems that auto-answer, you had better protect them. People still do “modem hunts” (although not as much as they used to).
Inadequately securied remote access technologies present significant securitys risk and should always be viewed with suspicion. GoToMyPC is especially worrisome because you’re relying on an ASP which you know nothing at all about. At least with PCAnyWhere, Timbuktoo, and VNC the technologies are well-understood, documented, and reasonably well-analyzed by the industry.