Remote access to windows XP Pro PC

SiggySiggy Sydney Australia
edited August 2008 in Science & Tech
Hi,
I have a friend going to the UK and he wants to be able to access his PC from there. He is running Windows XP Pro and he is with Optus ADSL.

Does he need a static IP address?
How do we organise wake on LAN?
Can Remote Desktop do the job, if so what requirements are there?
Is VNC better - how does it work if we dont know the IP address?

I thought this was an easy fix but i am running into problems finding a complete guide on setting this up - most, if not all, seem to miss out the most crucial part of actually connecting!

Comments

  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    I think a service like LogMeIn might be the best solution here. It is free and insanely easy. No RDP. No static IP. No firewall config. Just install it and when you want to access that PC you go to the LogMeIn website. The host PC would have to be set to remain on 24/7 or he would have to be able to contact someone who could turn it on when access is needed.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited August 2008
    If you have RDP enabled on the target machine then it'll listen to incoming requests. You don't need a static IP, however you would need a service like dynamicdns that maps your changing ip to a webname. You then just target the webname and it redirects to the IP you are trying to get to. If you are behind a router though then you have to have port forwarding rules on your router that forward the RDP ports to the machine you are trying to reach.

    VNC I find is easier to get working in this fashion then RDP, but RDP can be faster. In either case though you need to get something like dynamic dns running. Most newer routers have a service built into them that automatically connects to a dynamic dns service and does the updates for you.

    1) Install vnc on both machine (I personally prefer Ultravnc but any version you like will do)
    2) On the target machine make sure VNC is running as a service in server mode.
    3) Setup a dynamic dns account
    4) If you are behind a capable router have the router log into your dynamic dns account to update the ip.
    5) On the router port forward port 5900 to the target machine.
    6) If the target machine has a firewall running have it allow requests on port 5900
  • SiggySiggy Sydney Australia
    edited August 2008
    kryyst wrote:

    1) Install vnc on both machine (I personally prefer Ultravnc but any version you like will do)
    2) On the target machine make sure VNC is running as a service in server mode.
    3) Setup a dynamic dns account
    4) If you are behind a capable router have the router log into your dynamic dns account to update the ip.
    5) On the router port forward port 5900 to the target machine.
    6) If the target machine has a firewall running have it allow requests on port 5900

    Thanks for the detailed responses - very much appreciated - I will try this and see what happens!:bigggrin:
  • FelixDeSouzeFelixDeSouze UK New
    edited August 2008
    EDIT: I've just seen Kryyst post (I should have read up first!) LOLOLOL -- Ah well :P

    You can also try setting up a DynDNS on his router at home, a lot of routers these days have the option to set it up.

    With DynDNS you can create a website name for yourself (i.e. ilove.homeip.net) (if the VNC option doesn't work PM me and I will go into more detail about setting up DynDNS account to be able to remote). then within the router you enter your user/pass for DynDNS (again, this is once the account is setup correctly). Obviously forward the appropriate ports for MSTSC to the correct IP (you may have to make his PC static).

    Once it is all setup, wherever in the world your friend is all he will have to do is go to 'Start > Run > Enter 'MSTSC' (without ' ') > enter his url he created 'ilove.homeip.net' and then connect.

    He MUST have a password on his PC for this to work though.

    If you want a more detailed guide on how to get set this up please PM me.

    Oh, before I forget.. Once it is setup everytime his dynamic IP changes the router will automatically login to DynDNS and update it.. So you never have to worry about an IP change again, as long as you remember the url you created :)
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