[annalee44]

I am not sure I am in the right discussion group, but here goes anyway. I do a lot of work on my church's computer. Is there any way that I can do the work on that computer from my computer at home? Is that networking? And if so, what equipment would I need and how would I do that (in plain simple english please). Both computers are running windows xp and the church is about 30 miles away. Also, some of that work is on a website made on the church computer using Front Page. Would I also need front page on my home computer? I would appreciate any help! Thank you.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Annalee and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D

Yes, you are in the right Community for this issue. There is really no equipment needed. The only thing you need is an internet connection. The host computer (the church computer) must remain on at all times for this to work.

The application I use is RealVNC which is available here:

http://www.realvnc.c.../4.1/index.html

This application would have to be installed on both computers. The setup process is relatively easy; however, you may need to reduce any firewall settings you have on the church computer. If you would like to use this application, please download and install on both computers and I will walk you through the setup that I used to successfully connect to my home computer when I am on the road.

Oh, and that distance does not matter. You are connecting via an internet connection so you could be clear across the world and it will work. I live in southern New Jersey and travel throughout the Tri-State area (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) and never have an issue with connecting to my home computer.

[smax013]

Another option is available if you are running XP Pro on the computer you wish to connect to (i.e. the Church computer). XP Pro has the ability to connect remotely to it using Micro$oft's Remote Desktop. You can install and the client on a computer with XP Home, but the computer you remotely connect to must have XP Pro.

[annalee44]

Mphenterprises, that sounds great. I figured there was a way.

smax013, I am not positive, but I believe the church does have xp pro. I have xp home.

But which avenue should I choose? Both of your answers were so good and quick. I appreciate the fast response. That is why I came to pcworld. I knew I would find help here. Thank you both. Anything extra to add?

[mphenterprises]

Well, since your computer runs Windows XP Home, you will not be able to use SMax's suggestion. If you would like to try the other suggestion, let us know when both computers have the application installed. I will post some basic information to get you started with both.

If you can, please tell us what kind of network connection (wired or wireless) both your computer and the church's computer uses.

[annalee44]

I appreciate that. Both are usining wired connections. I can download program now to my pc and tonight at church.

[mphenterprises]

Smax13 said:

>

Quote

You can install and the client on a computer with XP Home, but the computer you remotely connect to must have XP Pro.

>
>



I missed this part. In your situation, you should be able to try this method. I have never used Remote Desktop so I will defer to SMax for this one.

[annalee44]

I went to Microsoft and read up on remote desktop. It seems pretty straight forward. I will give it a try tonight. If it does not work, I will be back. I appreciate all of yall's help. Have a great day, and may God bless you both. Thank you.

[smax013]

annalee44 said:

I went to Microsoft and read up on remote desktop. It seems pretty straight forward. I will give it a try tonight. If it does not work, I will be back. I appreciate all of yall's help. Have a great day, and may God bless you both. Thank you.

If you don't get it to work right away, then we might have to monkey with either firewall or router settings to allow the connection through.

[annalee44]

Good Morning,

O.K. I went to the church pc (host) last night and signed in as the administrator. I then clicked start, control panel, performance & maintenance, system, and remote: and selected "allow users to connect remotely to this computer", apply and ok. It said that firewall would be changed to allow this, but I went to firewall to make sure that it would allow the exceptions. I then left the pc on, made sure every user was locked with a password. Does it matter about the power settings such as monitor and harddrive shutting down? I then came home to the client pc and basically did the same things. I made sure my firewall allowed the exception. Then I tried to connect. I tried the host pc's full name with no luck and then the ip address and my user name and password. Still no luck. It says that I was unable to conncet to the host and to try again later, or internet problems might be stopping me from connecting. Any ideas? Hope you are having a great day!

[annalee44]

I have just discovered that although the host computer had all of the appropriate remote desktop settings, it is running windows xp media center edition. What now?

[techie4fun]

Hi Annalee,

In most cases if you can't connect to the machine with remote desktop, you must download and install the Remote Desktop software onto the client's machine so that you can connect to it from your end; however, I am not seeing a download option available for Media Center edition.

[mphenterprises]

Hi AnnaLee. This is coming from Microsoft:





Q. What are the requirements for Remote Desktop Web Connection?

? On the server side, you need Internet Information Server 4.0 or later. Windows XP Professional comes with Internet Information Server 5.1 out of the box.

? On the client side, it will only run on the Windows 9x, Windows Millenium Edition (Windows Me), Windows NT (Intel only), and Windows 2000 operating systems using Internet Explorer 4 or later. It is not supported on any other platform.




In this case, I am not sure Remote Desktop will work for your situation. Again, I have never used it so I will defer to those that have before continuing with my original suggestion.

[piyushsingh]

remote desktop works well on local networks , through internet you will need the exact dynamic IP address of the pc. If the clients are connected to internet through a router which has a inbuilt firewall then the static IPs wont work , thats why you may have beeen unable to connect.

[smax013]

annalee44 said:

I have just discovered that although the host computer had all of the appropriate remote desktop settings, it is running windows xp media center edition. What now?

While I am not completely sure, I believe that XP Media Center does have Remote Desktop. The most definitive thing that reinforced that belief was the entry in Wikipedia Windoze XP...it did state that Media Center did still include Remote Desktop. It appears the Media Center has many of Pro functions, but lacks a few of the higher end networking stuff (i.e. the ability to join a networking domain).



While you have checked the firewall, is the church computer attached to a broadband rounter or is it directly attached to a DSL/cable modem? If the latter, are you 100% sure that the cable/DSL modem does not have some router type functions built-in? Some do. If the computer is behind a router, then you will also have to configure that router to allow the Remote Desktop connection through to the computer. (NAT) Routers have firewall like functionality in that they will block outside traffic that is NOT initiated by the computer attached to the router...basically, the router does not know by default with computer to send the traffic to unless it is told to send it to that specific computer (what is referred to as "port forwarding").

[smax013]

piyushsingh said:

remote desktop works well on local networks , through internet you will need the exact dynamic IP address of the pc. If the clients are connected to internet through a router which has a inbuilt firewall then the static IPs wont work , thats why you may have beeen unable to connect.

To be more specific, if the remote computer is connected directly to a cable modem or DSL modem, then you either need to have a service that is using a static IP address that you enter (which is not too likely for home service but there is a sporting chance that Internet service to a church could be static IP service, but still doubtful), know and enter the dynamic IP address (which could change, but is not likely if you leave the computer on), or have a Internet domain setup for the computer with DynamicDNS service setup for use with the domain and computer.



If the computer is behind a router, then all of that stuff applies to connecting to the ROUTER, but you would also then need to have the router configured to either put the computer in what is typically referred to as the DMZ zone (basically puts the computer "outside" the router...as if the computer was connected directly to the modem with NO router) OR setup the router to port forward the appropriate ports for Remote Desktop (or VNC) connections to the local internal network IP address of the computer that you want to connect to. This of this as like calling your boyfriend's or girlfriend's house when you were a kid dating and getting the your boyfriend's or girlfriend's parent on the phone...the parent is kind of like the router....if they don't like you, they hang up the phone and you don't connect...if they like you, then then call your boyfriend/girlfriend to the phone and thus "route" the call to who you wanted to talk to. Not having a router is like once you were old enough that your boyfriend/girlfriend lived by themselves, thus only they would answer the phone (to keep analogy simple, ignore answering machines and voicemail and assume that they are always home to answer the call).

[annalee44]

The church computer is connected to internet by DSL/Cable modem using Bellsouth. I am not sure about a router but will do my best to check. Thank you!

[annalee44]

mphenterprises, o.k. remote desktop did not work. I feel like I was close but was not successful. I have now downloaded and installed RealVNC on each computer. Could you help me from here? I entered in the host computer's ip address and tried to connect, but it said connection timed out. Thank you

[smax013]

annalee44 said:

mphenterprises, o.k. remote desktop did not work. I feel like I was close but was not successful. I have now downloaded and installed RealVNC on each computer. Could you help me from here? I entered in the host computer's ip address and tried to connect, but it said connection timed out. Thank you

If the problem was due to the router and/or a software firewall, then you will have the same/similar issue with RealVNC. If the church computer is behind a router and/or software firewall, then the router and/or firewall needs to be configured to route/allow the remote computer connection through to the computer...whether you are using Remote Desktop or RealVNC. The only potential difference between the setup for RealVNC and Remote Desktop is which Internet ports/protocols you have to configure the router and/or firewall to allow/route through.

[annalee44]

I have played around with the firewall, but may have to change my ports. But I really do not understand how to do that or especially how to figure out about the router. Most of that is greek to me. I did find the settings for the firewall and allowed it to except remote desktop and the exceptions, but how do I go about changing the router?