Remote Access to Your Computer
"I carry a laptop when I travel, but I always seem to forget some important files at home on my desktop PC. Is there some way I can access the files on my home computer through the Internet?"
| Check out this week's most popular articles. |
Check out theseFREE trial downloads 
RoboForm memorizes and securely stores all your passwords. Enjoy one-click logins, complete checkout forms with one click. This is one program I use all day, every day! 
Slow computer? Diskeeper 2010 means a clean disk, unprecedented speed and reliable efficiency! Download the free trial and see what a difference it makes for you. |
Access Your Home Computer via the Internet
Yes, and you can do more than just access your files. There are several tools that allow you full access and remote control of your computer over the Internet. If you have access to a computer with Internet access, you can log in to your home or office computer using a web browser.
You can view the desktop and use the mouse or keyboard to launch programs, open files or play a game. It's just as if you were sitting in front of the remote computer. If you're in the same room as the "remote" PC, you can watch the mouse cursor moving around on the screen, see new windows open and close, etc. Tres cool!
I like and use the LogMeIn service because it's free and secure. There are extra features you can try that require a paid account, but the basic remote desktop service is really free. Once you get it set up, poke around in the options to learn how to automatically blank the host screen (so nobody can watch your activity) and lock the host console when you disconnect.
There's another very similar service, called GotoMyPC, but it costs US$20 per month to use. I was happily shelling out money each month for GotoMyPC, until I discovered LogMeIn! Symantec's pcAnywhere product offers remote desktop access, but costs about US$200 -- ouch! And if you have Windows XP Professional Edition, there's a feature called Remote Desktop which offers similar functionality. But the upgrade from XP Home to XP Pro costs about $100, so it may require some up-front investment, and I've heard that making it work can be a challenge even for experienced users.
|
|
Need more tech support?
|
Check out other articles in this category:
Posted by Bob Rankin on November 9, 2005 08:05 PM
| Need More Help? Try the AskBobRankin Updates Newsletter. It's Free! |
 |
Prev Article: Web Moments That Changed the World |
|
Next Article: Get an Uninterruptible Power Supply |
 |
|
Link to this article from your site or blog. Just copy and paste from this box: Related Keywords: Software remote access remote desktop LogMeIn GotoMyPC pcAnywhere |
There's more reader feedback... See all 35 comments for this article.
Post your Comments, Questions or Suggestions
|
Ask Bob Rankin Home Page
Subscribe to AskBobRankin Updates: Free Newsletter |
|
| Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved | ||
Article information: AskBobRankin -- Remote Access to Your Computer (Posted: November 9, 2005 08:05 PM)
Printed from: http://askbobrankin.com/remote_access_to_your_computer.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Remote Access to Your Computer"
(See all 35 comments for this article.)Posted by:
SarahL
27 Sep 2007
Quick addition: TeamViewer is free for non-commercial use, and I have had excellent results using it to teach friends & relatives remotely, or to do quick and dirty troubleshooting from afar. While I haven't had time to mess around with all of it's capabilities, it has worked quite well for my purposes.
http://teamviewer.com/index.aspx
Posted by:
Jacob K
14 Nov 2007
Hello,
let you know about a remote access product my company, 01 Communique, offers called I'm InTouch that is similar to LogMeIn but with several unique features. One of the neat things you can with I'm InTouch is remotely access Outlook on your computer from a wireless device. So you can read/compose/send emails from your outlook wherever you are. I'm InTouch comes with a 30-day trial so you can give it a test for free.
Posted by:
dragos240
07 May 2008
I just tryed logmein. It works great!!!!! I can control my vista computer, internet and all my files. I can even control port forwarding and such. Who would want to use go2mypc or anything else??? I can even use an xp computer to control my vista. This free system is absolutely amazing, i cant tell you how happy i am about this. Everybody just HAS to know about this!!!! I'm actually gonna put a link to log me in and to this very page. Thanks! You helped a lot. :)
Posted by:
Shams
20 Jun 2008
Hello, let you know about a remote access product my company, 01 Communique, offers called I'm InTouch that is similar to LogMeIn but with several unique features. One of the neat things you can with I'm InTouch is remotely access Outlook on your computer from a wireless device. So you can read/compose/send emails from your outlook wherever you are. I'm InTouch comes with a 30-day trial so you can give it a test for free.
Posted by:
John
23 Jun 2008
Instead of paying monthly fees to logmein and gotomypc, there is a way to own it. Check RHUB (http://www.rhubcom.com) remote access appliance, which allows you to remote access up to 1,000 PCs. It is more than money. Since you own it, you get the security that hosted service cannot provide.
EDITOR'S NOTE: If all you want is remote access, the problem is easily solved with software alone. LogMein is free and secure, but you can host your own solution with the right software if you prefer.
Posted by:
Andrew
14 Apr 2009
As far as remote control software is concerned, I like to use Proxy Networks (http://www.proxynetworks.com) because of their security and extra features. This bills itself as an Enterprise-Level software - unlike, for example, GoToMyPC. My question is: do you know of any other such software bundles that are specifically geared towards businesses? How do they compare? Thanks.
Posted by:
Rosa
24 Sep 2009
I currently use LogMeIn daily to connect to the remote computer that I work on. I have used both PCAnywhere and the self contained remote feature in XP Pro. LogMeIn is the best--it lets you do what you need to do; PCAnywhere won't let HP printers work without a LOT of tweaking; the XPPro remote has no remote printing feature that our IT guy could find. I can print from LogMeIn to my own printer or one at the office (5 miles away)! LogMeIn is the way to go, even if you use the paid version.
Posted by:
Susan
03 Nov 2009
I was very excited about the Logmein software after reading this article. I work full-time at a university and my job requires some night shift and week-end hours. I also have a small candy wrapper business that I run out of my home. When I'm at the school on those nights and week-ends I would kill to be able to access my graphics programs at home to do some designing work.
Problem is, when I started looking deeper into the Logmein software, the latest version apparently is "buggy" and keeps freezing people's computers up. Many people commented during reviews that they wished they hadn't updated because the previous versions rocked and the newest version is horrible. Any way to sign up for the older free version?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Not likely, unless you can find someone who has the older version, adn figure out exactly what files to copy from that system to yours. Wouldn't recommend it...
Posted by:
anlis
13 Nov 2009
I find a answer, use super network tunnel, find it at http://www.networktunnel.net
Posted by:
soux
18 Nov 2009
How can I access my work INTRANET (microsoft oulook) from my home PC please?