5. Control Your PC RemotelyA
network is good for much more than simply transferring data. Although
Windows does let you transfer files to and from other computers in
Windows Explorer , it's a far cry from actually sitting in front of the PC on the other end. Enter
the Remote Desktop feature, included with the Windows Vista Business
and Ultimate editions (lesser editions can only use the feeble Remote
Assistance feature described later in this section). Remote Desktop lets
you view and interact with the desktop of a PC in a window, as though
you were sitting in front of it. There are almost limitless uses to this technology; a few examples include: Do
you travel frequently, yet prefer to use a desktop (non-portable)
computer at home? Rather than duplicating all your programs, documents,
and settings on a second laptop, just use Remote Desktop to connect to
your home PC from the road, and access your applications and data as
though you're sitting at your own desk. Do
you need to access your work documents and programs while you're at
home, or access your home documents and programs while you're at work?
Use Remote Desktop together with VPN to bridge the link and stop worrying about carrying so much stuff back and forth to work every day. Are
you the person whom family members and friends call with their computer
problems? Instead of spending hours on the phone, trying to explain to
them how to fix their computers, just connect with Remote Desktop and
fix the problem yourself in minutes. Do
you administer several computers in different locations? Rather than
having to go to the other side of the building (or the other side of the
state) to access another employee's PC, use Remote Desktop and get it
done in a fraction of the time. Are
you a software developer? If you need to test your software on
different operating systems or platforms, it simply isn't practical to
use a multiboot computer;
you'll just spend all your time rebooting. Instead, set up a second (or
even third) computer with the necessary test environments, and then
control them remotely right from your development machine.
First of all, you'll need a
relatively fast connection to use any remote control software like
Remote Desktop, since a lot of data is transferred to update the screen
image. For example, a direct Ethernet (LAN) connection will provide
nearly instantaneous responsiveness, while a DSL or cable connection
will be more sluggish. Next,
Remote Desktop isn't included with Windows Vista Home (Basic or
Premium), and won't work with Macs or Linux PCs, so you'll need one of
the alternatives mentioned later. The good news is that you can control
any Windows XP or Windows 2000 PC with Remote Desktop. 5.1. Part 1: Enable the Remote Desktop serverAllowing
others to connect to a computer with Remote Desktop is relatively easy.
Use these steps to set up your own PC, or read them over the phone if
you're trying to connect to someone else's PC: Open Control Panel, go to System, and then click the Remote settings link on the left side. Vista offers two levels of access. If you know you'll be using Windows Vista to access this PC, select Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication. Or, if you'll need to access this PC from an older Windows XP or Windows 2000 machine, use the Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop option. Network
Level Authentication (NLA) is also known as Terminal Services Client
6.0. To use NLA with Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, install the
update available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925876. |
|
By
default, all active administrator-level users can connect to your PC
when Remote Desktop is enabled. If you wish to grant access to a lesser
user account, click Select Users. Click OK when you're done; the change will take effect immediately. Next, if you're using a router, you'll have to set up your router's port forwarding
feature to permit the incoming connection. (This step, of course, is
not necessary if you're connecting from another PC on your local
network.) To do this, you'll first need to assign a static IP address to your PC. Next, open your router's setup page and navigate to the "Port Range Forwarding" page, which should look something like the one in Figure 8. Here, fill out the first blank line as follows:
Application
This is just a description; type Remote Desktop here.
Start
Type 3389, the TCP port number used by Remote Desktop.
End
Type 3389 here, too.
Protocol
Choose TCP.
IP Address
Enter the static IP address you chose for your PC.
Enable
Place a checkmark in this box to permit this service.
Click Save Settings when you're done. 
If
you're connecting to this PC from another PC on your network, all you
need is this PC's computer name. In Control Panel, open System and then
click the Change settings link in the middle of the page; use the name under Full computer name (not Computer description). Or,
to access this PC from another PC elsewhere on the Internet, you'll
need the true IP address of this PC's Internet connection. Just open a
web browser, navigate to http://annoyances.org/ip/, and record the number displayed.
5.2. Part 2: Connect to a remote computerOnce you've set up a machine to accept remote connections, follow these steps on the client side to connect to that computer remotely: Start Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe). The
default Remote Desktop Connection dialog is very simple, with only a
single field. This typically will not be adequate, however, so click Options to display the full dialog, shown in Figure 9. 
If you're connecting to another computer in your workgroup, type the name of the computer in the Computer
field, or, if you're connecting to another computer on the Internet,
type its IP address here. Use the information you got in the final step
of Part 1 earlier in this section. Next, type the User name and Password of a valid user account on the remote computer. (The Domain field is only used if you're connecting to a computer in a Windows Server domain; leave it blank otherwise.) The rest of the options in this dialog are optional. The settings in the Display and Experience tabs deal with performance issues, and the Programs tab lets you start programs on the remote computer automatically when you connect. The Local Resources tab has similar options, plus a Local devices section, which lets you share remote drives and printers. If you plan on reconnecting to the remote computer at a later time, click Save As to create an .rdp
file with all the information in this dialog. You can subsequently
double-click the file to initiate a connection, or right-click and
select Edit to change its settings. If
the remote PC you're connecting to uses a dynamic IP address, it won't
do much good to save the connection settings. See the upcoming Remote
Desktop tips for workarounds if you need to access this PC consistently. |
|
Click Connect
to initiate a connection to the remote computer. If all is well, a
window will appear with an image of the desktop of the remote computer.
You can interact with this desktop by pointing, clicking, and dragging,
just as though you are sitting in front of it. Simply close the window or open the remote Start menu and select Disconnect to close the connection. Or, for better security and to relinquish control to someone sitting at the remote PC, select Log Off instead.
5.3. Tips for Remote DesktopHere are some ways to improve your experience with Remote Desktop:
Shut down remotely.
You'll see in the remote Start menu that the Shut down button is gone, with Disconnect
in its place. This is obviously done intentionally, since a shut-down
computer will not accept remote connections, but it does make it more
difficult to actually shut down or restart the remote PC. To shut down a
remote computer, click an empty area of the desktop and press Alt-F4. Or, open a Command Prompt window and type: shutdown -s -t 5
where 5 is the number of seconds to wait before shutting down; specify 0 here to shut down immediately.
Want an audience?
When
you connect to a remote PC, anyone currently logged in to that computer
will be unceremoniously logged out to make way for your remote
connection. This poses a problem if you wish to use the remote PC while
its owner watches. The Remote Assistance feature, described in the "Using Remote Assistance" sidebar, next, as well as VNC, described below, both overcome this limitation. The
Remote Assistance feature is optional, but can make it easier for less
experienced users to transmit the required information to the person who
will be accessing her computer remotely, including the IP address and
user account. On the PC to be controlled, open Control Panel, go to System, and then click the Remote settings link on the left side. Turn on the Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer option, and then click the Remote Assistance link in this window to open the Remote Assistance dialog (or launch rcimlby -launchra). Here,
you have the option of using Windows Messenger (Microsoft Live/Passport
account required) or your default email program (set in Control Panel → Internet Options → Programs
tab) to send the invitation. When asked to type a personal message,
just leave it blank. You can also choose a special password for the
person connecting to your computer, which is useful if you don't want to
give the remote user your normal password. Since
these "invitations" can be a security hazard, there are two safeguards
in place to automatically disable the feature after a specified amount
of time. In the Remote tab of the System Properties window, click Advanced
to disable the feature completely after a few days. Plus, when sending
an invitation, you can configure it only to expire an hour or two after
being sent. |
Keep it windowed.
While
you can have your Remote Desktop session fill your screen, it makes
things simpler to have it in a window you move around. To do this, set
the resolution of the remote desktop lower than the resolution of the local desktop. For example, if you're using a computer with a display resolution of 1280 × 1024, use the Display
tab of the Remote Desktop Connection Properties window to set the
remote desktop to no more than 1024 × 768. (Note that this setting will
have no effect on the remote computer's normal desktop size.)
Share files, too.
As
nice as it would be to drag files into (and out of) the Remote Desktop
window to transfer them, the Remote Desktop feature doesn't include any
provision for it. Instead, you'll need to use more traditional means of
transferring files. If the remote computer is on your own LAN, you can
drag and drop files right in Windows Explorer.
Otherwise, if you're connected to the remote computer over the
Internet, you'll either need to set up VPN to mimic a workgroup in order to access that PC's shared
folder, or use FTP.
Control Vista Home, Macs, Unix, etc.
Remote
Desktop Connection is not your only choice when it comes to controlling
a computer remotely. Although there are several commercial alternatives
available, one of the best is a free program called VNC. There are
actually several derivations of VNC floating around the Web, but one of
the best is TightVNC, available at http://www.tightvnc.com/.
Among other things, VNC has the advantage of a very small "viewer"
executable that doesn't even need to be installed on the client PC, and
there's a version available for almost every platform (even Palm OS). It
also lets both the person sitting in front of the PC and the person
controlling it remotely view the desktop and even interact
simultaneously. Remote
Desktop, when enabled, will remain enabled even if the computer is
restarted. But third-party programs must be specially configured to
start automatically with Windows in case the computer crashes or the
power goes out. VNC, for instance, has an option to be started as a
"service" (accessible in services.msc), which is much more reliable than a mere icon in the Start menu's Startup folder. |
|
Punch through any firewall.
If
you run into a problem getting Remote Desktop or VNC working through a
firewall, proxy, or router, or you simply need to get a connection up
and running fast, try GoToMyPC (http://www.gotomypc.com).
It's a web-based service that tends to work when the others fail. Short
sessions are free; longer sessions require a paid subscription.
6. Manage the Nameserver (DNS) CacheA nameserver (or DNS)
is a machine that translates IP addresses to domain names and back
again. For example, when you type http://www.oreilly.com
into your web browser's address bar, Windows sends a request to your
service provider's nameserver, and the nameserver responds with
something like 209.204.146.22, and your browser can contact the web server and download the requested page. Each
time such a DNS (Domain Naming System) lookup is performed, the
information is stored in the DNS cache so Windows doesn't have to query
the nameserver every time you access a page on that site. The DNS cache
is emptied when you shut down Windows, which is why it can take a little
longer to find web sites just after you've booted up. The
following two solutions allow you to change the way Windows interacts
with its DNS cache, and will affect all applications that access the
Internet (not just your web browser). 6.1. Part 1: Increase the size of the DNS cacheA larger DNS cache will mean fewer trips to the nameserver and faster overall performance: Open the Registry Editor . Expand the branches to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters. Add the following four DWORD values by going to Edit → New → DWORD Value. Then, enter the numeric values specified by double-clicking and selecting the Decimal option: CacheHashTableBucketSize, set to 1 CacheHashTableSize, set tot 384 MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit, set to 64000 MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit, set to 301
Remember, these are Decimal values (not Hexadecimal values). Close the Registry Editor when you're done. You'll have to restart Windows for this change to take effect.
6.2. Part 2: Add a permanent entry to the DNS cacheWhen
you add a permanent entry to the DNS cache, it will always override the
information provided by the nameserver. Here are a few reasons why you
might want to do this:
It's a quick and dirty workaround.
If
a nameserver gives the wrong address for a domain or provides no
information at all, you can still access the domain if it's listed as a
permanent entry.
It puts a stopper in spyware.
A
permanent entry with intentionally incorrect information will block
requests sent to the corresponding servers. This can be an effective way
to prevent some web sites from tracking you, some "spyware" software
from recording your personal information, and even stop some pop-up ads
when you visit web pages. A list of known "tracking" hosts can be
downloaded from http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/.
It improves lookup performance.
If
you frequently access a particular server, and you know its IP address
isn't likely to change anytime soon, you can add a permanent entry to
eliminate the initial delay as Windows looks it up. For example, add an
entry for your mail server to decrease the time it takes to check for
mail.
It's a shortcut for the lazy.
If
you frequently access a remote server without a domain name (rather than
only by its IP address), you can configure a custom domain name, for
your use only, to be used as a kind of "shortcut" to the server.
Providing
incorrect information here can prevent you from accessing certain
remote servers. Use care when modifying the permanent DNS entry table. |
|
Here's how to create and modify the list of permanent DNS entries: Open Explorer and navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc folder. Look for a file called hosts (no filename extension). If it's not there, create it by going to File → New → Text Document, and typing hosts for the filename. The hosts file is just a plain-text file; open it in your favorite text editor (or Notepad). A standard entry looks like this: 207.46.230.218 www.microsoft.com
The first part is the IP address, and the second part (separated by a tab or several spaces) is the domain name. Keep in mind that variations like http://www.microsoft.com and http://microsoft.com aren't necessarily the same server, and represent different DNS entries. You'll need to add a separate hosts entry for each variation if you want to access them all, like this: 207.46.230.218 www.microsoft.com
207.46.230.218 microsoft.com
Using this syntax, add an
entry for each domain you wish to hardcode into Windows' DNS table. Note
that these addresses affect your machine only; other machines, such as
those in your workgroup or others on the Internet, will not be affected. You may also see some lines that begin with the # character. These are comments, and they are ignored by Windows. Save the hosts file when you're done. The change should take effect immediately.
|
