hi all !!!

There is a really usefull application , which is "Remote Desktop" . In short , IT lets you USE (not access , but use) your home computer , from any other internet enabled PC.

Assuming that :

your home PC runs win XP Enterprise edition
You leave your home PC switched on !
you have an internet connection set up for RemoteDEsktop (just open a few ports in the router)


you can -from any computer in the world - Use your home computer. I mean use , that is , from the internet cafe in Africa you see your desktop , your wallpaper , your icons , your Software executing !!!

It may sound sloooow (your home computer is sending updates on what's on the screen , many times a second) but surprisingly Its not that slow -at all. - If you select black-and-white or 4 bit color (on the "african" side) and pick a moderate screen size (640x480) you would be surprised that the speed of the average internet cafe is *more than enough* to run your software from home .

Indeed !-as the email routers ,etc.. are so slow in Africa, I find myself that ITs actually faster to send email using this remote desktop thing , than the local STMP forwarders. (with the added bonus that you can read your home-pc email , no different web-based email address for the trip ,etc)

As you are in fact using your PC at home *not the one in Africa* you would be deligted to see that even the keyboard mapping is the one you have at home , not at the cyber , so no more problems with french/arabic keyboards.

How is it done ?
Assuming that you have your home pc already set up for RDC (which is bundled free in every winXP copy) from the remote PC you need to launch

Start/Programs/Accesories/Communicatins/Remote Desktop Client
-enter your IP address , your common PC password .. and that is !!!

Cheers
JAvier

Ain't you afraid that a hacker may guess your password and start using your PC too ? That is very hard to fix when you are 10.000 km away.

Also, have a look at this site: http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/490628

__________________
Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl

>>>Ain't you afraid that a hacker may guess your password and start using >>>your PC too ? That is very hard to fix when you are 10.000 km away.

It deppends which password do you pick . Apparently 5% of the people pick "password" as their password , so yep , It deppends on the strenghness (sp?) of your password.

I think -and that's a personal oppinion- that tools like Remote DEsktop are too advanced and unknown for the average AFrican cybercafe password stealer. They prrobbably don't know it at all.

Also , being able to connect to your home PC via RDC is the only chance you have to fix things remotely (you can do absolutely everything , such as running an antivirus , or delete whatever you need ,or even shutting down your computer!!1

REgarding that vulnerability , well I did happen , but if you got the very latest windows updates.. It should be ok now . The latest patch makes RDC as safe as It gets

Cheers
Javier

I believe this will work with XP Home as well, the feature here is called Remote Assistance.

But: the remote PC needs to have a copy of RDC available.

Even easier is VNC. Works with all versions of Windows and Linux. You can put the small VNCViewer app on a USB key or floppy disk. Better still: it can be accessed from a Browser, if you enable this feature! Nothing to install.

As mentioned above, make sure to pick a secure password. If you change the standard port number and have an ADSL router no hacker will ever know VNC Server is running on your home PC.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Remember you need to keep your pc on and there are all sorts of access problems when your home pc is in a private network.....

Secure and simple solution, sign up for the free service of www.logmein.com it uses https and will find your PC once its switch on and has internet connection. No special ports to configure or firewall restrictions...

Only problem might be you'll need to install the secure viewing software from the guest pc and often in Internet cafés they do not allow software installation rights.. ask the guy at the desk to help ...

We use it in a corporate environment with 100 % success and have never had security issues to date...

You can download and use it with Windows 2000 Pro.

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.. no gods .. precious few heroes ...