Remote Desktop setup

FrankGrimes

How do I setup my PC so that I can remote desktop into it?

I went to My Computer, hit Properties, then Remote and added the user account I want to have remote access. Computer name is GRIMEY.

I have NTL bb and use www.no-ip.com to map dynamic IP to standard DNS (e.g. frankgrimes.noip.com). I did a DNS lookup on this DNS to get my IP address.

I am running only Windows Firewall at home and the Remote Desktop screen indicated the firewall would be automatically configured to allow remote desktop traffic.

I then set the port forwarding on my Linksys Wireless A&G Router to forward port 3389 traffic (both UDP and TCP) to my PC's internal IP address.

So I thought it would work but I get a 'remote connections might not be enabled or host PC might be too busy' error.

I entered my IP address in the Computer field, 'Frank' in the User field, entered my password, and put 'GRIMEY' in Domain field. I also tried it with Domain field empty but no joy.

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Could it be my work network blocking the traffic (though I doubt it cos I saw another guy with this working).

zAbbo

Does it work on the LAN ?

Have you enabled remote desktop ?

Control Panel - System - Remote - Allow Users to Connect Remotely

So I thought it would work but I get a 'remote connections might not be enabled or host PC might be too busy' error.

Input the ip address or domain name into the Computer field, and hit connect, you can scrry about logging in, once you hit the login screen

m_stan

you sound like you have it all covered. Do the no-ip.com support scripts report back ok ?

http://www.checkip.org/
http://www.canyouseeme.org/

If so you must be going wrong on the remote desktop side somewhere.

Personally I use a VNC server and client rather than the Microsh1t equivelant. Means I can use it on my Mac too. No-IP.com even have a Mac client, so this works great for me.

Good luck with getting it working.

FrankGrimes

thanks lads, yeh the DNS lookup I did seemed to show the no-ip service is working fine.

I thought I had that setting enabled but I'll double-check this evening.

m_stan

FrankGrimes wrote:

...the DNS lookup I did seemed to show the no-ip service is working fine.

my basic networking knowledge tells me that this just confirms the DNS part is working. Your port forwarding might still not be working and your firewall could still be blocking things. Your remote desktop software could also not be enabled/configured correctly.

if you use the canyouseeme link (above) you will verify that you dont have port forwarding and firewall issues, and you are then left to toubleshoot the remote desktop settings.

they are the steps I'd follow to troubleshoot this one.

crowej

FrankGrimes wrote:

I entered my IP address in the Computer field, 'Frank' in the User field, entered my password, and put 'GRIMEY' in Domain field.

when you say you entered the ip address of your computer ? do you mean you entered blabla.no-ip.com ? or the ip address of your computer

pm me if you want me to test the connection for you, perhaps it is your work setup

FrankGrimes

Muchos gratias. It seems Windows Firewall didn't automatically open port 3389 when I enabled the option in the System -> Remote menu.

Canyouseeme showed me that port 3389 was closed, but then when I manually opened it the site told me it could see it was open - so hopefully it works when I try from work tomorrow. Thanks.

m_stan

that'll certainly help matters. you might still have issues with the remote desktop but you are one step closer to having this work at the very least.

let us know how you get on

vibe666

the (allegedly*) easiest way to get it working from anywhere is to use the web interface so you can just log in with IE, but you'll need to enable and configure IIS on your PC to access the remote desktop web connection. i spent ages trying to get it to work, and in the end gave up completly and just used logmein. www.logmein.com which works through your browser. not quite as quick to use, but infinitely quicker to set up.

install the client on whatever PC's you want to connect remotely to, log into their web page and a couple of clicks later you're staring at your own desktop.

the free version allows you to remote control your PC, the paid one allows you to map network drives and printers etc. and transfer files back and forth, but tbh i've managed with the free one fine. there's a trial of the paid version if you wabnt to give it a go for an hour or two i think.

If you really want to do it via remote desktop web connection, here's the guide i used: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/northrup_03may16.mspx

otherwise there's a guide for using no-ip here: http://www.no-ip.com/support/guides/remote_access/windows_remote_desktop.html but I never tried that way myself.

*i'm not convinced it's the best way to do it if you're going xp to xp being as remote desktop is on both.

[align=right]13.16.137.11[/align]

lemeister

I just signed up for www.logmein.com and it looks excellent. If I were to use this in work though, is there any way that the IT dept could monitor what I was doing on my home pc?

Zascar

LogMeIn is excellent I've been using it for years. I work in a large multinational that blocks most sites but I can still get access to my home pc from work. I'm sure its against company policy - becuase I can view any website through it, but hey I say if the firewall hasn't blocked www.logmein.com then I'm going to use it. Just be careful though I'd say it could get you into trouble....

lemeister

Zascar wrote:

LogMeIn is excellent I've been using it for years. I work in a large multinational that blocks most sites but I can still get access to my home pc from work. I'm sure its against company policy - becuase I can view any website through it, but hey I say if the firewall hasn't blocked www.logmein.com then I'm going to use it. Just be careful though I'd say it could get you into trouble....

Cheers, it wouldn't be anything dodgy that I would be using it for, I just don't like the idea of someone in my company being able to sniff around my home pc. They act enough like big brother with our work pc's.