How do I access my computer at work from home in Windows 7

[jaytone1]

I opened a business and need to access the computer at work from home on occasion. Both are running Windows 7.
I am trying to find a site that can walk me through the steps.
I need to know how to set it up, does the one at work have to be set to a certain setting before I leave work so I can access it, what program do I need to be able to work on the business computer from home, etc.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MustISO]

You could use VNC, LogMeIn, or Team Viewer. You could set up VPN on your router if you have that ability and use remote desktop into the system at work. Personally I'd set up Team Viewer with a strong password and have it run as service.

 

[JackMDS]

The Easier and most flexible is - http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?cdsplit=D

 

[Zaap]

Personally, I've done this with LogMeIn for years and been nothing but happy with it. It's amazing how much work you can get done on your home computers from work. I use it to render freelance video projects from my home machines while at work. It also makes it easy to remote manage large downloads and file transfers during the work day rather than waste time with it when I get home. Once I put together an entire DVD project at home- while on vacation in the Caribbean. It's nearly like being two places at the same time.

 

[jaytone1]

The Easier and most flexible is - http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?cdsplit=D

I checked teamviewer. Very expensive, $749.00 for lifetime
I also check logmein and its $69.00 a year. Seems more reasonable for what I need which is just being able to access my one work computer from my home. Seems like logmein also has an app for my IPhone.

 

[masteryoda34]

There is also plain old RDP built in to Windows. You just have to set up a port forward and a dynamic DNS name.

 

[Zaap]

I checked teamviewer. Very expensive, $749.00 for lifetime
I also check logmein and its $69.00 a year. Seems more reasonable for what I need which is just being able to access my one work computer from my home. Seems like logmein also has an app for my IPhone.

You don't need to pay to use LogMeIn. (Probably the same with Teamviewer, but I don't know, I don't use it.)

I use it with 7 computers and only use the free version. As far as I know, the paid versions offer some added features like higher resolutions, built in firesharing, remote printing, etc. Most of these you can do anyway with the free version just using the software that's already on the PC you're accessing.

Make sure if you sign up to just sign up for the actual free version, not a free trial of one of their paid services.

https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/

 

[Red Squirrel]

logmein is the easiest, though it relies on a 3rd party and your traffic also goes through this 3rd party, so it's something to keep in mind.

If you want something that does not rely on a 3rd party you could look at using VNC through a SSH tunnel, or setup openvpn. VNC is slow though. you could also do RDP through ssh tunnel instead as RDP is much faster. Ensure you install something like fail2ban on the ssh server, this will prevent brute force attacks. DO NOT open VNC, RDP or other similar protocol directly through the firewall as it's a huge security risk to do that. SSH is more secure, that's why you would login to SSH first to establish a tunnel then connect through that tunnel.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I checked teamviewer. Very expensive, $749.00 for lifetime
I also check logmein and its $69.00 a year. Seems more reasonable for what I need which is just being able to access my one work computer from my home. Seems like logmein also has an app for my IPhone.

Teamviewer is free for personal use...

 

[ch33zw1z]

http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?cdsplit=D

the green button

 

[JackMDS]

As mentioned above VNC is a total free solution and does not use any 3rd party server intervention.

UltraVNC includes AES encryption (like the WPA2 type), however it takes more time and know how to configure it first time. http://www.ezlan.net/vnc.html

BTW. TeamViewer is based on VNC. It basically the core engine of UltraVNC with the addtional "fanfare" of 3rd party server to make it easy to configure and avoid the need ofFirewall/Routers ports opening configuration.