What is needed to make Remote Desktop Connection work...

[archcommus]

...besides turning it on in System Properties and making sure the account is password protected?

I've done both of those on my downstairs machine but still can't access it through RDC from my upstairs machine (on the same network). I type in the computer's name on the workgroup in the box, but it just tries for a few seconds then pops up with a message saying I can't connect to the client, either because it's not enabled on the client, or because it's too busy, etc.

Anything else I'm missing?

 

[demon42]

port fowarding on your router maybe? I didnt think you needed it when on a local machine, but for what its worth RDC uses port 3389

 

[JackMDS]

Link to: Set Up Remote Desktop Web Connection with Windows XP.

Link to: How to use remote Desktop Access in Windows XP.

If you, or who ever is on the computer to be ?Controlled? find it to hard or you have problems setting it, this is just as good and much easier to set.

Link to: Ultr@VNC - Installation, and Settings

:sun:

 

[archcommus]

Thanks for the links.

Does it really matter if I use the built-in client or the Web Connection through IE? The client built-in to XP Pro seems to make more sense to use. If I use that, I don't need to worry about most of what's in that first link.

For the second link, it describes the process of doing it through the built-in client. One thing that I need clarified from that article: if someone, say myself, is an admin of their own computer, and is accessing another computer on the LAN, do they have to be added to the users list on the computer being connected to? Or no?

 

[imported_JFG]

Are you using the windows firewall or any software firewall? If so make sure it's letting the traffic thru

 

[nweaver]

Put in the IP Address instead of the name, to eliminate name resolution problems. When you connect, you will be shown a login prompt to enter a username/password FOR THAT MACHINE.

For XP Pro, it will lock the current session, so no one can use that machine.

 

[archcommus]

Sygate was blocking it, had to unblock Generic Host Process for Win32 Services to get it to work.

 

[archcommus]

When connecting to that same computer from outside the network, how do I do this? Of course I'll need to know the IP address of my router and then the internal IP of the specific computer I want to connect to, as well.

 

[keeleysam]

Originally posted by: archcommus
When connecting to that same computer from outside the network, how do I do this? Of course I'll need to know the IP address of my router and then the internal IP of the specific computer I want to connect to, as well.

you need to port forward on the router.

 

[lansalot]

And don't just forward 3389 either - pick another obscure port, and forward it to 3389 internally. No point in painting a target on your host.

 

[archcommus]

I know I need to forward the right port to the host computer, but what do I actually type in at the RDC window from the client computer?

And can you explain that forwarding another internal port thing, too, I'm completely new to routers and all of this.

 

[archcommus]

Bump!

 

[lansalot]

Foward, for example, port 6000 on your router to port 3389 on your internal machine. Then at the remote, connect to your.pc.ip.address:6000.

Job done.

 

[nweaver]

on the router, pick a port (4789 for example) and choose to forward port 4789 to 192.168.1.34:3389 (assuming the PC you want to connect to is 192.168.1.34). Find your router's internet IP address (live address, usually not in the 192.168, 10.x.x.x ranges) and then connect to that ip address:4789.

 

[archcommus]

Thanks for the help.

For VPN rules in my router's config, it has a Public port box and a Private port box. I'm guessing public is the external port and private is the internal port? But doing that definitely makes sense so people don't know which specific port I have open.

However, if I may use nweaver's example, let's say I do that, and then from the client connect to that ip addres:4789. How does simply specifying the port let it know which computer specifically I want to connect to within the network? What if I forwarded that same port to two different computers? How would it know which one I'm trying to connect to?

 

[lansalot]

to 192.168.1.34:3389 (assuming the PC you want to connect to is 192.168.1.34

That's how it knows which computer to connect to. And this is nothing to do with VPNs - it's port forwarding only.

hth

 

[Ensign]

Hello,

If I'm reading this correctly, you need to setup port forwarding on both your router AND your PC? Is this correct? If so, how do you setup port forwarding on your PC? Do I have to use a software firewall program (Windows firewall) to do this sort of thing?

Thanks!

Originally posted by: lansalot
And don't just forward 3389 either - pick another obscure port, and forward it to 3389 internally. No point in painting a target on your host.