Win7: What remote access capabilities does it have as part of the OS?

[mikeymikec]

AFAIK, the only one is 'Windows Remote Assistance', a feature dependent on the local user inviting another to connect with the correct password, and it can be set so that the invitee can connect within (IIRC) the next four hours.

Am I correct? Is Professional any different?

Is Win8x / Pro any different?

 

[Gunbuster]

In Pro you can allow remote desktop and select what users are allowed to remote in.

 

[Mushkins]

What do you mean by remote access exactly? What are you trying to accomplish?

Windows has RDP for internally connecting to another computer on the network, but port forwarding so you can RDP from anywhere to your home computer is a massive security hole you don't want to do. Using RDP for remote access with proper security involves running a server to act as an RDS gateway to broker trusted connections from the outside in, which is total overkill for a home user.

If you just want to remotely control your desktop from outside of your network, look to third party solutions like LogMeIn, Teamviewer, VNC, etc. Windows does not have a secure tool to do this for home users built into it.

 

[Ichinisan]

Windows has RDP for internally connecting to another computer on the network, but port forwarding so you can RDP from anywhere to your home computer is a massive security hole you don't want to do. Using RDP for remote access with proper security involves running a server to act as an RDS gateway to broker trusted connections from the outside in, which is total overkill for a home user.

If you just want to remotely control your desktop from outside of your network, look to third party solutions like LogMeIn, Teamviewer, VNC, etc. Windows does not have a secure tool to do this for home users built into it.

I've been using Remote Desktop to access my home systems from outside my LAN since XP Beta. Usually just forwarding the standard port 3389. I haven't experienced any compromised systems due to this.

What's the risk if you have a good password? Can people sniff your password being submitted through a public network? I would assume it uses encryption.

 

[nsafreak]

I've been using Remote Desktop to access my home systems from outside my LAN since XP Beta. Usually just forwarding the standard port 3389. I haven't experienced any compromised systems due to this.

What's the risk if you have a good password? Can people sniff your password being submitted through a public network? I would assume it uses encryption.

Does it use encryption? Yes. Does it use good encryption? Not by default unless there's an update that I've missed concerning it. By default RDP uses RC4 which does have some issues and has been cracked before. I believe you can force it to use stronger encryption, details on Microsoft's recommendation here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/srd/arch...ry-2868725-recommendation-to-disable-rc4.aspx .

 

[Mushkins]

I've been using Remote Desktop to access my home systems from outside my LAN since XP Beta. Usually just forwarding the standard port 3389. I haven't experienced any compromised systems due to this.

What's the risk if you have a good password? Can people sniff your password being submitted through a public network? I would assume it uses encryption.

It only takes one unpatched security vulnerability related to RDP to have it compromised regardless of your password. There's also no brute force protection built into RDP, so someone *can* just hammer your login with login attempts if they want. Considering how many people use a weak password for the base Administrator account, a strong password for your user account isn't stopping anyone.

"I opened a vulnerability and haven't been attacked yet" doesn't make it any less of a vulnerability.