Controlling One PC from Another with Remote Desktop Sharing

Remote Desktop Sharing (RDS) is a NetMeeting-related capability that enables you to thoroughly control one computer from another computer using that computer’s mouse, keyboard, and monitor. This is great for certain types of technical support. If you have a problem with your computer, for example, you can turn control of the computer over to an expert who can examine things from his current location. The expert might even be able to fix the problem on your screen as you watch. If you’re looking to give someone else control of your computer for technical support, you might find it easier to use the Remote Assistance feature. If you have an “always on” connection to the Internet (such as cable or DSL) and your computer has its own IP address on the Internet, you also can access that computer remotely (that is, from any other computer on the Internet). For example, you can use RDS to share your computer’s entire desktop and leave your computer on. Then, while you’re out on the road, you could connect to the Internet and actually control that home or office computer from wherever you happen to be located at the moment.

The Setup

To share control of a PC, you first need to be at that PC and do some configuring. You must have an account on the computer that has administrative privileges, and be logged on to that account. The account needs to have a password. You can use your existing account, or create a new account specifically for RDS. For this example, we’ll go through the steps of creating a unique RDS account. Assuming you’re already logged on with administrative privileges, here’s how you would proceed:

1. Click the Start button and choose Control Panel.

2. Open the User Accounts icon.

3. Choose Create A New Account.

4. Enter a name for the account, such as RDS Users, and click the Next button.

5. Choose Computer Administrator and then click the Create Account button.

6. Choose Change an Account.

7. Click the name of your new account (for instance, RDS Users).

8. Choose Create Password.

9. Enter a password (twice) and optionally a password hint

10. Click the Create Password button.

11. Close the User Accounts window and Control Panels.

Determine the computer’s name and IP address

Next you need to determine this computer’s name and/or IP address. If you plan to manage this computer from within your local area network only, either the name or IP address will do. To access this computer via the Internet, you need the computer’s IP address. To determine the computer’s name, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button and then right-click My Computer and choose Properties.

2. Click the Computer Name tab. The computer’s name appears next to Full Computer

Name Client

3. Click the Cancel button to close the dialog box without making any changes.

To determine the computer’s IP address, follow these steps:

1. Start NetMeeting from the Start menu.

2. Choose Help → About Windows NetMeeting from NetMeeting’s menu bar.

3. The computer’s IP address appears near the bottom of the dialog box.

Configuring RDS

The next step in allowing this computer to be operated remotely involves configuring NetMeeting to provide the capability. A simple wizard will help you do this:

1. If NetMeeting isn’t already open on the desktop, go ahead and start NetMeeting normally.

2. Choose Tools → Remote Desktop Sharing from NetMeeting’s menu bar.

3. Read the first couple of wizard screens and then click the Next button.

4. In the wizard screen that enables you to create a password-protected screen saver, choosing Yes will allow you to set up a screen saver that prevents others from using the computer while it’s being used remotely. Click the Next button to display the Screen Saver tab of the Desktop Properties dialog box. To accept the suggested screen saver, just click the OK button to close the dialog box and return to the wizard.

5. Read the last wizard page, and then click its Finish button.

A new icon will be available in the Notification area of the desktop.

Before you leave, or turn over control . . .

Now that the computer is capable of being operated from afar, you can do some things to help make the whole process easier. For starters, if you created a separate account for remote use, such as our RDS Users account, log onto that account. If you want to be able to access some other account (such as your own account) from afar, log on to that account instead. Then consider changing the display resolution to 640 x 480, if possible. That will enable your entire desktop to fit inside a window on the calling computer, provided that computer is using some higher resolution. Also, if your computer has multiple monitors, you should disable all but the main monitor, because it’s unlikely that the calling computer will be able to access the additional monitors. You can change the resolution and deactivate extra monitors via the Display Properties dialog box that appears when you right-click the desktop and choose Properties.

Next you need to set up the computer to “listen” for incoming calls that request control of the desktop. This step is vital, so it’s imperative that you perform it before you leave the computer. Likewise, if you’ll be turning over control of your computer to someone else, you must perform this step before that person calls in to take control of the computer. Here’s how you tell the computer to “listen” for the incoming request:

1. Right-click the new NetMeeting icon in the Notification area.

Select Activate Remote Desktop Sharing to allow this computer to be managed from afar.

2. Choose Activate Remote Desktop Sharing.

If you plan to leave the computer unattended while it’s being used remotely, be sure that the computer is on and ready to accept the call when the time comes. If you’re using power management options to power down your computer after a period of inactivity, disable those options before you leave the computer. Use the Power Options icon in Control Panel (Start → Control Panel) to set your System Standby option to Never. (It’s okay to let the monitor and hard disk power down after a while.) Some modern computers have a Wake On LAN capability built in to them. This enables the computer to go into a suspended state while not in use and then instantly “wake up” as soon as a request for resources comes through the network. If your computer has that capability, you’ll probably need to set it up in the system BIOS. Typically the only way to get to the BIOS setup is to watch for a message that reads Press del key  to Enter Setup right after you start the computer. You’ll only have a few seconds to press the specified key. I can’t give you much more advice than that though, because different computers have different BIOS chips and setup programs. You can check the written documentation that came with your system (or the system’s motherboard) for more information on its BIOS capabilities and setup program. The main thing to remember, however, is that if you want to access the computer from afar and nobody will be sitting there to accept your NetMeeting call, the computer has to be turned on and running when the call comes in. You can log off from the computer, however, by clicking the Start button and choosing Log Off → Log Off.

Turning over control

If you’ll just be turning over control of this computer to someone else, you’re done. When that person dials in to the computer, you will probably just see him doing whatever it is he needs to do. The mouse pointer will just move about the screen as though Casper the Ghost were sitting at your computer working its keyboard and mouse. When that user hangs up, you get control back. Now consider how it works from the other end, with you as the person who is elsewhere and calling in to control this computer.

Accessing an unattended desktop

Suppose you are away from the computer that’s listening for RDS requests. You want to get into that computer and control it from your current location. To do so, you need to follow these steps: 1. On whatever computer you’re using at the moment, start Microsoft NetMeeting.

2. Click the Place Call button.

3. In the To box, type the IP address of the remote computer. If you are calling from a computer   that’s part of the same local area network, you can enter the computer’s name instead.

4. Select the Require security for this call option so that its check box is filled (this is important!)

5. Click the Call button in the dialog box.

6. In the next dialog box to appear, enter your user name (or the name of the account you created for RDS) and password required only when contacting networks that use the Windows NT/2000 domain system of security.

7. Click the OK button.

A window opens on your desktop, displaying whatever is currently visible on the remote computer’s screen. From here on out, you can operate that computer normally within the window. If you choose View → Full Screen from the window’s menu bar, you will, in essence, replace your desktop with their desktop. You can use the Restore button that appears in the upper-right corner of the Full Screen view to reduce that remote desktop to a window, when convenient.

Transferring files during RDS

As you’re working a computer from afar, you might think that you can copy files from that remote computer to the current computer just using standard drag-and-drop techniques. However, that’s not how it works. Instead, what you need to do is run NetMeeting on the remote computer and click the Transfer Files button in that computer’s copy of NetMeeting. Go through the standard method described earlier in this chapter to select and send the files that you want to copy. After you click the Send button, the files will, of course, be sent to the computer at which you’re currently sitting. You can accept or reject them, just like you could if someone else had sent them to you. If you’re not given an option to place them in a specific folder on the local computer, they’ll probably end up in the C:\Program Files\NetMeeting\ Received Files folder, which is the default for storing transferred files.

Ending Remote Desktop Access

When you’ve finished using the remote computer, click the Hang Up button in NetMeeting’s window. You can also close NetMeeting if you like.

Note : All these things can be achieved by a simple software called teamviewer. It is free to download and easy to install. Read my review for Team Viewer later in this section.