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By Melissa Perenson Posted 08.01.2008 at 11:53 am 7 Comments

Remote Access Peter Hoey

Ah, that sinking feeling: You’ve just left for a business trip when you realize you’ve forgotten the PowerPoint presentation on your PC at home. No matter: With the right tools in hand, you’ll be able to retrieve your file regardless of where you are.

Both Mac OS X and Windows have built-in Remote Desktop features that allow you to log into your home computer from any other system and access its files as though you were sitting in front of it. This could potentially allow others to get onto your computer, though, so be sure to enable your operating system’s extra security features or use additional security applications before trying it. Alternatively, you can use software like UltraVNC (free, uvnc.com) to create a secure connection for file transfers between a remote PC and your desktop. Pay services like WebEx PCNow ($10 a month, (pcnow.webex.com) also are secure and offer additional features such as the ability to invite a guest to view your computer screen simultaneously.

There are hardware solutions as well. If you happen to already have a network-attached hard drive (a drive with a built-in Ethernet port), you can set up secure access to the files stored on it via any Web browser. Or use a flash drive that automatically backs up data to a Web-based storage account, like SanDisk’s Cruzer Titanium Plus ($50 for 4GB), which comes with six months of free online storage. But whichever method you choose, you’ll never feel far from home.

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7 Comments

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pinktux777
08/01/08 at 5:27 pm

you can use orb (orb.com) to access files remotely. I use it to stream music from my home computer, but it can handle pictures, files, ect. I don't know how secure it is, but it works for me.

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hawaiiinsomniac
08/01/08 at 8:02 pm

I use .mac (now named mobileme - which I loathe) and it works great. I am able to retrieve my files from anywhere with an internet connection.

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nexisnet
08/02/08 at 8:07 pm

Great primer! Windows XP remote desktop has saved my hide more than once. It's only built into professional edition, but you can download remote control clients for other versions of the Windows OS, or even for Mac OSX.

If your motherboard supports it and you can configure your router to broadcast the wakeup packets you can use Wake On Lan to turn your computer on from anywhere too, so you don't have to leave it on all the time.

Although it isn't shown as a normal start-menu option, you can also turn off your computer remotely by going to the task manager (start->run->taskmgr) and choosing "Turn Off" from the "Shut Down" options menu. Be careful about pulling up the task manager with ctrl+alt+delete though, I've turned off the local computer I was using more than once that way!

-Adam

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torvince
08/02/08 at 10:31 pm

what if the computer was turned off before you left home? i'd really like to see a way to remotely turn on the computer first... if you're lucky i guess you can just call home and tell someone to turn it on and then hotmail you the damn file.

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thangalin
08/03/08 at 2:31 am

1. Install an SSH server on your home computer.

a. http://sshwindows.sourceforge.net/download/
b. Select the binary download installer link
c. Download, extract, and run setupssh381-20040709.zip

2. If you have a router, point port 22 to your home computer. (You will have to find your computer's IP address.)

3. If Windows Firewall (or other firewall software) is running, tell it to open port 22 on your home computer.

4. Run an SSH client from your remote location.

a. http://winscp.net/eng/download.php
b. Usually the "portable executable" will suffice.

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Aurora18
08/05/08 at 9:04 am

if you know how create a wide area network

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bsm80
11/15/08 at 7:12 pm

Great article, there are easy and free ways to do this if you are willing to spend just a few minutes setting it up. Check out this article, it's a great How To:

http://www.squidoo.com/remotedesktop

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