| There are several services available now that | | | | to forward traffic on tcp port 3389 to your |
| allow you to remotely access your computer | | | | host computer. |
| from any other machine in the world, as long | | | | |
| as it is connected to the internet. The good | | | | How to Configure the Remote Desktop service |
| news is that Windows XP Professional has this | | | | |
| functionality built into the operating | | | | On the host computer, go to the control panel |
| system. In this article, I am going to show | | | | and double click the system icon. Click the |
| you how to configure your Windows XP | | | | Remote tab, and then click to select the |
| Professional computer to support remote | | | | Allow users to connect remotely to this |
| access using the Remote Desktop feature. | | | | computer check box. Administrators are |
| | | | granted access by default, but there is an |
| To use Remote Desktop you will need the | | | | option to add other user accounts if needed. |
| following: | | | | Click on OK to save your changes. |
| | | | |
| A host computer (the one you want to access | | | | Connecting to your computer |
| remotely) that is running Microsoft Windows | | | | |
| XP Professional and is connected to the | | | | On the client PC, you will need a software |
| Internet. | | | | client called Remote Desktop Connection. |
| | | | Computers running Windows XP Home and |
| A client computer (the one you will use when | | | | Professional already have this client |
| remotely accessing your PC) running Microsoft | | | | installed. If you are connecting from a |
| Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Millennium | | | | client PC that is running another version of |
| Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft | | | | windows, you will need to install the Remote |
| Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows | | | | Desktop Connection software. You can download |
| 2000, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, or Microsoft | | | | the software for free from Microsoft's |
| Windows 95, with access to the Internet. | | | | website. The next step is to run the Remote |
| | | | Desktop Connection software so you can |
| Appropriate user accounts and permissions | | | | connect to your computer. To do this, Click |
| configured on the remote Windows XP | | | | Start, point to All Programs, point to |
| Professional to allow remote access. | | | | Accessories, point to Communications, and |
| | | | then click Remote Desktop Connection. From |
| The IP address of your home computer. You can | | | | here you just need to enter the IP address or |
| figure this out by going to a site like The | | | | DNS host name and click on connect. |
| only problem with this is that your ISP may | | | | |
| dynamically change this address from time to | | | | Obviously, there are security implications |
| time. I would recommend using a free dynamic | | | | that need to be considered when opening ports |
| DNS provider, such as This will allow you to | | | | on you firewall or NAT router and exposing |
| assign a public DNS record to your computer, | | | | your machine to the internet. Please consider |
| such as You will need to have tcp port 3389 | | | | all of the security risks and decide whether |
| open on your firewall. If your machine is | | | | or not this method will work for you. |
| behind a firewall or NAT router you will need | | | | |