Most reliable remote desktop / VNC for Windows

Question

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What's the best Remote Desktop Application?

I would like to leave a solution on a friends Windows (XP/7) so I can easily help her remotely from my home (With a confirmation from her).

I am mostly concerned about reaching it from the Internet.

Ideally I would like to be able to initiate a session to the PC I want to get in on.

Have you searched before? [Remote management of parents' computers](http://superuser.com/questions/317312/remote-management-of-parents-computers/317313#317313) — [What's the best Remote Desktop Application?](http://superuser.com/questions/1585/whats-the-best-remote-desktop-application/1812#1812) — [Remote connection to a PC over internet](http://superuser.com/questions/55718/remote-connection-to-a-pc-over-internet/55722#55722) — [How to remote desktop a computer over internet](http://superuser.com/questions/342129/how-to-remote-desktop-a-computer-over-internet/342132#342132) — slhck, Jan 13 '12 at 13:12
… [What are the different ways of remotely connecting to your computer?](http://superuser.com/questions/60330/what-are-the-different-ways-of-remotely-connecting-to-your-computer/60348#60348) — [Is there a remote desktop management tool that I can email to people?](http://superuser.com/questions/104620/is-there-a-remote-desktop-management-tool-that-i-can-email-to-people/104622#104622), et cetera. — slhck, Jan 13 '12 at 13:12

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 13 '12 at 13:30

1

Firstly, you might want to consider using a service like DynDNS Since it's a private PC, you'll either need an DynDNS alias (for ease of use) alternatively, you'll have to get her External IP address every time you want to connect. You can achieve this easily by getting her to go to http://whatismyip.com or simply typing in "what is my ip" into Google Chrome.

I personally use VNC which works fine, although to keep things simple, you might want to stick to Windows Remote Desktop Connection , unless there are additional features you require other than simply basic control.

You'll have to configure her PC to also allow Remote Desktop Connections, Advanced System Properties -> Remote

answered Jan 13 '12 at 13:30

Dwayne Hinterlang

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I think I usually wont have "public IP"? – Olav Jan 16 '12 at 20:09
Hence I recommended http://whatismyip.com – Dwayne Hinterlang Jan 17 '12 at 21:20
I mean, I think many computers don't have an IP that uniquely defines it on the Internet? – Olav Jan 18 '12 at 07:00
You use a PPPOE connection (Dial-Up Connection) to the External IP (the IP given by your ISP) once connected, you're essentially both on the same "network" you then VPN to her local IP address (the IP address of the actual machine) to get the internal IP just run `IPCONFIG` in command prompt – Dwayne Hinterlang Jan 18 '12 at 13:32
And this works with home ADSL wi-fi routers? – Olav Jan 21 '12 at 11:31

laurent · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-13T13:53:00.493

Window RDC won't work if the remote machine is Home Edition (XP and possibly W7 but I'm not sure in this case). With Windows RDC, you'll need something like DynDNS to reach her public IP.

With VNC, team viewer or other software like those you don't need to reach her public IP so you don't need DynDNS as the server in her machine will give an access code you can use directly without using her IP.

Another possibility (more complicated but with more possibilities, depending on what kind of help you need to provide) is to make a VPN with server in your machine and she connects when she needs help or server in her machine and she activates it only when she needs help and you can use any remote connection software you want as if you were local (including mounting/sharing easily their disks or printers in your machine). In this case, Windows RDC will work without DynDNS but you'll need DynDNS for the VPN server.

From other threads, it seams team viewer is the most reliable solution. — Olav, Jan 16 '12 at 20:11

Most reliable remote desktop / VNC for Windows

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