Well, WinXP Pro has the Remote Desktop feature, but only pro supports it. If your computer (the one you are fixing your childrens computers from) is running Windows ME then that is perfect. Download
this and you will be able to work from your ME computer on an XP Pro computer.
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Remote Desktop works by a user on computer1 connecting to computer2 via IP (and a special program called Remote Desktop). Now the only problem is the WinXP Pro computers need to be set up for that, but it's easy!
Enabling Remote Desktop for WinXP Pro
- Click Start > My Computer.
- In the left-hand task pane, select View System Information.
- 3. Select the Remote tab in the window that pops up.
- 4. Check off the box for Allow Users to Connect Remotely to This Computer (See image above). You'll need to have a password on your profile already. If you don't, you'll receive a warning prompt.
- 5. Click OK to finalize the changes.
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Great, now that you have enabled Remote Connections I can explain how to use that feature.
First we need to know the IP addresses of the computers you are connecting to. To do this you need to be at the computer you want to be able to connect to (you need their IP address). Go to
Start >
Run... > and type
cmd.exe in the dialog that pops up. A black screen with some words will appear. I need you to type '
ipconfig' and press
Enter. Now if you read the information that is provided, you will see it says "
IP Address." Copy down the IP address of each computer, as you need this to connect everytime.
Remember that program I had you download? If you are running your Windows ME computer, then install it with all the defaults, and run the program. If you are fixing the other computers from a WinXP Pro computer then go to
Start >
Run... > and type
mstsc in the dialog that pops up.
Great, now if you installed that program and have it running, or typed 'mstsc' in the run dialog then you should see this:
Now we need to set up Remote Desktop to work the smoothest it possibly can. To do this we need to enable/disable some things. Click the
Options button:
You should now see this:
Next, you'll want to click the '
Local Resources' tab:
Now, click the box that says '
Disk Drives':
This allows you to access their hard drive, in case you need to transfer a file from your machine to the other, things like that.
Now please click the '
Experience' tab:
Great, you should now see this:
Now, see all those boxes that I boxed in the above image? I would suggest unchecking them all, because they really are not needed, and will only make things slower, but if you insist on being able to see their background, or themes, or any animations then leave them checked. (Remember, your connected to fix their computer, so chances are you don't need this stuff, just the fastest connection possible).
Yay! You have set up Remote Desktop, that seemed long, but it wasn't that bad was it?
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Now that you have set up Remote Desktop, we can connect. Go back to the main screen:
In the box next to the words '
Computer:' type the IP address I had you copy down before, do you remember? Great. Like I previously said, the computer your connecting to must have a password on the user name. This is a safety feature built into Remote Desktop, that prevents malicious attempts to take control over your computer. Make sure it's a strong password that contains letters, numbers, and symbols to make sure nobody could guess it. Now, click the '
Connect' button and you should be good to go!
If you have a firewall up, on either computer you may not be able to connect, so you should be aware of that. Any other problems you have can be posted here, or looked up anywhere online!
Good luck!!!
