You can use the Remote Desktop Connection Communications accessory to share the desktop of your computer remotely. You can use this feature for a variety of reasons:
Working from home:Access your work computer from a home computer over the Internet, giving you access to all of its pro-grams and resources.
Collaborating:Access the program’s and documents on a co-worker’s computer from your own computer over a LAN or the Internet, enabling you to directly review and edit the work you collaborate on.
Sharing a single computer:Enable different users sharing the same computer to maintain separate program sessions.
To use Remote Desktop, each computer needs to be running Windows XP Professional and have access to a Local Area Network via network connection, modem, or Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection. Each computer must also have Remote Desktop Connection (formerly known as Terminal Services Client) installed.
Before you can use the Remote Desktop Connection accessory on your computer, you must enable the machine for desktop sharing.
Note that in order to do this, you must be logged on to your com-puter as a user who has Comcom-puter Administrator privileges (see
“User Accounts” in Part IV for details).
153
To enable your computer for Remote Desktop Connection, follow these steps:
1. Open the System Control panel by clicking Start and Control Panel. If the Control panel is in Category view, click Perform-ance and MaintenPerform-ance in the Pick a Category dialog box, fol-lowed by the See Basic Information about Your System or the System link in the Performance and Maintenance dialog box (if the Control panel is in Classic View, simply double-click the System icon).
2. Click the Remote tab in the System Properties dialog box.
3. Click the Allow Users to Connect Remotely to This Computer check box.
4. (Optional) To specify which users on the computer can con-nect to it remotely, click the Select Remote Users button and then add their names in the Remote Desktop Users dialog box.
Doing this ensures that no one else can access your computer but those on the list.
5. Click OK in the System Properties dialog box to close it.
After you enable remote desktop sharing on your computer, you can gain access to its desktop by choosing Remote Desktop con-nection on the Communications submenu (Start➪All Programs➪ Accessories➪Communications➪Remote Desktop Connection).
Windows opens the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, where you select the name of your computer. To expand this dialog box to include Logon settings where you specify not only the computer name, but also your user name, password, and the domain the com-puter is on (if your network uses domains), click the Options >
button.
154
After filling in your logon information, click the Connect button to connect to the computer whose name you specify in the Computer drop-down list box. Windows then displays the desktop of the remote computer full-screen on your computer, giving you full access to all of its programs and resources.
Note that the name of the remote computer appears in a bar at the top of your computer’s screen to let you know that you’re looking at a remote computer’s desktop and not the one of the computer you are using. This bar contains Minimize, Restore, and Close but-tons on the right side. Click the Restore button to view the remote computer’s desktop in a less-than-full-size window (whose title bar then has the name of the remote computer, followed by Remote Desktop) that you can then move the local desktop. When you finish accessing the remote computer, you simply have to click the Close button to end the Remote Desktop Connection session. When you click Close, the Disconnect Windows Session alert dialog box appears, informing you that you are about to disconnect your remote sharing session. Click the OK button to close this dialog box and terminate the remote sharing.
Remote Desktop Connection automatically locks the desktop of the remote computer during a remote sharing session (so that no one at the remote location can come along and try to start using the computer at the same time as you). To unlock the remote com-puter during a remote sharing session so that you have local access to its desktop, you need to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete at the same time.
If you share your computer with other users, and you turn on Fast Desktop Sharing, you can give them access to the computer with-out having to shut down your remote sharing session during the interruption. For example, suppose you’re logged onto your work computer from your home computer, and someone in the house-hold needs to log on and send an important e-mail before you finish the remote desktop sharing. With Fast Desktop Sharing enabled, you can let that person log on (Start➪Log Off➪Switch User) and send the vital e-mail; then, after he or she finishes and logs off (Start➪Log Off➪Log Off), you log back on and resume using the remotely shared desktop as though nothing had disrupted your session. To turn on Fast Desktop Switching for the users on your computer, open the User Accounts Control panel (see“User Accounts” in Part IV for details); then click the Change the Way Users Log On or Off link and click the User Fast User Switching check box to insert a check mark in it before you click the Apply Options button.
155
Entertainment
Selecting the Entertainment option on the Accessories continuation menu leads to a further submenu that contains the following: Sound Recorder, Volume Control, and Windows Media Player (see“Playing Music, Video, and Movies” in Part I for detailed information on using Windows Media Player).