Using home computer from work

alidai

Hi,

Does anyone know whether it's possible to access my home computer from my work one?

My home one is currently connected via broadband and i need to access information off it.

Is it possible?

cheers

James

EvilMonkey

It definitely is, but from your post, it sounds like you need the info of it now. I've a feeling you need to set up the home end to do this first, especially if you've any kind of firewall in place.

dan.mcl

yes no and maybe.

1. Unless you are running windows XP or some variety of server with Terminal services installed then you are out of luck as far as Remote desktop goes

2. If you dont have these, you could set up a VPN (Virtual Private NetworK) over the internet BUT you would need the support, assistance and approval of the IT department.

3. If you have a router in place, they can be "interesting" to configre to allow incoming connections and passing them through to the correct machine(if there is more than one)

The problem that you will normally find is that you need to be in front of your PC to configure it unless you are very lucky and have someone reasonably IT proficient at home that can set it up for you over the phone.

It is fairly straightforward once you have either remote desktop set up, an FTP server or a VPN, but the route i went was to go for remote desktop first and then configred the rest from it at work. FTP is probably the easiest to set up (plenty of guides available as well as free software), but a VPN is definitely the most secure but also takes the most fettering to get working properly, but the problem is that your entire internet connection is now limited to the speed of your home upload connection.

Anyway if you want any more advice let me know, but to sum up, if you need it in the next ten minutes or so you are out of luck, unless you only live five minutes away from your office.

edit: beat me to it, evilmonkey

alidai

cheers for the comments,

i don't need access to it immediately but i would like to set it up so i am able to connect to it. What procedures would i have to go through to set it up.

At home i have XP and there is no router connected.

At work i have Win 2000 connected through a LAN.

James

Debt_Free_Chick

I think the first thing you need to consider is whether you would get out through your company's security systems. You are unlikely to be able to configure the work PC yourself .. unless your company is very lax!

Do you know someone in your Compnay IT department? Ask them first, to see if it's feasible. My guess would be "not".

alidai

to be honest chick, my works it department aren't that great and the company isn't big so i don't think it would be a problem. What steps would i have to go through to configure the work pc?

James

Debt_Free_Chick

Looks like Dan.mcl is your man. I've never had an IT department that allowed me to connect either way - neither Work to Home or Home to Work

Tony_H_3

Real VNC Click Here is perfect for the job, it also operates smoothly irrelevant of which operating systems you are connecting to.

You would need a static IP address or the ability to get it from the remote PC.

dan.mcl

Real VNC is what i use at work for Win to Lin(ux) connections, at home and for my private clients i use the windows XP remote desktop connection system, people are less "offended" by it when i log in to check their machine. My solution for your problem is a private FTP server.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla/ is the first one in the list for "free FTP server" in google, it is open source so it is worth your support, sourceforge.net do great work. Or you can try the free trial of bulletproof FTP and if you like it, buy it. I used it and found it great but i didnt need it for more than 2 days out of the 30. Windows XP can do it for you as well, using IIS but DON'T use it, it is very insecure and a bit crap to be honest. There are plenty of guides on how to setup bulletproof FTP server (remember Google is your friend. And I am feeling lazy)

once that is setup it should be no problem connecting to your home machine, if you have a static IP address (Cable modem or similar) you are laughing, just connect to ftp://your.ipaddress.here using an ftp client or even windows explorer Internet Exploder. I use the fireFTP extension for Mozilla firefox and it is great, really easy to use and pick up straight off the bat.

If you have a dynamic IP address (BT broadband/ADSL) then it gets a bit trickier and you will probably need to go to http://hn.org/ or http://www.dynodns.net/ to get a static address for your dynamic IP, then the same procedures apply.

The best thing about FTP is that most organisations unless they are locked down tighter than a drum, allow outgoing FTP connections as they are a fairly standard protocol for data transmission (ports 20 and 21). Incoming ones are another matter, and you probably shouldnt dabble with them at work unless you like being warned/sacked for breach of their lackadaisical "Acceptable Use Policy"

on anopther note I would definitely recommend getting yourself a router/hardware firewall or both (SP2 firewall is poor but better than nothing), it adds another layer or two for hackers to break through before your machine and can provide some filtering for DOS and DDOS attacks (if configured properly). If your AV scanner doesnt pick it up.