win xp remote desktop ?

[crowdaddy00]

I have a friend who is having problems with his pc. He has windows xp home installed. i want to connect to his pc using remote desktop program. i installed it on my pc running win98se. i cant seem to figure out what to put in the line that says computer name. do i put the ip address or the actual pc name of his pc? also, if its the ip address i need, which one do i use if he has a router? i dont think he knows how to find is real ip from the router. he told me his ip was 192.***.***.***. i dont think i can connect to that. thanks.

[Iman74]

If he is on a router it's probably going to block. That's the whole point of a router, to prevent people from getting on his PC. You really need to configure the router and/or use sometype of remote software (like PCAnywhere) to access his PC remotely.

[crowdaddy00]

so if i use pc anywhere ibstead of remote desktop sharing, it should work? arent they the same kind of programs? once i figure out what kind of router he has, is there a website i can go to to find out how to set it up for remote desktop sharing?

[lil Jimmie]

To find his IP go to start> run and type cmd and hit enter at the command prompt type ipconfig and enter. With using Remote Desktop he needs to send you an invitation via e-mail for assistance by using the wizard it’s not too hard to do, also for a bit more security he can request a password that you’ll need to know in order for you to assist him.

HTH

[crowdaddy00]

so if i use ipconfig, it will give me his real ip or his router ip? and can i use that ip to connect to him? thanks for the explaination.

[lil Jimmie]

Sorry, he needs to use ipconfig on his PC that will give him his IP on his PC. To find out the Router IP is a different story, but you might try to have him go here and this may give you his router IP.

[crowdaddy00]

he knows his ip addres for his pc. his router ip is like 192.***.*.*. is that right? sorry for all the questions. its just that i never used anything like this before and its sort of confusing. thanks

[lil Jimmie]

More than likely he is using DHCP which automatically gets his IP from his ISP the 192.***.*.* is how he accesses his router to configure it.

[crowdaddy00]

so he needs to type that ip in his web broswer? im guessing i need to get his isp address to connect to him? how would i get that ip address from him? thanks again for putting up with all the questions. i never worked with a router and broadbnad access. im stil stuck with 56k dial up. i know how to get ip addys from dial up and setup firewalls for them but broadband is out of my territory.

[glc]

No, the 192.xxx.xxx.xxx is his local private IP assigned by the router. He will have to access the router setup page to find out his WAN IP address, which is his public IP. Then he has to forward the appropriate ports in the router to his PC's local private IP address. Then you can connect using his public IP.

[Mac Medic]

For this to work behind a router he needs to be in the DMZ. Then you would connect remotely to his routers WAN IP address, not his local address. I do this every day from work to home & it works like a charm. The reason for being in the DMZ is remote desktop on XP does not support NAT. DHCP doesnt matter here as you will connect to the DMZ host automatically. Also you will need to configure his machine to accept remote connections and a list of users allowed to access. This is under system properties/remote. And disable the firewall. Not the most secure thing, but if the password is good it would take a while for anyone to hack it. Never been hacked myself and i've had mine set like this since XP came out. The other machines on his LAN are still behind the router, so no issues there.

[glc]

I don't believe that you have to put it in the DMZ - forwarding a couple ports should be sufficient - I read a post here the other day with the required ports.