Remote connection to a PC over internet

I have a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium with Norton Internet Security 2009. I like to help my father and sister by connecting their PCs over the internet and taking full control. My father has Windows Vista Home Premium and my sister has Windows XP SP3. Both of them are using McAfee Internet Security 2009. One of my friends recommended me to use TeamViewer. I didn't try it yet. Any comments for this work and for any possible adjustments in both security programs and OS?

Mehper C. Palavuzlar

Posted 2009-10-15T11:47:33.767

Reputation: 51 093

I'd definitely recommend a hosted solution such as Teamviewer that uses a resident application on their computers. That way you don't have to drop the security on their connections or their computers. However, this is pretty much a shopping recommendation as it is written. Focusing on the security aspects would probably bring it back on-topic. – music2myear – 2014-10-24T15:01:07.330

Answers

TeamViewer, from personal experience, allows you to connect remotely without any modifications to the router for port forwarding. Although you will need to make a firewall exception.

For using regular RDC instead, you will need to:

Enable their remote machines to be connected to remotely (My Computer -> Properties -> Remote)
Ensure you have permissions to log onto their machine
Configure port forwarding in their router for port 3389
Configure firewall exceptions for RDC (on both computers), if applicable

TeamViewer is probably the easiest alternative, most other remote desktop software (VNC, NX, etc) will require system and router configuration changes just like RDC.

John T

Posted 2009-10-15T11:47:33.767

Reputation: 149 037

1Teamviewer works excellent – Ivo Flipse – 2009-10-15T12:01:50.993

You could use LogMeIn. It's very easy to use.

kajdehoop

Posted 2009-10-15T11:47:33.767

Reputation: 323

I have to put in another vote for Log Me In. It auto-configures everything in Windows and traverses NAT firewalls beautifully. It's been bulletproof for me over the last few years. – Tim Lara – 2009-10-16T01:02:03.603

The OS is not a problem, though McAffee may be if it includes a restrictive firewall.

But beyond that, most people nowadays (especially if they use WLAN) are bhind a NAT router, which needs to be configured to forward connection attempts from outside. This is know as "port forwarding" and how to do it varies with the router model. This site has descriptions for lots of different models.

Michael Borgwardt

Posted 2009-10-15T11:47:33.767

Reputation: 3 047

I maintain remote family machines (like out of state) with the free version of the LogMeIn remote client. Simple, easy to use and -- importantly -- no need to muck about with firewalls opening ports.

I've also had good luck with the free Crossloop app as well. A bit more interactive to get going, but some folks like that.

Chris_K

Posted 2009-10-15T11:47:33.767

Reputation: 7 943