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39
REMOTE DESKTOP AND
REMOTE ACCESS
Using Your Computer Remotely
With today’s global availability of the Internet, you expect to be able to
access the websites that hold your email and data from anywhere, anytime. You can store documents in the cloud for global access. But what
about stuff that you didn’t remember to—or don’t want to—store “out
there”? Why can’t you have the same global access to your own private
data on your computer at home? Well, as it turns out, you can, through
features that are built in to Windows, and also through some third-party
products. We describe these in this chapter.
If your computer runs Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, your computer has a spiffy feature called Remote Desktop that
lets it accept connections from another computer. When you travel, you
can see your home computer’s screen, move its mouse and type on its
keyboard, open files, and even print, just as if you were really sitting in
front of it. The neat part is that you can do this from any computer that
runs just about any version of Windows or Mac OS X, and even iOS and
Android devices.
If you have the Home version of Windows 10, the hosting side of Remote
Desktop isn’t included, but you can still get remote access to your computer using a third-party program such as TeamViewer, which we discuss
at the end of the chapter.
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Whatever program you use, Figure 39.1 shows how it works. Your keystrokes, mouse, and touch
movements get sent from one computer to your own computer, wherever it is. The remote computer’s display, sound, and print output travel back to you and appear on the local computer.
Local
Computer
Remote
Computer
Display
and Soun
d
INTERNET CONNECTION
Mous
e and Keyboard
Figure 39.1
You can use any computer running
Windows, iOS, or OS X to connect to and
control your computer.
This is just what you need when you’re out of town and need to read a file you left on the computer
back home, or if you want to read your office email from home.
As we mentioned, the client part of Remote Desktop, which lets you connect to other computers,
runs on any version of Windows, OS X, and iOS, and there are versions for Android. The Remote
Desktop service, which lets a computer be controlled by a remote connection, is available only on
some Windows versions:
• Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education
• Windows 8 and 8.1 Pro and Enterprise
• Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise
• Windows Vista Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise
• Windows XP Professional
• All versions of Windows Server since Windows 2000 Server
Even if your computer does have Remote Desktop capability, you
might want to check out the third-party tools. We recommend
reading about both options before you decide to use one or the
other. Here are the trade-offs:
note
You don’t have to be miles
away to take advantage of
Remote Desktop either. You
can also use it to access other
computers in your home or
office, using your local area
network (LAN). For example,
you can use it to start a
lengthy computing or printing job on someone else’s
computer without leaving
your own desk.
• Remote Desktop can be considerably harder to set up than the
third-party programs if you want access through the Internet.
• Better support is available for the third-party client programs on Android devices than for Remote
Desktop.
• Remote Desktop won’t let you collaborate with or assist someone who’s sitting at the remote
computer, because it blanks out your home computer’s screen while you’re connected from afar.
The third-party tools that we discuss at the end of this chapter will let you work with someone
who’s at the remote computer.
➥ And Windows has a separate, built-in tool for screen-sharing. If collaboration is what
you’re after, see “Remote Assistance,” p. 884.
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•
Remote Desktop might offer better security. The third-party options that provide access over
the Internet all open a data connection between your computer and the host company’s servers.
They keep a “pipeline” open into your computer from their facilities at all times. You must trust
that they’ll never get hacked themselves; otherwise, criminals or governmental agencies could
conceivably snoop into your computer from their facilities. (On the other hand, third-party vendors will block access to someone who’s trying to guess passwords. Remote Desktop will happily
let someone test passwords all day.)
• Remote Desktop works well between computers on a home or office LAN, and on a LAN that
isn’t connected to the Internet. Most of the third-party products require Internet access, so they
won’t work on a disconnected LAN.
• Remote Desktop automatically transmits sound and lets you print from the home (host) computer
to your current location. Not all third-party programs do this.
You’ll have to decide for yourself whether you’re more concerned about convenience or privacy.
Over the past few years, I’ve switched from Remote Desktop to a third-party program for remote
access to my own personal computer, but I still use only Remote Desktop for business networks.
The remainder of this chapter consists of three major sections. The first part shows you how to set
up your computer so that you can access it remotely. The second part shows you how to connect to
another computer using the Remote Desktop Client. The third part discusses third-party alternatives.
By the way, Remote Desktop is a scaled-down version of Windows Terminal Services, a component
of the Windows Server versions that lets multiple users run programs on one central server. By
“scaled down,” we mean that only one person is allowed to connect to a computer running a desktop version of Windows at a time, either remotely or with the regular monitor and keyboard. So if
you connect remotely, a local user is temporarily kicked out to the Welcome screen. And if a user
signs in at the home computer while you’re connected remotely, you’ll be disconnected. You won’t
lose your work—you can reconnect later and pick up where you left off—but the bottom line is that
only one person at a time is allowed to use a given Windows 10 computer.
Setting Up Access to Your Own Computer
This section tells you how to set up remote access into your own
computer. If you want to use the Remote Desktop Connection client
to access another computer, skip ahead to “Connecting to Other
Computers with Remote Desktop,” later in this chapter.
As mentioned previously, incoming Remote Desktop connections
are available only on Windows Pro, Enterprise (corporate), and
Education versions. If you don’t have one of these versions, see the
last section in this chapter, which discusses third-party options.
Across a LAN (that is, between computers in your home or office),
Remote Desktop works right “out of the box”; you just have to
enable the feature. However, if you want to use Remote Desktop
to reach your computer over the Internet, you must set up several
caution
If your computer is part of
a corporate network, check
with your network administrators before attempting
to make any changes to the
Remote Desktop settings. (In
all likelihood, these settings
will be locked anyway; you
probably won’t be able to
change them.)
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VIII
other things in advance. The procedure might sound complex as
you read it, but it really isn’t that bad. Just go through the process step by step. You can go about this in other ways, of course,
but what we give you here is a procedure that’s suitable for a
home or small office user with Windows 10 Pro.
Again, some web-based programs do much the same thing as
Remote Desktop. Several of them are free, and most of them
require very little setup work; in particular, they completely
bypass the networking issues we discuss shortly. If the instructions in this section sound too difficult, or if the setup doesn’t
work for you, check out the section “Third-Party Remote Control
Tools” at the end of the chapter.
note
A password must be set on
a user’s account before that
user can connect to the computer using Remote Desktop.
Users without passwords will
not be allowed to sign in
remotely, even if they appear
in the list of permitted users.
Enabling Remote Desktop Access to Your Computer
To be sure that incoming Remote Desktop connections are enabled on your computer, follow these
steps:
1. In the taskbar’s search box, type remote and wait for the search results to appear. Under
Settings, select Allow Remote Access to Your Computer.
Alternatively, press Windows Logo+X, select System, and select Remote Settings. Or just type
sysdm.cpl at a Command Prompt and then select the Remote tab.
2. In the bottom half of the dialog box, select Allow Remote Connections to This Computer, and
uncheck Allow Connections Only from...Recommended. (The “more secure” version works only
on corporate networks using IPSec security and doesn’t work for home/small office users.)
3. By default, all Administrator-level accounts will be allowed to connect to the computer. If you
want to grant Remote Desktop access to any Standard users, click Select Users, Add, Advanced,
Find Now, and then locate the desired name in the Search Results section. Double-click the
name. To add another name, click Advanced and Find Now again.
4. Click OK to close all the dialog boxes.
If your computer is set to go to sleep when it sits unused for a while, and you want the computer to
be available for incoming connections at all times, you’ll have to disable automatic sleep. To do this,
go to the Start menu and type power plan. In the results, under Settings, select Edit Power Plan.
Change the Put the Computer to Sleep setting to Never for both Battery and Plugged In options, and
then click Save Changes.
Now, confirm that Remote Desktop connections are correctly set up to be allowed through the
Windows Firewall. In the taskbar’s search box, type firewall and then select Allow an App
Through Windows Firewall. Scroll down the list of Allowed Apps and Features and locate Remote
Desktop. Be sure it’s checked under both Private and Public. If it isn’t, click Change Settings and
then check the boxes. Click OK.
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caution
Be sure that every user account that can be reached via Remote Desktop (that is, every Administrator
account and any Standard accounts that you select in step 4) has a strong password. This means a password
with uppercase letters and lowercase letters and one or more numbers or punctuation, and it is at least
eight characters in length. I like to use two-word passwords like this: autumn/robot.
If you just want to use Remote Desktop within your home or office
network, you’re finished, and can skip ahead to the “Connecting to
Other Computers with Remote Desktop” section. However, if you
want to reach your computer through the Internet, you have more
work to do.
Establishing 24/7 Access
note
If you are using an add-on
third-party firewall product,
configure it to permit incoming Remote Desktop connections on TCP port 3389.
Because you won’t be there at your home or office to turn on your computer and establish an
Internet connection, you must set up things so that your computer and connection are always
working.
First, if you are setting up access to a desktop PC, you must be sure that your computer will turn
itself back on if the power goes out while you’re not there. You do this from the computer’s BIOS or
UEFI setup screen. To get there, click Start, Power. Hold the Shift key down while you click Restart.
In the Choose an Option screen, select Troubleshoot, Advanced Options. If there is a selection titled
UEFI Firmware Settings, select that and see whether there is an option for recovering from an AC
power failure.
If there is no UEFI Firmware Settings tile, click the back arrow twice, and select Continue. Wait for
the screen to go black, and then press the Setup hotkey. The screen should tell you what to press;
it’s usually the Delete or F2 key. Then look for the Power Management settings. Find an entry titled
AC Power Recovery or something similar. Some computers have an option labeled Last Setting,
which turns on the computer only if it was already on when the power failed. If it’s available, you
can select that. Otherwise, select the setting that turns on your computer whenever the AC power
comes on. Then save the BIOS settings and restart Windows.
Besides a 24/7 computer, you need a 24/7 Internet connection. If you have cable Internet service or
a type of DSL service that does not require you to enter a username or password, you already have
an always-on Internet connection and can skip ahead to the next section. Otherwise, if you have
Internet service that is connection-based, you need to take one of the following actions:
• See whether your DSL provider can upgrade your service to provide a static IP address and
always-on service. This option might be inexpensive enough to make it worthwhile.
• Use a router. If you don’t have a router already, buying one is a worthwhile investment. They
cost roughly $20 to $100, and can also provide wireless networking capability and Internet connection sharing for your home or office. Chapter 19, “Connecting Your Network to the Internet,”
tells how to set up a router for DSL service. Be sure to enable the router’s “keepalive” feature so
that your connection is kept going all the time.
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• If you use the Internet Connection Sharing utility that comes with Windows, you can add a thirdparty program to force Windows to keep the connection open all the time. The DynDNS Updater
program (which we discuss later) can do this for you.
Next, you must make sure you can locate your computer from out on the Internet.
Setting Up Dynamic DNS
All Internet connections are established on the basis of a number called an IP address, which is to
your Internet connection what your telephone number is to your phone. When you’re somewhere
else, you’ll need a way to let Windows find your home computer’s IP address so that Remote
Desktop can establish a connection back to it.
The solution to this problem is to use a dynamic domain name service (DDNS). You’ll use the service
to give your computer a name, such as brian.likes-pie.com. (Seriously.) Add-on software in your
computer will keep the service updated whenever your computer’s address changes.
note
Many DDNS providers exist, and some of them, such as no-ip.com, offer free services. You can find them
easily enough by doing a Google search for free DDNS service. Here, we give you step-by-step instructions for setting up DynDNS Pro service at Dyn.com because it’s directly supported by many hardware
connection-sharing routers. If your router doesn’t support it, you can install the company’s IP address
updating program on your computer. The company name has changed from DynDNS.com to Dyn.com, and
the price has unfortunately gone from free to $30 per year, but it’s still a great product. You can try it out
free with the 14-day free trial offer.
To be clear, if you have a static IP address, you can use any DNS service to map your IP address to a
hostname+domain name. If you have a dynamic address or a connection-based Internet service, you can use
any Dynamic DNS service; however, the process for installing and configuring it will be different than what
we describe here.
To set up dynamic domain name service at Dyn.com using the 14-day free trial offer, follow these
steps:
1. Open your preferred web browser and go to www.dyn.com/dns. At the bottom of the web page
under Remote Access, click Or Start 14-day Free Trial.
2. Enter a hostname that you can easily remember, and select a domain name from the pull-down
list. (I entered hostname brian and selected domain likes-pie.com. This gives my computer
the Internet name brian.likes-pie.com.) If someone else has claimed the name you chose,
change the name or domain and try again until you succeed. Be sure to write down the hostname and domain name that you eventually select.
(At the time we wrote this, the hostname entered here ends up not actually getting registered,
but you have to go through this exercise anyway.)
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Leave Wildcard unchecked and Service Type set to Host with IP Address. Click the link Your
Current Location’s IP Address Is.... to record that address. Then click Add to Cart.
3. You should have DynDNSPro Trial (14 days) and a Dynamic DNS Hostname in the cart. Complete
the rest of the registration process. You’ll receive an email with a confirmation code that you will
have to enter to confirm your account. This will take you to a payment page, where you’ll need to
supply credit card information.
(If you cancel the service before 14 days elapse, you will not be charged and you will still be
allowed one free registered dynamic hostname; however, it could get deleted if its address is not
updated at least once a month.)
4. After the order has been processed, at the left, click My Services, and then under that, click
DynDNS Pro/Hosts. If your desired hostname is listed, you’re good to go. Otherwise, click +Add
New Hostname and reenter what you entered in step 2, clicking Activate when finished.
Next, set up a DNS client program so that changes to your IP address are sent to Dyn.com. There are
two ways to do this. If you have a hardware Internet router, it might be able to automatically update
your IP address. You can find support information on Dyn.com to help you do this.
Alternatively, install a Dynamic DNS updating tool on the computer you’re enabling for Remote
Desktop access. This is a software service that will periodically determine your network’s public IP
address and will update your name-to-address mapping in Dyn.com’s server.
Here’s how to do this on the computer you’re enabling for Remote Desktop access:
1. Sign in as a computer administrator. Open your web browser and go to www.dyn.com/support.
Click Update Clients. Under Windows, select the most recent Installation Guide. On the guide
page, select Download the Dyn Update Client For Windows. When prompted, select Run, and
then approve the User Account Control prompt.
2. Step through the installation screens, using the default settings (except uncheck Enable Dyn
Internet Guide on This PC).
3. When the program starts, enter the Dyn.com account username and password that you created
previously. In the list of hosts, click the check box for the hostname you created for this computer, and then click OK.
The Dyn Updater service will now keep your hostname updated with your public IP address whenever it changes. (This true Windows service runs whenever your computer is turned on, whether or
not you are signed in.)
To be sure that the service is working, right-click the bottom-left corner of the screen and select
Command Prompt. Type the command ping followed by the hostname and domain name you chose
for your computer; for example, ping brian.likes-pie.com. Press Enter and be sure that the
command finds your IP address and doesn’t print “Could not find host.”
Now your registered hostname will always point to your computer, even when your IP address
changes. After a change, it might take up to an hour for the update to occur, but changes should
be infrequent.
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Configuring Port Forwarding
The last setup step is to make sure that incoming Remote Desktop connections from the Internet
make it to the right computer. If your computer connects directly to your cable or DSL modem, you
can skip this step. Otherwise, you must instruct your sharing computer or router to forward Remote
Desktop data through to your computer. To be precise, you must set up your sharing computer
or router to forward incoming requests on TCP port 3389 to the computer you want to reach by
Remote Desktop.
The procedure depends on whether you are using the ICS service built in to Windows or a
hardware-sharing router. Use one of the procedures described in the next two sections.
Port Forwarding with a Router
If you are using a hardware connection-sharing router, setup is somewhat difficult but is worthwhile. We give you an overview of the process here. To learn more about forwarding network
requests on a shared Internet connection, see “Enabling Access with a Router” in Chapter 19.
First, because your router doesn’t know your computers by their names, you must set up a fixed IP
address on the computer that you will be using via Remote Desktop, using these steps:
1. Press Windows Logo+X and select Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell, whichever
appears in the list. Type the command ipconfig /all and press Enter. Locate the Local Area
Connection part of the printout, which will look something like this (I omitted a few entries):
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : somewhere.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-8F-D2-CA-5F
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.102
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 200.123.45.6
200.123.67.8
The important information is bold. (On your computer, the numbers will be different. Use your
numbers, not these!)
If the entry DHCP Enabled says No, you don’t have to change anything here. Just note the IPv4
Address entry, skip steps 2 through 8, and configure your router.
2. Right-click the network icon at the right end of the taskbar and select Open Network and Sharing
Center. Select Change Adapter Settings.
3. Right-click the icon that represents your LAN connection (most likely Ethernet or Wireless) and
select Properties.
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4. In the Networking tab, select the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) entry and click Properties.
5. In the General tab, check Use the Following IP Address. Enter the first three parts of your original IP address exactly as you see it in your Command Prompt window, but replace the last part
with 250 (for example, 192.168.0.250). The first three sets of digits might be different on
your network.
6. For the subnet mask and default gateway, enter the same numbers that were displayed in the
Command Prompt window.
7. Check Use the Following DNS Server Addresses. Enter the one or two DNS Server addresses that
were displayed in the Command Prompt window.
8. Click OK.
(If you need to set up any other computers to have fixed IP addresses, use the same procedure but
use addresses ending in .249, .248, .247, and so on, counting backward from .250.)
Now you must instruct your router to forward Remote Desktop connections to this computer. Open
Internet Explorer and enter http:// followed by the Default Gateway address you noted in step
1 (for example, http://192.168.0.1). Then press Enter. Every router uses a slightly different
scheme, but Figure 39.2 shows a typical router. You need to find the router’s setup screen and enable
its Port Forwarding feature, which some routers call Virtual Server or Applications and Gaming.
Figure 39.2
Use your router’s
setup system to
forward TCP port
3389 to your
computer.
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On the router, you must enter the fixed IP address that you assigned to your computer and tell
the router to forward connections on TCP port 3389 to this address. If a range of port numbers is
required, or if external and internal numbers are entered separately, enter 3389 in all fields.
Now you should be able to reach your computer from anywhere on the Internet using the hostname
you set up on Dyn.com.
Port Forwarding with Internet Connection Sharing
If you use the built-in Windows ICS service to share an Internet connection on one computer with
the rest of your LAN, the forwarding procedure is pretty straightforward using these steps:
1. Go to the computer that is sharing its connection (whether or not it’s the one you want to reach
via Remote Desktop) and sign in as a computer administrator.
2. View the Properties dialog box for the local area connection that corresponds to the Internet connection itself. On a Windows 10 version, right-click the network icon in the taskbar, and select
Open Network and Sharing Center. In the Tasks list, select Change Adapter Settings.
3. Locate the connection icon that goes to your Internet service. It will have the word Shared under
or next to it. Right-click the icon, select Properties, and view the Sharing tab.
4. Click Settings and, under Services, check Remote Desktop. In the Service Settings dialog box,
enter the name of the computer that you want to make available via Remote Desktop, and click
OK. (To find the name of the computer, view its System or System Properties screen by going to
the Start menu and typing system, and then select System Information or select System.)
5. When you’re finished, click OK to close all the dialog boxes.
Now you should be able to reach your computer from anywhere on the Internet using the hostname you set up on Dyn.com using the Remote Desktop Connection client program described in
the next section.
Connecting to Other Computers with
Remote Desktop
To establish a connection to another computer using the Remote Desktop system, you need a
Remote Desktop client program, which is sometimes called Remote Desktop Connection or Terminal
Services Client. You can get this program in several ways:
• On Windows 10 and Windows 8 and 8.1, you can choose from two Remote Desktop clients.
There is a Modern-style version named Remote Desktop that you can download at no cost from
the Store app. The traditional desktop client is always preinstalled. To use either one, in the
taskbar’s search box, type remote. To use the Modern Application version, see the next section.
To use the desktop version, select Remote Desktop Connection. We describe both clients in this
chapter. You can also run the desktop version by typing mstsc at the Command Prompt.
On Windows 7 and Vista, click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Remote Desktop Connection.
This is the Desktop version.
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On Windows XP, click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Communications, Remote Desktop
Connection.
The version that came with XP lacks support for multiple monitors and plug-and-play devices.
You can upgrade the version on XP by downloading and installing the latest version, as
described in the next paragraph.
• You can download a client from www.microsoft.com/download. Search for Remote
Desktop
Connection and get the latest version available for your operating system. You can find versions
there for Windows and Mac OS X.
• If you have an iOS or Android device, such as an iPad, search your device’s app store for a
Remote Desktop client published by Microsoft. Other vendors have published Remote Desktop–
compatible apps, but be wary of using one from an unfamiliar company. Because you will be letting the app have your
Windows password, you should get a Remote Desktop app only
from a known, large corporation that you trust.
To download the Windows
Modern-style Remote
The Remote Desktop app on iOS and Android devices is similar
Desktop app, go to the Start
to the Modern-style Windows app described in this chapter,
menu and open the Store tile,
so you should be able to use it following the instructions proor type store and then select
vided here.
the Store app. Search for the
phrase remote desktop.
In the next two sections, we discuss the Modern-style and tradiSelect and install the Remote
tional desktop client programs. The traditional Remote Desktop
Desktop app published by
client has more keyboard, display, sound, and printing options than
Microsoft. It’s free.
the Modern version. Try them both and see which you prefer.
note
Using the Modern-Style Remote Desktop App
To start a connection to a remote computer from a Windows 10 computer using the Modern client,
go to the Start menu and type remote. If Remote Desktop appears, select it. If it does not appear
under Apps, go to the Store app and download it.
When the Remote Desktop app opens, you can do any of the following things:
• At the bottom of the app, type in the name of a remote computer, such as the one set up in the
first part of this chapter (brian.likes-pie.com). Then click Connect or press Enter to start the
connection process. You can also type the name of a computer on your own LAN.
• If you want to connect to a computer you’ve used previously and it appears in the list of recent
connection icons, just click the icon.
• You can right-click a recent connection icon and delete or edit it. The Edit option lets you customize its connection settings or delete a saved credential (password) stored for the connection.
• Display the application menu by clicking the hamburger symbol at the upper-left corner of the
window’s title bar, and then select Settings to change settings, which we discuss shortly.
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• Click Access RemoteApp and Desktop Connections to connect to a corporate app server.
(Instructions for using this feature would be provided by a network administrator.) Once connected, you can use the Modern-style client as discussed in the rest of this section.
On the Settings panel, under Connection Settings, you can change the following:
• Appearance—Determines how visual effects, such as transparency, fade-ins, and so on, are
handled. These are impacted by slow network speeds. By default, Windows determines which
effects to use and which to suppress to save bandwidth. To force the use of minimal bandwidth,
you can turn off all the appearance toggles.
• Devices—Lets the remote computer (the one you’re connecting to) use devices on the local computer (the one you’re connecting from). If you enable the printer, for example, remote applications should be able to print on the computer at your current location.
• Remote Desktop Gateway—Specifies an Internet-facing computer that serves as a gateway to
protected Remote Desktop servers on a corporate network. Information about this would be supplied to you by a network administrator.
• Advanced—Controls whether images from the remote session can be stored and displayed
on your local computer. Disable Thumbnails and Persistent
Caching if you will be viewing sensitive information on the
remote computer, such as banking or personal information,
that you would not want to be stored as images in temporary
files on the computer you’re using locally.
If you are accessing a corporate remote desktop resource, the
Manage RemoteApp and Desktops setting menu will let you add,
manage, and refresh lists of remote sessions and applications
supplied by your workplace.
After you’ve entered a computer name or selected a recent connection, the application connects to the remote computer and
prompts you for your username and password.
If the computer is not on a secured network, you will be warned
that the computer to which you’re connecting might not be the
one you expect. If you trust that the hostname you entered really
does lead to the computer you want to use, click Connect Anyway.
tip
If you are signing in to a
Windows 8 or Windows 10
computer with a Microsoft
(online) account, your username is an email address of
the form
myname@something.com. If
Windows rejects your sign in
and gives you a bad username
or password message, try
typing MicrosoftAccount\
before your username.
For example, I might type
MicrosoftAccount\
brianknittel@live.com.
After the connection is made, you can use the remote computer
as if you were sitting there.
The keyboard and mouse control the remote computer. The Windows Logo keyboard shortcuts, in
particular, are sent to the remote computer and act there. Only the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination
acts locally; you can type Ctrl+Alt+End to send Ctrl+Alt+Del to the remote computer.
➥ For more useful keyboard shortcuts that you can use while working with the remote
computer, see Table 39.2, p. 911.
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On the other hand, multitouch gestures act on the local computer. If you have touch only, and no
keyboard on your device, you’ll need to use the Remote Desktop app’s app commands to transmit
these actions to a remote Windows 10, 8.1, or 8 computer.
To display the app commands, touch the hamburger symbol at the upper-left corner of the Remote
Desktop app window and select App Commands, or press Windows Logo+Z. On a touchscreen in
Tablet mode, you can also slide your finger down from the top center of the screen. The app commands appear, as shown in Figure 39.3. The icons that appear may change, depending on the version of Windows that you’re controlling. The panels let you control the connection as follows:
Figure 39.3
Use the App
Commands
menu to manage your current
connections or
control the keyboard and touch
pointer.
• The + symbol (at the top of the screen)—Opens an additional connection to another computer.
The icons here let you select from a number of concurrent connections to remote computers.
Click the icon’s X to close the connection. You will remain signed in on the remote computer if
you disconnect this way. We show another way to disconnect shortly.
• Home—Returns to the Remote Desktop home screen, which you can use as another way to open
an additional connection.
• Connection—Displays the condition of the network connection to the remote computer.
• Keyboard—Shows the touch keyboard.
• Touch Pointer—Turns the touch cursor on or off.
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• Zoom—Opens the Magnifier tool on the remote computer.
• Start—Displays the remote computer’s Start menu or Start screen.
• Switch Apps—Lets you select between different running apps on the remote computer.
• App Commands—Displays the remote computer’s current app’s command panel; equivalent to
Windows Logo+Z or a touch swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
• Charms—If the remote computer runs Windows 8 or 8.1, displays the Remote Computer’s
charms.
When you’re finished working remotely, to disconnect from the remote computer and leave it signed
in, running your apps, touch or click the computer name title at the top of the screen, and then close
the connection’s icon by clicking its X. (The Power button in the remote computer’s Start menu or
Windows 8 or 8.1 Settings charm also disconnects, leaving you signed in.)
To sign out entirely, go to the remote computer’s Start menu or screen and sign out by selecting
your name at the top. Select Sign Out. This signs you out and then closes the connection.
Using the Standard Remote Desktop Client
To run the desktop Remote Desktop client, in the taskbar’s search box, type remote, and then select
Remote Desktop Connection. (We list the ways to run it from earlier versions of Windows in the section “Connecting to Other Computers with Remote Desktop,” earlier in this chapter.) If you’re using
the Remote Desktop client on any earlier version of Windows, or on a Mac, this is the type of client
you’ll be using.
Two Monitors Are Better Than One
If the computer you’re using to establish the remote connection has two or more monitors, you
might be able to use them all for the remote connection.
If you’re connecting from a computer that is running Windows 10, 8.1, 8, or 7, when you start the
traditional Remote Desktop Client, click the Options button, select the Display tab, and select Use
All of My Monitors for the Remote Session. When you connect to the remote computer, set the
Display size to Full Screen. (This works only with the Remote Desktop Connection client version
7.0 or higher, as provided with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7, or downloaded from microsoft.com.)
When you run the Remote Desktop Client, you’ll see the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box (see
Figure 39.4).
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Figure 39.4
The Remote Desktop Connection dialog box
enables you to configure the connection and select
the remote computer to use.
Enter the IP address or registered DNS name of the computer you want to use. If you have set up a
DDNS hostname, as described in the first part of this chapter, the name might look something like
brian.likes-pie.com. If you’re connecting to a computer on your own home or office network, it’s
enough just to type its computer name.
At this point, you can select options that control how the remote connection is made, how large a
window to use, and so on.
Selecting Connection Options
In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, you can set several connection options. In most
cases, you can use the default settings and simply click Connect to start the connection, but several
of the options can be quite useful.
To view the option categories, click the Show Options button. The dialog box expands to show
five tabs, as shown in Figure 39.4, which you can select by clicking the tab names across the top.
You will rarely need to adjust any of these settings. However, some situations might require you to
change settings before making a Remote Desktop connection. Table 39.1 lists these situations.
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Table 39.1 Some Reasons to Change Remote Desktop Settings
Situation
Setting Change
You always connect across the
Internet and/or your remote computer is not on a secure corporate
LAN.
On the Advanced tab, set Server Authentication to
Connect and Don’t Warn Me.
You are using a dial-up Internet connection.
On the Experience tab, change the Connection
Speed to Modem (56kbps). On the Local Resources
tab, click Settings and set Remote audio playback
to Do Not Play.
The remote computer has a slow
Internet upload speed.
Most home Internet service has a fast download
connection but a slow upload speed, often less than
500Kbps. If you’re connecting to a computer that
has a slow upload speed and the screen updates
sluggishly, disconnect, and on the Experience
tab, set the Performance setting to Low-Speed
Broadband. Then try again.
You must work with the local and
remote screens simultaneously.
On the Display tab, change the resolution to a size
smaller than your local screen, perhaps 800×600.
You must see as much of the remote
computer’s screen as possible.
On the Display tab, change the resolution to Full
Screen. If the remote computer runs Windows 7
or later and you have multiple monitors on your
local computer, check Use All My Monitors for the
Remote Session.
You must be able to print from the
applications on the remote computer
and get the printouts where you are
working.
On the Local Resources tab, check Printers.
You don’t need to print while connected.
On the Local Resources tab, uncheck Printers.
You want remote applications to be
able to access files on the computer
where you are working.
On the Local Resources tab, click More, expand
the Drives list, and then click the boxes next to the
drive letter(s) you want to be made available to the
remote computer.
You must use an application that
uses a device attached to a COM
port (for example, a Palm Pilot).
On the Local Resources tab, click More and then
check Ports.
You want the Windows key to be
sent to the remote computer even
when your remote connection isn’t
in Full Screen mode.
On the Local Resources tab, set Apply Windows
Key Combinations to On the Remote Computer.
The Full Screen setting is very useful if you have serious work to do on the remote computer
because it gives you the maximum amount of desktop space on which to work. (It also helps
because the Windows Logo key will be sent to the remote computer rather than acting on the local
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computer.) Although the resulting connection will fill your local computer’s screen, you can still
switch back and forth between remote and local work, as described in the next section.
When you have made the necessary settings, you might want to save them as the default settings
for future connections. To do this, select the General tab and click Save under Connection settings.
Finally, after you have made any necessary option settings, click Connect to begin the connection.
Windows prompts you to enter your username and password before it establishes the connection.
tip
If you routinely make connections to different computers using different settings, you can set up Remote
Desktop Connection files with the computer name and all options preset. To do this, after you have made
the necessary settings, under Connection Settings, click Save As and then select a filename. You can create
shortcuts to the saved files and put them on your desktop, put them in your Start page, or pin them to
your taskbar.
note
If you are connecting to a Windows Server Domain computer, you usually will enter your domain sign-in in
the form domainname\username. If you need to specify a local machine account, enter machinename\
username, as in mycomputer\Administrator.
The program prompts you to enter a username and password. Type the username and password
you use on the remote computer, the one to which you’re connecting. Entering the password is
optional and, in most cases, not entering it here is safer. Let the remote system prompt you for your
password.
If you want the sign-in name and password to be stored (relatively securely) in the local computer so
that future connections can be automatic, enter the password and check Remember My Credentials.
Finally, click OK to begin the connection.
caution
Do not check Remember My Credentials if you are using a computer in a public place, or one that is not
your own or is not secure, because otherwise anyone who has access to the account you’re using will be
able to connect to the remote computer using your sign-in.
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Sign-In Is Denied
If the remote computer connects but will not let you sign in, the account you tried to use might
have a blank password or might be a Standard account that was not entered as an account
authorized to connect remotely. See “Enabling Remote Desktop Access to Your Computer,” earlier in the chapter, for instructions on authorizing accounts. An account must have a password
set before you can use it remotely, even if it’s authorized.
If Network Level Authentication is being used and the connection to the remote computer does
not use the IPSec network security protocol, you might get a warning that the remote computer’s
identity cannot be validated. (Thus, you could end up giving your password to a counterfeit computer.) In most cases, this is not a problem, so you can click Yes. You also can check Don’t Prompt
Me Again for Connections to This Computer, or you can use the Advanced tab in the connection
options, as described earlier, to prevent this warning from reoccurring.
Using the Remote Connection
When you’re signed in, you’ll see the remote computer’s desktop, and you can use it as if you were
actually sitting in front of it. In a full-screen connection, the title bar at the top of the screen tells
you that you’re viewing the remote computer’s screen. The title bar might slide up out of view, but
you can hover the mouse pointer near the top of the screen to bring it back. You can also click the
Minimize button to hide the remote screen, or you can click the Maximize button to switch between
a windowed or full-screen view.
The keyboard, mouse, display, and sound (unless you disabled it) should be fully functional. It all
works quite well—and it can even be difficult to remember which computer you’re actually using!
If you elected to make the local computer’s disk drives available in the connection options dialog
box, the local computer’s drives appear when you open File Explorer on the remote computer.
Access to these drives is fairly slow and annoying. Still, you can take advantage of this to copy files
between the local and remote computers.
In addition, any printers attached to your local computer will appear as choices if you print from
applications on the remote computer, as long as a compatible printer driver is available on the
remote computer. Printers might not work if you are connecting from a Mac or a computer that is
running an older version of Windows.
tip
If the computer to which you’re connecting has more than one monitor or a larger monitor than the one
you’re currently using, when you start an application, its window might not be visible. The problem is that
when the application was last used, its window was placed on a secondary monitor and its position is now
completely off the Remote Desktop screen. To make it visible, hover the mouse pointer over the program’s
icon in the taskbar. When the preview window appears, right-click it and select Move (or Restore and then
Move). Then press and hold the arrow keys to slide the window into view. Press Enter when it’s visible; then
finish positioning it with your mouse.
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39
Using Keyboard Shortcuts
While you’re connected, you might want to use keyboard shortcuts such as Alt+Tab to switch
between applications and Windows Logo+R to run a command. These shortcuts can confuse
Windows, which won’t know whether to switch applications on the local computer or the remote
computer. There are three ways to make the Alt and Windows special functions act on the remote
computer:
• Put the remote connection window into Full Screen mode. Then all Windows keys will be sent to
the remote computer, except Ctrl+Alt+Del. To send Ctrl+Alt+Del, press Ctrl+Alt+End.
• Before you make the connection, view the Local Resources options page and set Apply Windows
Key Combinations to On the Remote Computer. (And, as before, this fixes all but Ctrl+Alt+Del.)
• Memorize and use the alternative key combinations listed in Table 39.2. These replacement keystrokes don’t work, by the way, if you are using either of the preceding two alternatives.
Table 39.2 shows the alternative keyboard shortcuts that you can use if the window isn’t in Full
Screen mode and you haven’t selected to send all Windows key combinations to the remote computer.
Table 39.2 Some Remote Desktop Keyboard Shortcuts
Use These Keys
To Transmit This to the Remote Computer
Alt+PgUp, Alt+PgDn
Alt+Tab (to switch programs)
Alt+End
Ctrl+Alt+Del (to open Task Monitor)
Alt+Home
Ctrl+Esc (to display the Start Screen on Windows 8 or
8.1, and the Start menu on all other versions)
Alt+Del
Alt+Space (to display a window’s System menu)
Ctrl+Alt+Break
Alt+Enter (to toggle Full Screen)
Ctrl+Alt+Plus on numeric pad
Alt+PrtScr (to print the screen to the Clipboard)
Ctrl+Alt+End
Ctrl+Alt+Del (to display Task Manager)
When you’ve finished using the remote computer, sign out using the normal means for the remote
version of Windows. (For example, for Windows 10 versions, click your name in the upper-left corner of the remote computer’s Start menu, and then select Sign Out.) If you want to leave yourself
signed in with applications running, use the remote computer’s normal power or shutdown menu,
which will say Disconnect instead. (For Windows 10, click the Power icon in the lower-left part of
the remote computer’s Start menu, and then select Disconnect, or just close the Remote Desktop
connection window.) You can later reconnect via Remote Desktop or by signing in at the remote
computer itself.
I use Remote Desktop to use my work computer from home, and I’ve found that I save a lot of time
by never signing out entirely. When I finish at work, I just press Windows Logo+L (“Lock”) to
switch out to the Welcome screen. Then I can reconnect from home and pick up where I left off.
Likewise, at home, when I’m finished, I simply disconnect, so I never actually sign out.
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One User at a Time
Desktop versions of Windows permit only one person to use each computer. If you attempt to
connect to a computer with Remote Desktop while another user is signed in, you will have the
choice of disconnecting yourself or forcing that user to the Welcome (sign-in) screen. And, if
Fast User Switching is not enabled on the remote computer, that user is summarily signed out
and loses any work in process.
If you sign in using the same username as the local user, though, you simply take over the
desktop without forcing a sign-out.
If someone else signs in to the remote computer while you’re connected from afar, your session is disconnected. Again, if Fast User Switching is enabled on the remote computer, you can
simply reconnect later and pick up where you left off. Otherwise, the same deal applies: If it is a
different user, your applications are shut down.
If you’re using Remote Desktop to use your own computer, this probably won’t matter to you
because you’ll probably never see what happens on the other screen. But if you use Remote Desktop
to work on someone else’s computer, let that person know what will happen before starting; otherwise, the two of you could get into a tussle, repeatedly kicking the other person off the computer,
with neither of you knowing that the other person is there trying to get something done. (I’ve had
this happen.)
tip
If you’re a command-line fanatic like I am, you might want to launch Remote Desktop connections from the
command prompt. The command mstsc /v:hostname opens a connection to the named computer. The
command mstsc filename.rdp uses connection settings you previously saved in a file using the GUI. Type
mstsc /? for more useful options.
Third-Party Remote Control Tools
If you don’t want to set up Remote Desktop, you might want to consider using one of several thirdparty remote control tools. A bunch of web-based products have emerged that work very well. Many
of them have free versions, or at least a free trial period, and most have some advantages over
Remote Desktop: They work with any version of Windows, and they require almost no setup, even if
you have a router on your Internet connection. Here are some products to check out:
• LogMeIn—For $99 per year for two host computers, you get remote control, file transfer, sound,
and printing. Mac and Windows versions are available. A free trial is available. No network setup
is necessary. Find information at www.logmein.com. I use this program myself and I really like it.
The free iOS and Android client app is called LogMeIn Ignition. It’s superb.
• TeamViewer—Available free for personal, noncommercial use, TeamViewer requires no network
setup and can even make your LAN available to the remote client computer through a built-in
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VPN service. Both Windows and Mac clients and hosts are available. Check out
www.teamviewer.com.
• I’m InTouch—Another no-network-setup remote access product. The remote client is Java based,
so you could access your PC from your BlackBerry. There are iOS and Android clients, too. Check
out www.01com.com.
• BeAnywhere—Another subscription-based remote access product, requiring no network setup.
It’s oriented toward organizations that have to provide support for multiple customers. Check it
out at www.beanywhere.com.
• LapLink Everywhere (formerly Carbon Copy)—Requires no network setup. Clients are available
for iOS and PocketPCs as well as PCs. Information can be found at www.laplink.com.
• GoToMyPC—A fairly expensive commercial subscription-based product that offers remote access
through any web browser. Information can be found at www.gotomypc.com. You can access your
computer from Windows, OS X, Android, and iOS.
• Radmin—A low-cost remote control program. Information can be found at www.radmin.com.
Requires network setup, but there is no annual fee.
• VNC—A free, open source program initially developed by AT&T. A big plus for VNC is that both
host and client programs are available for virtually every OS. Several VNC versions are available,
with TightVNC and RealVNC being the most popular. For information, check out www.tightvnc.
com and www.realvnc.com. VNC products require network setup and do not encrypt their data,
so they are not safe for connecting directly over the Internet. They are fine to use on a home or
business LAN or over a VPN connection.
note
The products that require network setup can also access a computer across a LAN or corporate network. If
you want to access a remote computer via a dial-up modem, though, you must use one of the old-school
programs, such as Symantec PCAnywhere, which is no longer sold but which you can find on sites such as
eBay. Alternatively, you can set up an incoming dial-up networking connection for your computer and use
Remote Desktop or a network-based remote control program such as VNC.
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